mastodon - Link to source

Following a discussion in the user group, which essentially revolved around "After updating to a new version of NVDA, it should FORCE you to restart the PC", I thought I'd just ask here: SHOULD NVDA force you to restart the PC after updating? (The argument being, that sometimes we see quirky behaviour after updating but before restarting. Currently we simply advise you to restart if you encounter something unexpected).

#NVDA #NVDAsr #Accessibility #Poll #Update #Updates #Question

  • Yes, NVDA should force you to restart after updati (14%, 12 votes)
  • No, don't make me restart after updating. (85%, 73 votes)
85 voters. Poll end: 1 week ago

#Accessibility #nvdasr #Question #poll #update #nvda #Updates
in reply to Bill Dengler

mastodon - Link to source

NV Access

@bill Not to push anyone any particular way, but I was surprised a couple of people were so keen on it - usually people want programs to have LESS control over how they do things, not more. I was already thinking such an option would particularly annoy people on say alpha builds, so I expect if we ever did implement such a thing, it would be only for RC / Stable builds, and possibly one of those "Would you like to restart the PC.... [Now] [Later]" type things
@Bill Dengler
in reply to Simon Jaeger

mastodon - Link to source

Dave Taylor

@simon I've had issues that were fixed by a restart, but only once that I can think of. However, that behavour would make me put off updating and probably make me turn off update notifications. I've already stopped beta testing because of the interupting notifications of updates for betas, sorry, but my life is more important, updates should be at my convenience, you don't interupt somebody talking, so why mid task on a computer?
@Simon Jaeger
in reply to Dave Taylor

mastodon - Link to source

NV Access

@davetaylor2112 @simon Beta updates usually work the same as other updates? From memory it's when NVDA starts and no more than once every 24 hours - but maybe add-on updates? Particularly if you have a few and it takes a few minutes to check them all? (My PC firmware updater is a big one for that - it only ever comes up 15 mins after I start working and it is so frustrating, so I do understand)
@Dave Taylor @Simon Jaeger
in reply to 🇨🇦Samuel Proulx🇨🇦

mastodon - Link to source

NV Access

@fastfinge Yep I was already thinking even if we did implement such a prompt it would likely either be just for stable builds or perhaps something like "We recommend restarting the PC. [Now] [Later]".

I don't think we'd rush into implementing something in any case, I was just curious after the user group conversation.

@🇨🇦Samuel Proulx🇨🇦
in reply to Big Pawed Bear

mastodon - Link to source

NV Access

@bigpawedbear The screen reader isn't quite "on top" of everything else - it has to get down in the middle somewhere to monitor changes to various things to report to you. It's more with how Windows doesn't always neatly unload and reload those components that we need to interact with when NVDA updates (and the same will almost certainly be true of Jaws and other screen readers). That's why MOST programs of any kind encourage (or in some cases force) you to restart the PC after updating.
@Big Pawed Bear
in reply to Kara Goldfinch

mastodon - Link to source

NV Access

@KaraLG84 Oops... You know I can't read - ESPECIALLY not my own writing! I don't think I can edit the questions after people have voted.

BTW, are you on my list of people proof reading training material, and if not, would you like to be? If so, please send me an email and I'll add you / send the Excel module we've just updated (it's not in the shop yet, but will likely be in the next few days)

@Kara Goldfinch
in reply to Day Garwood

mastodon - Link to source

NV Access

@daygar It's not NVDA specific, but rather the way Windows (badly) handles updating files which may be in use - which is why most programs encourage you to restart after updating. We do see issues from time to time - generally things just not quite working properly - which are fixed with a restart - but as you say, the majority of the time, it actually works fine. So we might consider making the encouragement to restart more prominent, but I don't anticipate forcing anyone to.
@Day Garwood
in reply to NV Access

mastodon - Link to source

Alex Hall

Some four or five years ago, I had no problems after updating. It was great. Then, at some point, I found any Mozilla applications became completely unusable until I restarted. Or rather, any web applications--Firefox, Thunderbird, and VSCode are the big ones i use. Slack did the same thing, but we switched away from Slack. I have no idea what changed. I went from never having to, to always having to.
in reply to Andrew Hodgson

mastodon - Link to source

NV Access

@andrew It's more the way Windows sometimes doesn't properly unload / restart files which were being used. It can happen with any kind of software, which is why when you update your audio editing software or office suite it also encourages (or sometimes forces) you to restart the PC.

There is no consistent sympton to say "If THIS happens, then that's why and you need to restart", so we simply encourage if you have any issues after updating, try restarting as a first step, which usually fixes it

@Andrew Hodgson
in reply to NV Access

mastodon - Link to source

Brandon Tyson

No, I would not force it, however, I think a note at the end of the process is fine. I feel this way because for some reason, on Windows 11 even though JAWS doesn't install their video hooks anymore, sometimes you still have to restart and it is unclear to me why. Granted, JAWS is closed source but this is one thing that raises a red flag for me. What is actually happening that you need to restart the PC? So this is why I think only telling the user to restart if anything odd is noticed, is the best way to go. I also don't know enough code to be able to read NVDA's source code if it were to ask me to restart and I were to wonder what was going on. Does that make sense?
in reply to NV Access

pleroma - Link to source

Jason J.G. White

Here's what I do on a Windows machine: (1) go to Windows Updates and start the operating system's update process; (2) while this is downloading, invoke an administrative PowerShell and run “winget update --all”; (3) While this is installing, run a check for updates in a Microsoft 365 application; (4) Once the other updates are finished, allow the machine to reboot to apply the Windows update. This last step also has the effect of addressing any other changes requiring a reboot.
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