I would like to ask if it is bad to close(force it to go to sleep) the laptop while it's doing Windows update. It can't be good but how bad is it?
03 Answers
"Doing Windows Update" is a long process.
Sending Windows to sleep while it's downloading updates is safe, it will simply resume later.
Making it fall asleep while it's installing updates is not recommended. In the worst case it will corrupt Windows and you'll have to reinstall it. Avoid it.
Going to sleep is impossible when Windows is restarting to install updates. Closing the lid and/or unplugging power won't make laptop go to sleep, even if it would normally. This is especially bad when you're low on battery, it's degraded or you're installing a big update (Service Pack etc.) because the battery may run out while updating and stop the process in the middle. This is very risky and you can end up with corrupted Windows. Never unplug laptop while it's restarting to update and avoid closing the lid.
Two things can happen, one bad and one bad for you. The bad one would be, that forcing the laptop to sleep will suspend the update and then will continue later or not at all and you will have to start over.
The bad for you is, where the laptop crashes from not updating properly. This in turn will lead it to get stuck, and causes you to wipe everything for a fresh installation. Either way it's not worth the risk, and not recommended.
Closing the lid while installing an update doesn't make your laptop got to sleep. And even if it does, the update fails and the laptop shuts down. When you turn it on the next time, Windows will show a message "Undoing changes made to your computer". This process may take a while, but after it's done, the last successfully installed update will be your current version.
