How Windows Turned Months of Inactivity Into a 7-Hour Update Hostage Situation
The Register, Sunday, September 20th, 2026
A Register columnist recounts a seven-hour Windows 11 update ordeal after months of laptop inactivity.
Register writer Richard Speed describes a roughly seven-hour update process on a Windows 11 laptop left idle for months, requiring numerous component updates, firmware patches, driver updates, and OS upgrades with repeated restarts.
He criticizes Windows' longstanding inaccurate progress bars, which stall at 65% for an hour before jumping to 98% and then hanging again.
The piece contrasts Microsoft's marketing of Windows 11 efficiency with the reality of lengthy, unpredictable update sessions, arguing the episode reflects a broader industry habit of shipping fixes later ('fix it in production') rather than ensuring quality before release.