Windows Small Business Server 2011 : Installing the Second Server (part 4) - Enable Updates and Feedback

2.2.5. Enable Updates and Feedback

The next group of settings on the ICT Wizard is used to set how updates are handled and what feedback is sent to Microsoft. The first setting in this section of the ICT Wizard is to actually configure what settings are used for updates and feedback. You can make three basic choices when you click Enable Automatic Updating And Feedback on the ICT Wizard:

• Windows and Microsoft Update settings

• Windows Error Reporting settings

• Customer Experience Improvement Program settings

To configure these settings, follow these steps:

1. On the Initial Configuration Tasks Wizard, click Enable Automatic Updating And Feedback to open the dialog box shown in Figure 18.

2. Unless you really want your server to be automatically downloading and installing updates with no warning, and with automatic reboots (again without warning), do not select Enable Windows Automatic Updating And Feedback.

3. Click Manually Configure Settings to open the dialog box shown in Figure 19.

   Figure 18. The Enable Windows Automatic Updating And Feedback dialog box

   

   Figure 19. The Manually Configure Settings dialog box

   

4. You can’t change the settings for Windows Automatic Updating—these are controlled by Group Policy and are set in the SBS Console.

5. Click Change Setting in the Windows Error Reporting section to open the Windows Error Reporting Configuration dialog box shown in Figure 20.

   Figure 20. The Windows Error Reporting Configuration dialog box

   

6. Select how you want error reports handled. We think that automatically sending at least summary reports, and preferably detailed reports, is good for all of us. See the Under the Hood sidebar Windows Error Reporting for more information on what is sent and why we care. After you’ve made your selection, click OK to return to the Manually Configure Settings dialog box, shown earlier in Figure 19.

7. Click Change Setting in the Customer Experience Improvement Program section to open the Customer Experience Improvement Program Configuration dialog box shown in Figure 21.

   Figure 21. The Customer Experience Improvement Program Configuration dialog box

   

8. The default is to not automatically participate in the Customer Experience Improvement Program (CEIP). When you choose to participate, no personal or organizationally identifiable information is sent to Microsoft. None. But they do gather information about your hardware and the Server roles installed on the server, and if you include details about your organization’s servers, workstations, and industry, that information is linked to the collected data. Personally, we choose to send it, but we can understand those who would rather not.

9. Make your selections, click OK, and then click Close to return to the ICT Wizard.

Windows Error Reporting

Windows Error Reporting dates back to the old Dr. Watson errors that we all learned to hate in the earlier days of Windows. But it’s come a long way since then. One of the major changes, introduced in Windows XP, was the sending of the crash dumps back to Microsoft when a program crashed or stopped responding. (This is called Online Crash Analysis, or OCA, and it found a lot of bugs!) You were asked each time if you wanted to send the crash dump, and fortunately a lot of people did because the result has been a far more stable and solid Windows, along with much better drivers. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is reliably reported to have observed that “about 20 percent of the bugs cause 80 percent of all errors, and—this is stunning to me—one percent of bugs cause half of all errors.” By identifying those 20 percent of the bugs, and focusing efforts on them, we all benefit from more stable, crash-free software.

It is important to note, however, that crash dumps can contain personally identifiable information. If you’re in the middle of entering your credit card number when the program you’re working in crashes, chances are that the credit card number, or some portion of it, is likely to be inside that crash dump. Microsoft has made repeated—and we think credible—assurances that they will not use any personal information in those crash dumps in any way. You can read their Privacy Statement at http://oca.microsoft.com/en/dcp20.asp. In fact, we urge you to read it. It’s clear and we think as unambiguous as is possible when lawyers are involved. And we found it reassuring. We’ve all benefited from the errors that have been reported in the past to help make the software we use better and more reliable.