Guide to Using WuMgr for Windows 10 Updates

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WuMgr for Windows 10 Explanation

WuMgr is third-party software created by DavidXanatos and performs Windows Update Management. It is an alternate method for Windows update operations. This topic is a short explanation on how to use WuMgr (Update Manager for Windows) to either install Windows updates or hide them.

Part I will deal with downloading and executing WUMgr.

Part II will show how to install Windows updates.

Part III will show how to hide Windows updates.

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[geekdom]

Part I Downloading and Executing WuMgr

WuMgr is located at this address:
https://github.com/DavidXanatos/wumgr

Select Release 1.1

Select WuMgr_v1.1b.zip

Save file:

Extract files:

I extracted files here:

The executable file is here. Click on it to run it.

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• This reply was modified 4 years, 4 months ago by geekdom.
• This reply was modified 4 years, 4 months ago by geekdom.

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Part II Installing Updates from WuMgr

There are six selections for WuMgr from left to right they are:
Circle: Search
Down arrow: Download
Down arrow with box: Install
Trash: Uninstall
Eye: Hide
Chain: Links

Select the circle on the far left.

Check the update you wish to install.
Select the box with the down arrow.

The update will download and install.

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[geekdom]

Part III Hiding Updates in WuMgr

When you hide an update in WuMgr, the update is prevented from installing.

Select the circle on the far left.

Check the update you wish to hide.
Select the eye with the line through it.

The update will be hidden.

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• This reply was modified 4 years, 4 months ago by geekdom.

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And if you want to UNhided and install?

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ejb

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Things in Windows update have a way of resetting themselves and new updates are sometimes introduced without notice. Check often with WuMgr to avoid surprises.

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KP

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I have tried this application a few months ago and it “broke” my Windows update and

I had to recover from a back up.

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How do you know it was WUmgr that broke WU? Maybe WU broke itself – I’ve had that happen.

WUmgr uses Windows Update to do the work and if you check in WU after using WUmgr you will see the same info.

cheers, Paul

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Cybertooth, geekdom

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Appreciate this nfo. What of the settings at the bottom right corner? Options and Auto and Auto update? There appears to be some missing information here.

Also, I have used several settings within group policy and registry to control wu- will these have any impact on WuMgr? ie notice to download updates, exclude Drivers from quality updates and set automatic update options.

Also have blocked edge, Internet explorer,Cortana, some Telemetry (w10tel.cmd script written by–?), stopped indexing, stopped prefetch- more do not come to mind right now but will any of these be affected? Also set to stay on ver 1909 in group policy editor. Sorry about the haphazard presentation – I’ve been stopping and blocking since first Win 10 I saw- 17xx I think? Maybe 1803? I suspect I may want to do a clean install before too long! I actually use more utils than actual product producing proggies- Use open office for spread sheet and word proc, quicken, email client,firefox, VLC. So as you can see no big production stuff. I only add this stuff in case WuMgr may have an impact on these.

version 1909 (OS Bld 18363.1198)

Thanks!

 

 

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geekdom

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For Auto Update, I use the default settings as shown here:

 

For Options, I also use the default settings.

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DriftyDonN

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Thanks! Won’t allowing automatic update essentially allow wu to have it’s way? And allow drivers? Hmm. I do have (=2 notify ,don’t download) Sorry I neglected to mention that.

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[geekdom]

As further information, I have a plain-vanilla system and use O&O ShutUp10 to inhibit unwanted Windows options.

I use WuMgr to see what updates are available, including drivers, and hide them if I don’t want them. I can’t say that WuMgr won’t affect your system applications because I don’t have your system configuration. What I can say is that on my systems, WuMgr works well for managing Windows updates and does not affect other system operations.

In short, WuMgr has worked well on my three systems and without error to other software.

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• This reply was modified 4 years, 4 months ago by geekdom.
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DriftyDonN, Cybertooth

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WUMgr has worked well on my two Windows 10 systems, too. One time, I noticed that no patches had been offered for months on one of those machines, and it turned out that I’d clicked on the box to Block Access to WU Servers. Then I knew that WUMgr works as advertised.

I do select the Disable Automatic Update button instead of leaving the default selection. That way, no patches (presumably) will come in the door without my express approval. If I understand correctly how WUMgr works, the default setting is analogous to the “Install updates automatically” setting in the pre-Windows 10 update settings applet, while the Disable Automatic Update setting is like the setting to “Check for updates but let me choose whether to download and install them” in the old applet.

