Windows 7: Third Party automatic updates...

+1,

These necessary auto checks for updates are for a reason, to close potential vulnerabilities. A vulnerability in any application should be dealt with as soon as a new release becomes available, thus protecting you from a "hole" in your current version and they use so little resources that as MacGyvr points out, don't out way the potential for possible malware / malicious code to find its way in via the vulnerability.

I remove all the 3rd party updaters from my start-up.

I do however run secuniaPSI at startup, which keeps me informed of any security based updates I need.

I let the program run for about 20-30 minutes, or after acting on any alerts it finds, then close it, freeing the memory and cpu overload.

I do let programs check for new versions when starting up which catches most other upgrades,

I do not see the point of having the latest non security update on programs that I only use occasionally

Edit

The above is the system for Laptop/Netbook which is regularly re-booted. For my desktop which is on for much longer times I leave Secunia Running as the overhead is more acceptable

Thats a great program!

Kaspersky also has a scanner of a different sort called what else "Vulnerability Scan". This will scan all programs for newer versions and let you know of a vulnerability even if the fix is not out yet. So with that, it scans all program files in the active directory looking for weakness in programs that hopefully have a later version out by then. I run that scanner once a week and it alerts me to new flashpayer, java, silverlight, adobe reader, and many more common internet programs.

Its a nice tool that lets the user know, hey problem found check for update and hopefully there is one by that time before you get nailed by mailware. B/C a vulnerability is just that, its not malware, its a known weakspot or hole that someone might be able to take advantage of.

StartupRun v1.22

The StartupRun utility displays the list of all applications that are loaded automatically when Windows boots. For each application, additional information is displayed (Product Name, File Version, Description, and Company Name), in order to allow you to easily identify the applications that are loaded at Windows startup. if StartupRun identifies a spyware or adware program that runs at startup, it automatically paints it in pink color. In addition, you are allowed to Edit, disable, enable and delete the selected startup entries. You can also save the list of startup items into a text or html files, and even add a new startup entry to the Registry.

sorry if uve answered this already: is there anything u can do to see what is being downloaded/updated as its being downloaded? I can see how much meg its using (heaps) but unless it sez WIN or Adobe donwloads ready to install afterwards I don't know wots just downloaded heaps of meg (eg 200MG at each go).