Re: Trying to understand what WU does...

see comments - only 3 questions commented on. Maybe someone else will jump in with
their comments.

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TaurArian [MS-MVP] 2005-2007 - Australia
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"Jeremy C B Nicoll" <Jeremy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:4e688ac981Jeremy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
| My work background includes installing & customising mainframe OSes, so
| I definitely understand the sort of thing that WU might be trying to
| manage. I do understand that making something like this work in a way
| that technically naive users can do it is hard - but I think MS have
| failed in that. All those daft eight-digit error numbers, for example.
| Loads of users must see those once and never try to do an update ever
| again.
|
| Where might I find a detailed description of what WU and MU actually
| do? I want to know things like:
|
| - where fixes are put when they are downloaded automatically


under Windows\softwaredistribution folder.



| - how to be sure that a downloaded fix is not corrupt


| - if I choose to download fixes manually does it matter where I
| choose to keep them; how do I then initiate install of such
| fixes?

You can download them from the Catalog and save to be installed later.
http://v4.windowsupdate.microsoft.com/catalog/en/default.asp

Click Add button for each update you want to download. Once you have what you want,
Click the ?Go To Download Basket? link. Type in or browse to the location where you
want the updates saved to and then Click the ?Download Now? button.
Once downloaded, you can then burn them to CD.

How to download updates and drivers from the Windows Update Catalog or from the
Microsoft Update Catalog
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/323166

Other links which may be of interest:

Search for a download
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/search.aspx?displaylang=en

How to install multiple Windows updates or hotfixes with only one reboot
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=296861

Your one stop post for Windows Critical Updates!
http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=31886


| - which files (eg logs, original fix definitions) can I delete
| after doing an install?

Folders that have uninstall as part of the name (for example $NtUninstallKB282010$
which reside in C:\windows (hidden folders) are Window Hot Fix Update folders/files)
can be safely deleted (providing you never wish to uninstall the updates). I would
recommend leaving these folders for a period of at least a month to make sure the
update is working correctly.

These updates can be deleted individually or in multiples. To find out more about the
update/s go to:
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=XXXXXX
NB: XXXXXX = the actual number not including the "Q" or "KB"

Once you have deleted the uninstall folders/files, then go to Control Panel,
Add/Remove Programs. Select the matching Windows Hotfix Title relating the update
folder/file you have just deleted and select remove. You will get a Windows error.
This is because you have deleted the uninstall folder/files. Just choose OK and the
entry will be deleted from the Add/Remove Programs Listing.



| - is there an overall WU or MU processing log somewhere, separate
| from those that describe what was done for each individual fix?
|
| - should I have my file backup software ignore any of these
| downloaded files, or update logs? How do I prevent a restore
| of some or all files (perhaps to resolve some other problem on
| my machine) from restoring the previous levels of some targets
| of fixes while not updating whatever control files or registry
| entries there are describing the state of Windows?
|
| - what inside an update's definition specifies what the
| pre-requisite/co-requisite fixes that might be required are?
|
| - what ensures that a set of fixes are applied in the right order...
|
| - what all the stuff in a KBnnnn.log file actually means? For example
| I've looked at some which are full of reports of various problems,
| eg "update.ver" files being corrupt, various things not being found
| etc. How does one tell if these are expected "not found"s, or ones
| explaining an update that can't be applied?
|
| - can one really believe the WU website when it shows icons saying
| that fixes have been properly installed? What does the checking
| code on the website actually look for?
|
| - if, as some of my KBnnnn.log files suggest, my machine has made
| multiple attempts to install a fix is actually the case, is there
| a way to determine why/if it finally worked?
|
| - if there's been multiple attempts to get an install to work, can
| I be sure that removing a fix will work - that the prior version
| of whatever programs were updated really will be restored ok?
|
| - if I manually select a fix in add/remove programs, and elect to
| remove it, what process is there that will prevent that from
| being done if there's some inter-dependency between the fix I'm
| asking to remove and other fixes?
|
| I've asked some of my untechnical friends how they cope with WU and
| they either say, rarely, "I turned it on and it just works", or they
| rather more often ask "what is WU?" which is disturbing. Or they have
| tried it and there some weird error message so they reinstalled windows
| and left WU turned off for good ever since. People like that don't
| know about newsgroups or web forums... and even if they did they maybe
| can't make their machine work any longer. How do MS expect them to
| cope? The whole thing seems far too complicated for "normal" people
| and insufficiently well documented for anyone to understand.
|
| --
| Jeremy C B Nicoll, Edinburgh, Scotland - my opinions are my own.


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