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I too use WuMgr on many Win10 machines and it works well.
Disable Automatic Update option, and completely UNcheck “Include drivers” option AND using “metered” internet connections and NO updates get automatically installed onto those Win10 PCs.

are you using metered internet connections, Cybertooth?

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@EP, I don’t use Metered Connections. All the patching-related settings I use are through WUMgr. So far, they’ve been working well.

 

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geekdom

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DriftyDonN wrote:

Also, I have used several settings within group policy and registry to control wu- will these have any impact on WuMgr?

WUmgr runs Windows Update and won’t show updates not shown by Windows Update due to block/deferrals.

To show all pending updates you need to set in GP ‘notify don’t install = 2’ and leave quality and feature updates = 0.

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Alex5723 wrote:

To show all pending updates you need to set in GP ‘notify don’t install = 2’ and leave quality and feature updates = 0.

and do you also have the radio button for Automatic Update turned on, if you have GP=2 notify download/install? Or is it turned off?

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Black Penquin

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WCHS wrote:

and do you also have the radio button for Automatic Update turned on, if you have GP=2 notify download/install? Or is it turned off?

It is off by default.

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[WCHS]

Alex5723 wrote:

It is off by default.

in other words, the Automatic Update radio button is filled in? Which to me means that is on by default.

• This reply was modified 4 years, 4 months ago by WCHS.
• This reply was modified 4 years, 4 months ago by WCHS.

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I’d be interested in knowing what specifically these three WuMgr options do:

• Block Access to WU Servers
• Disable Update Facilitators
• Disable Store Auto Update

And (just as important) how does WuMgr tweak the system in order to accomplish these three things?  For example what system services, processes and/or tasks are being disabled or blocked when these options are selected?  I’m especially curious about the option to “Disable Update Facilitators“; since that seems to be the key to stopping Windows Update from pushing unwanted updates, or from changing system settings without warning.

Is there any detailed documentation on what these WuMgr options do, and how they work?

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[Paul T]

Read the source files (code) on the WUmgr site and all will be revealed.

If you can’t read the code (don’t understand it) you will have to search for others who have.

cheers, Paul

• This reply was modified 4 years, 4 months ago by Paul T.

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I didn’t really want to wade thru the WuMgr source code.  What I’m hoping exists somewhere is an end user-friendly document with just a summary of what services, processes, tasks, etc. are getting blocked or disabled.  I like the program; but it would be really nice to know conceptually what it’s doing — just a sentence or two that explains what each option does.

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I can’t speak for how WUMgr does any of these things, but I can tell you from experience that “Block Access to WU Servers” will prevent Windows not only from downloading each month’s patches, but even from displaying them in the WUMgr GUI. The setting to “Disable Store Auto Update” prevents apps from the Windows Store from updating themselves without your knowledge/approval.

Unfortunately, I can’t offer much help regarding the setting you were most curious about, “Disable Update Facilitators”. I would speculate that this has to do with auxiliary Windows services and/or tasks that participate in the process of finding, fetching, and installing patches, but that’s about as far as I can take it.

Maybe somebody else can pitch in with more specific info.

 

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Tom-R wrote:

an end user-friendly document with just a summary of what services, processes, tasks, etc. are getting blocked or disabled.

There is no such document.

You can however write to the developer with your questions.

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Alex5723 wrote:

There is no such document.

This sad fact is what explains the existence of the present thread, as well as several other attempts here at Woody’s to describe the workings of WUMgr.

David Xanatos has done a great job of creating his program, but some of the functions exposed in the GUI are far from self-explanatory. Imagine making an airplane and then providing no training/instruction manual for flying it: just try all the buttons and knobs to see what they do! 

 

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Cybertooth wrote:

Imagine making an airplane and then providing no training/instruction manual for flying it:

yeah … great … wasn’t there a problem with the Boeing 737 Max for exactly this same reason … I am not willing to just press buttons to see what happens!!

I have no complaints with the programming, whatsoever. I’d just like to know what the check boxes and icons do or do not do. As for the icons, most of them have been explained here … still wondering about the ‘link’ icon, though. And many of us have questions about some of the check boxes and don’t want to fly in the dark.

