Yes. that's how I've used Windows Update for years. Notify only.
Most of what HP will offer is updates to any pre-installed software bundles, such as their Media apps, a Lightscribe update, or even the HP Support Assistant itself. During 3 years as an HP user, and bought the PC straight from them, I was never once offered a driver update, had to hunt my own down. One time my Realtek Ethernet was acting up, thought maybe it was the modem or router, turned out an updated (latest) Realtek driver fixed all.
Note that updated drivers doesn't always offer a benefit, the only time I bother with updating these are when something's acting up. Or if the driver's documentation states that the new one is intended to fix an issue that pertains to me. I skipped the first two BIOS updates offered by Dell because my PC was running fine, the last one I accepted due to some reliability issues, many customers were complaining about certain graphics cards not working & I recently ordered a GPU that will now work because of the BIOS update.
Should you receive notice of a BIOS update, wait at least a couple of weeks and visit their forum before installing. If there's an issue, many will be screaming over it. That's why I wait & unless the the consumer is experiencing the symptoms it's intended to fix, recommend others to do the same.
Recently, there was one or two Windows Updates that threw some Windows 7 systems for a loop, am glad it was resolved before I updated. Had been running Linux Mint a lot, and Update Tuesday passed me by.
(HP updates are mainly driver updates aren't they, the sort of thing which brings no security benefits but dos have crash risks).
There's always crash risks with driver updates, however normally the updates from the OEM are for the specific system, so the chances of crashes, while not eliminated, are reduced. Provided the consumer hasn't opened the computer & upgraded any hardware. Their updates, whatever offered, also normally ensures the system will function as normal. Those obtained straight from the component site, even if original & the 'latest', may cause impaired function on OEM computers.
For example, my on-demand Turbo Boost button doesn't kick in any longer on the MSI supplied Windows 7, probably because of my insistence of having the 'latest' drivers installed. However, I installed a 2nd version of the OS as a test bed, and used their Driver & Utilities CD to install the drivers, and it works fine. So the OEM OS likely needs a reinstall.
Cat
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