It could be that you have selected to have M$ check for all updates - including software updates - which might be why there are so many updates...
Once your computer is up-to-date, then it normally slows down to only appearing once or twice a month.
Personally, I don't want any of my computers (home or work) to automatically install and restart. I always set them to download and notify, then I can choose which I want to install.
It may be true that you don't need all of the updates, but often it is down to M$ realising that there is a flaw (or a security loophole) in something, and eventually they get round to working out how to fix it and publishing it. While you may not "need" it, it might well stop/close the errors from happening.
Having said that, I don't normally have M$ check for things like driver updates, as I have (on occasion) had issues where the M$ version didn't play nicely with something else and I had to roll it back.
It is fairly difficult to give you a list of what you should, and what you should not, install when it boils down to updates... There is too much scope, too many variables, and the 'list' would be out of date in a month or two anyway...
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