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Your PC is not likely to fall out of the sky, and you have a backup, so go for it!

cheers, Paul

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geekdom

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Just trying buttons is still an extremely crude approach. The point is that it would be much more preferable to have a manual to review before and as the user starts to fiddle with the application–hence this thread and others on this website.

I found a discussion of WUMgr that may help our understanding of some of the more obscure functions of the program.

 

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Cybertooth wrote:

I found a discussion of WUMgr that may help our understanding of some of the more obscure functions of the program.

I’ve read this discussion. It’s very helpful.

a) Under the Auto Update tab, I wonder what the difference is between Disable Automatic Updates and not turning on the radio button for Automatic Update ?

b) Under the Options tab, I wonder if “Manual” download/install is the same as GP=2 notify download/install. In the discussion, Tittel says that it forces the user to authorize download/install. Sounds like GP=2.

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Cybertooth

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Aaaaah! On August 2, 2024 I went for the helpful explanation and got a 404 error! The entire win10.guru site is no more.

Does anyone still have it and willing to share it?

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The Wayback Machine to the rescue: https://web.archive.org/web/20221023144952/https://win10.guru/introducing-windows-update-manager-replacement-for-wumt/

Ed Tittel is a contributing writer for AskWoody.com, so it may be possible to contact him via AW.

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[geekdom]

Link command:

Select the circle on the far left.

Check the update where you wish to see the link.
Select the box with the chain.

This notice will appear at the bottom of WuMgr.
Update Download Links copyed to clipboard

Open Notepad and do a paste:

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• This reply was modified 4 years, 4 months ago by geekdom.
• This reply was modified 4 years, 4 months ago by geekdom.

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[Alex5723]

Cybertooth wrote:

Imagine making an airplane and then providing no training/instruction manual for flying it:

Boeing 737 ?

I don’t know of any 3rd party Windows app that has full documentation of changes made to Windows OS services, registry,… with one exception : Black Viper.

• This reply was modified 4 years, 4 months ago by Alex5723.

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wavy

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Alex5723 wrote:

Boeing 737 ?

Boeing 737 MAX

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PKCano

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August 2, 2024: Not any more, and judging from his site (which I remember from 25 years ago) not for a long time.

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WCHS wrote:

a) Under the Auto Update tab, I wonder what the difference is between Disable Automatic Updates and not turning on the radio button for Automatic Update ?

There is no choice to be made there, really. You can’t both disable the button for automatic updates and not turn on the button for automatic updates: if one is not selected, then the other one will be.

WCHS wrote:

b) Under the Options tab, I wonder if “Manual” download/install is the same as GP=2 notify download/install. In the discussion, Tittel says that it forces the user to authorize download/install. Sounds like GP=2.

Since I only use WUMgr, I no longer remember what the Win10 or GP update settings do. What I can say is that manual download/install works the same way as in Win7. (I suppose that if MS ever breaks WUMgr and it doesn’t get fixed, I’ll have to refresh my memory of the official update settings or, more likely, just switch to Linux full-time.) Somebody else in this thread should be able to give you a specific answer, though.

 

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WCHS

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exceptional for you to do this. it really helps. wish I could open it!!

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This is all really useful. Very clear. Thanks so much!

So… on my Windows 10 Home, out of the box machine. Moving onwards with set up. 20H2 installation successful.

1:  Wushowhide … understand how it works. Have to be quick! Among the updates I allowed were…  KB4601319 and KB4023057. All went as usual for download/installation/restarting etc.

2:  WuMgr ….. now trying this. In Update History, it shows the 2 updates above as: In progress 0x802420214. The others show as Succeeded.

3  BUT looking at Control Panel, installed updates:
KB4601319 shows as installed.    KB4023057 is not there at all.

I am confused.
Many thanks in advance for enlightenment.

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KB4023057 will install in Control Panel\Programs & Features or in Settings App\Apps.

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Kathy70

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I have hidden KB4023057 many times, following PKs instructions.  Today, it shows hidden when I run  wushowhide.  However, upon reboot (with metered connection on),  WU shows KB4023057 in the Q (along with Defender, I am not ready to do March updates yet, as per Susan’s recommendation).

I can still see KB4023057 in the ‘hidden’ list.  I unhid it and re-ran wushowhide, as per instructions to hide it.  It shows hidden, but is still in the update Q.

Should I install it and then immediately remove it from control panel? I have GPEDIT settings as per the instructions from this forum to prevent updates from automatically installing, I could check the settings.  Or any ideas on how I can fix this?  thanks.

