Stupid Microsoft Windows Update

Ever experienced losing your work since window$ update restarted your pc while you are running your 1 million iteration root finding program, or while you were away for a coffee break, expecting that your machine will keep on running?

Well, it's annoying!

some solutions:
disable the automatic update service:
http://asymptomatic.net/2005/08/11/1879/how-to-disable-that-blasted-restart-now-message-from-windows-update/

tweak the restart properties:
http://lifehacker.com/software/top/get-rid-of-windows-update-restart-nag-183976.php

or just totally get rid of windoze (btw, your command line gcc programs usually run faster in linux on the same machine).