Excessive amount of time to update

The QuickBooks Desktop update may be slow due to the scanning of each program file of Microsoft Defender or any antivirus software, @Nowell. I know your goal, and I'm here to discuss the solutions on downloading QBDT seamlessly and the potential impacts of declining it.

To address this, the QuickBooks Tool Hub has introduced a feature that allows you to create exclusions for specific QuickBooks files. This means the Microsoft Defender won't scan them during installation, letting your update run smoothly and quickly. Here's how you can use this feature:

1. Select Cancel to stop the update and close you QuickBooks.
2. Open the QuickBooks Tool Hub application. If you don’t already have the QuickBooks Tool Hub, you can install it. 
3. Hit Installation issues and choose Add Defender Exclusion.
4. Restart your computer and reopen QuickBooks, then start the update.

If issue still persists after creating a Microsoft defender exclusion, you can proceed with the solution 2 and 3 on this article: QuickBooks Update slows at writing system registry values

On the other hand, I want you to note that declining updates might mean missing out on essential bug fixes or new features. With this, update your QBDT regularly to ensure data is stored securely and any security vulnerabilities are addressed.

Additionally, if you upgrade to a newer version of QBDT, you’ll need to update your company files. For guidance, please check out this article: Update your company files to a new version of QuickBooks Desktop.

The steps provided will help you streamline your QuickBooks updates, keeping everything running smoothly and securely. For any further concern about updating QBDT, feel free to keep me posted.