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… as Microsoft Update Health Tools in both places.

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Kathy70

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PKCano wrote:

KB4023057 will install in Control Panel\Programs & Features or in Settings App\Apps.

Is there a difference in displaying updates Pro vs Home ?

KB4023057 is under View update history – quality updates on my Windows 10 Pro.

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b wrote:

KB4023057 will install

It may show under WU History, but it is not listed in WU installed updates.
It installs as a program.

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That makes sense. I’ve learned yet another new thing or two.

So … is it OK to delete the 2 ‘in progress’ items in WuMgr?

I would assume so, but this is the first time I’ve used it.

Thanks so much!

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Leave the WuMgr items, they will be tidied up next time you run it.

cheers, Paul

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Kathy70

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dmt_3904 wrote:

Today, it shows hidden when I run  wushowhide.  However, upon reboot (with metered connection on),  WU shows KB4023057 in the Q

Use WUmgr, WUmt, WAU Manager..

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Tom-R

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Use WUmgr, WUmt, WAU Manager..

I wholeheartedly agree.  I never fully trusted wushowhide anyway; since I always felt that Microsoft could render it useless at any time without warning.  Of the three alternate solutions, the one that has consistently worked for me has been WUMgr.  Over the past 18 months now, it has never once allowed an unwanted update to get thru to any of my Win10 systems.  (The others may be fine also; but I haven’t used them as much as WUMgr.)

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WUmgr, WUmt, WAU Manager

ok thanks for the info. I am not familiar with this software.  Is it trustworthy?  Where does one get it?  I will check it out.  Donna

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OH!  I just posted my response and then clicked on “Windows Update”  Now the items I want hidden are hidden!!! Maybe it just took a little more time for it to update?  Anyway – seems there’s some consensus here that wushowhide is not good and the other software is better.  I have to admit, I started using wushowhide when PK referenced it in his instructions on how to clear the Update Q- so I’d been using it since then, following those instructions.

https://www.askwoody.com/forums/topic/2000013-how-to-clear-the-windows-update-queue-in-win10/

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There is nothing wrong with wushowhide, although one of the posters keeps repeating that is is no good. That is simply WRONG. I use it exclusively b/c I use what MS offers most of the time instead of third-tarty blockers and fix-its. And Microsoft has NOT discounted and abandoned it in spite of what that poster says.

Windows Update is static. When it does it’s routing scan, it cashes the list of updates until the next time it scans. That static cache is what you see in the Windows Update queue.

wushowhide is dynamic. It does its own scan with the same Service as WU, but its listing is current. When you HIDE something, you have to wait till WU rescans on its own before it updates the cache/list of updates in the queue.

See  AKB2000013 How to clear the Update queue for a more thorough explanation.

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These patches/updates have been in my wushowhide que for months- every patch tues I add the newest ones. I then try to update when given the go ahead by aw but they dont install I use the manual method from the catalog using the list from the master patch list. WU checks every day and yet these are still hidden not installed.

optional cumulative update preview (KB5000842) is in wu que, has been there for sometime now checked this a.m. as usual. Dont know why I am getting offered preview as I havent been getting them…

win10 pro version 2004 (OS Bld 19041.870)

how do i get rid of these?

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apologies for posting this here….off topic

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For fun I just instd WUMgr and In the Auto Update TAB the — Automatic Update (default) — is NOT Chk’d. We have users doing BOTH treatments, so I wonder HOW it matters.

AND, both my WU History App and WUMgr show Jan-Feb-Mar CU’s as — IN PROGRESS — Vs Succeeded –. Is THAT unique to 20H2 and the Enablement Pkg approach?

 

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[CraigS26]

CraigS26 wrote:

AND, both my WU History App and WUMgr show Jan-Feb-Mar CU’s as — IN PROGRESS — Vs Succeeded –. Is THAT unique to 20H2 and the Enablement Pkg approach?

Edit gone B4 I could say Settings / Quality Updates History Does Show – Installed — , BUT just found a column for — In Progress — with ( 0x80242014) Code for ea CU. That Code talks of Updates needing a Re-Start but there have been many since any/all of them. Confused as to Which Update Completion Rating is correct: Installed or In Progress.

W10 Pro 22H2 / Hm-Stdnt Ofce '16 C2R / