One of the things that drives me crazy on Windows Vista is all of the optional updates that show up in the Windows Update list. I want to look at Windows Update and see that there are no updates, not see that there's a list of 14 language packs that I don't really need Just open up Windows Update, and you might see something like this: But when you click on View available updates, you see this:

I have this sneaky suspicion that I will never ever need the Finnish Language Pack, being in the US and all. All you have to do to hide these updates, is to right-click on an item in the list, and choose "Hide update" from the menu.

Now when I look at Windows Update, I see what I'm expecting to see in the first place:

If you ever decide to move to Finland, and that you want to install the updates, there's a "Restore hidden updates" link on the left-hand side of the screen that will let you put them back in the list.