Windows users getting unwanted auto-updates?

Blogs have been buzzing with reports that Windows users who thought they had automatic updates set to either not install or get permission before installing nonetheless had their machines patched and rebooted.

But Microsoft posted a response on its website saying no changes were made to the automatic update mechanism nor did any recent updates change AU settings. The company is looking into whether customers might have actually had their settings changed by Microsoft Office or Windows OneCare, two programs that do have mechanisms that will change a computer's automatic update preference settings.

Program manager Nate Clinton said on Microsoft's website: "We have received some logs from customers, and have so far been able to determine that their AU settings were not changed by any changes to the AU client itself and also not changed by any updates installed by AU.

"We are still looking into this to see if another application is making this change during set-up with user consent, or if this issue is related to something else. We are continuing the investigation, and as I have more information I will update this post."

The company is asking anyone experiencing an issue to contact its customer support so that it can get more information.

Meanwhile, in a separate posting, Clinton acknowledged some people are having trouble manually installing updates after moving to the latest version of Windows Update.

This follows an earlier outcry over the discovery that the Windows Update utility updates itself regardless of whether automatic updates are turned on.

Ina Fried writes for CNET News.com