Best way to install six months of MS monthly updates?

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I was unavailable to do the June updates, and let them slide, since then I haven’t done any updates. I’m scared that a bad update could cause problems. After a bad update, does MS eventually correct the problem so I don’t need to worry about them causing problems and could therefore let MS download all the old updates and maybe just watch Dec/Jan following the patch update?

Thanks for any help you may provide.

Norm

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You’ll have 80 or so waiting for you. You could start with the oldest first, do 10 or 15 at a time, then reboot, see if anything is amiss, and if not then do another batch. The bad patches from months back have been either removed or fixed.

Always create a fresh drive image before making system changes/Windows updates; you may need to start over!

We all have our own reasons for doing the things that we do with our systems; we don't need anyone's approval, and we don't all have to do the same things.

We were all once "Average Users".

Computer Specs

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You’ll have 80 or so waiting for you. You could start with the oldest first, do 10 or 15 at a time, then reboot, see if anything is amiss, and if not then do another batch. The bad patches from months back have been either removed or fixed.

I did a fresh install of Win 7. There were over 100 updates shown as Important or Recommended. I decided since I was not going to be using this computer for a while, to just let Windows do its thing.

When I came back to it, it was stuck on update #20. So I got out of Windows Update and rebooted the system. I discovered the update that was hanging the process so I cleared its check box and decided to do about 20 updates at a time. Eventually I got to the one which failed and tried it again and this time it succeeded.

Win 7 is going to receive updates until 2020. I wonder what will happen if you try reinstalling it a few years from now.

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You could (should!) make an image backup with one of the free backup programs, Macrium, Easus, etc, then install madly and if it all goes pear shaped you have an image to return to.

cheers, Paul

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You could (should!) make an image backup with one of the free backup programs, Macrium, Easus, etc, then install madly and if it all goes pear shaped you have an image to return to.

cheers, Paul

Whats your thoughts on (Acronics True Image) ?

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Whats your thoughts on (Acronics True Image)?

I have a paid version of ATI that does my daily backup and regular image backup. To date it has recovered everything I’ve needed, although it could be better in some ways, but I am used to enterprise level backup programs.

cheers, Paul

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I used Acronis to make an image of a functioning newly minted PC to load the image on a second almost identical PC. It took some work with Customer Support but it did it! Saved me gobs of time and got me around a problem I had dueling video drivers.

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If you’ve got a fast internet connection just let it all download, except the optional updates.
Then when all of your updates have downloaded and you are certainly asked to reboot the system,
updates for the updates you have just downloaded will be available.

I did a clean install for a new build recently and the updates took longer to go through than the clean install.
Add an Office suit to the mix and you’ll be dating WU all day long.

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When I did a factory reset about the middle of last year, the WUs took over 8hrs to download and install – but that was with just a Download sync speed of ~6.6meg

I think there was about a GB but they installed okay.

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I agree, Windows Update is always risky. It has been the most frequent reason for a lockout in my experience.

I would first of all make sure the Firewall and AV were up to date. I was locked out last year because of a clash with Online Armor which a signature update fixed. Fortunately System Restore worked. Then do a full system backup. Test it. After that it is your choice.
1. Risk it. Download all the Windows stuff except Word files etc and except Net. Then test it for a few days. If it fails, then try to role back with System Restore and install in batches of files.
2. Install in batches of say 10 files, wait a few days between each batch. Then when confident, install other programs, then work on Net stuff.

If it was my own personal computer I would do option 2. If it is a very lightly used computer of a friend I would risk option 1. In the end it is your call.

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Amen, all. Been there. Done that. Mass WU is fraught with hang-ups, Do everything possible before starting WU to ensure you have a workable Plan B.
This year I built a new machine and got caught installing fresh Win 7. Simply put something fought with my video and that got sticky fast.
Also remember that you might want to include updating BIOS, mobo firmware, drivers, etc. in your preparation phase.

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I’ve lost count of how many people I’ve helped with having to get caught up with multiple WU’s.
In summary May I recommend the following:
Before attempting to get caught up, make sure the computer is safe & secure by running your anti-malware programs manually so you see the results unless you are absolutely sure it is safe & secure
Then ensure the computer maintenance programs are ok: for example Disk Cleanup including Clean up system files & whatever else you normally do to keep the computer well maintained
Create a System Repair disc
Create a System Restore Point
Now it’s time to get into the WU’s
You can install of them all at once; however, in my experience I prefer the concept of categorizing which ones to install. Yes it does take time to do them this way but I haven’t had any failed updates since I started this procedure and the person I’m helping actually becomes impressed with the results
— I begin with the Important updates usually 5 or so at a time but do not include the .Nets yet
— Once the selected Important WU’s are completed then I do move on with the Important .Nets
— Same principal the applies to Recommended updates
— I also review Optional updates and select which ones to install and which ones to hide
Finally create a system image onto an external hard drive

HP EliteBook 8540w laptop Windows 10 Pro (x64)

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Security updates are available on ISO-9660 DVD5 image files from the Microsoft Download Center

https://support.microsoft.com/kb/913086/en-us

Just because you don't know where you are going doesn't mean any road will get you there.

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I use Portable Update on a dedicated 1TB 2.5in USB HDD to install updates on my own and customers’ computers. Saves a lot of downloading and time, especially when I have to update a customer’s new computer.

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I was unavailable to do the June updates, and let them slide, since then I haven’t done any updates. I’m scared that a bad update could cause problems. After a bad update, does MS eventually correct the problem so I don’t need to worry about them causing problems and could therefore let MS download all the old updates and maybe just watch Dec/Jan following the patch update?

Thanks for any help you may provide.

Norm

Hi Norm,

A very useful open-source tool to use is WSUS Offline Update (http://wsusoffline.net/). For XP updates, go to the download page (http://download.wsusoffline.net/) and grab version 9.2.1. It’s the last version that includes support for XP.

The download is a zip file. The files can be extracted and run from any location so it’s fine, and a good idea, to keep it on a removable drive. You’ll need a little under 700 MB of free space to hold all of the available updates from Service Pack 3 forward. After extracting the program files, I recommend renaming the default folder name “wsusoffline” to something like “wsusoffline921” to make it easy to preserve the XP updates for future use. That way you can also use the latest version of WSUS Offline Update for updating any newer versions of Windows.

Unlike the normal Windows Update and other alternative update downloaders, WSUS Offline Update doesn’t require you to pick and choose the updates to install and it doesn’t blindly install every update that’s available by using install scripts and an exclusion list to avoid bad updates.

Another nice feature is the option to auto-reboot, login and continue the update process if an update requires it (e.g. service packs, IE). For anyone with a mix of operating systems, it also supports downloading the Windows updates from a Linux machine (the shell scripts might even work in OS X but I haven’t tried it).

Since there isn’t likely to ever be any future updates for XP, I would turn off the auto-update (to avoid installing updates that might break your system) and use WSUS Offline Update whenever you feel the need to.

Chung

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