• “Give me recommended updates”

    Posted on October 14, 2016 at 14:26 CDT by • Comment in the Forums

    Good question from SC:

    In Windows Update I don’t understand why I should check  the  box that says “Give me recommended updates the same way I receive important updates”.

    I see conflicting info on AskWoody.com about  this.

    Please explain.

    I should’ve pointed this out explicitly.

    Microsoft releases patches with one of (at least) three categories: Important, Recommended, Optional. Every patch is identified with one of those three settings.

    Windows Update, on the other hand, only recognizes two categories – Important and Optional – but it also has boxes next to each patch. If you check the box, you get the patch the next time Windows Update runs; if you don’t check the box, you don’t get the patch.

    Checking the box marked “Give me recommended updates the same way I receive important updates” makes Microsoft-designated Recommended updates show up in your Windows Update list as Important, and the patch is pre-selected for installation.

    If you don’t have that box checked, the patch appears in the Optional section, the name’s italicized, but the installation box is not selected. Thus, the patch won’t be installed on the next run of Windows Update.

    Clear as mud, I know. But the good news is that it won’t make much difference soon.

    If you’re in Group A, you’ll be getting the whole Monthly rollup, which includes both security and non-security patches. Microsoft designates those as “Important.”

    If you’re in Group B, you won’t use Windows Update, so the patches’ categories don’t mean anything. Like points in Who’s Line is it Anyway?

    Windows Patches/Security
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