Hi all: I have (had) my Win7 Windows update set to download updates and let me choose whether to install them. This morning when I got up I noticed that the Win7 PC was awakened and the only thing that occurred was a download of Windows Defender Updates at 3:00 a.m. Am I correct in assuming that Win7 won't go back to sleep after downloading updates until they are either cancelled or installed?

This will depend on your power settings. But, IMO, if you've got a open dialog waiting for a reply, I wouldn't expect the computer to sleep while waiting on a reply. - John

I have my power settings to put the pc to sleep in 30 minutes, but as you say it probably won't because Update wants me to tell it whether to install the updates or not. This is kind of a conundrum(sp?). I had a big problem with XP when it automatically installed a new version of Internet Explorer and it took hours to fix the pc when it screwed it up. Ever since, I don't install anything sight unseen for fear the update will cause problems. I will try setting update to check for new updates but do not download or install and hopefully this setting won't keep the pc awake waiting for me to decide while I'm sleeping or away at work! I would prefer the operating system would allow it to go back to sleep and not ask for a reply until the pc is manually re-awakened. Seems like a poor way to set up pcs to conserve electricity all over the world!