Reboot with User Prompt & Delay

wvanaa

The current implementation prompts users that a reboot is happening now (no delay).  The Pre-Update Management Reboot Options is for "Maximum time to wait for computer to reboot" of 10 minutes, 1 hour or 4 hours.

How does anyone use this on workstations with no loss of user data?  Someone has a spreadsheet open, system reboots, then loss of data!  Am I missing a config option?

I would highly recommend a User Prompt (i.e. nag screen) with a countdown (like in WSUS).  Coming from working at a manufacturing company, the reboot prompt should allow for extended times (plant floor jobs could run >48 hours).

This could also be used to run a dummy update (i.e. CMD file that does nothing) which would prompt users to reboot pending.  (This is a great feature in BigFix.  Anytime a system has reboot pending, the user is given XX hours to reboot themselves otherwise the system will reboot forcing the reboot).

My 2 cents...

ndgirl

Why can I only vote once?!?!?!?  The lack of maintenance windows and no real control of reboot behavior make this a terrible solution, forcing me back to Altiris for 3rd party patching.  I don't know how this works for anyone.  It's hard enough to get my users to peaceably reboot within the 3 or 4 hour window SCCM gives them.  Once my certificate issue is resolved, my 3rd party patching will go to SCCM as well, but until then, what a mess!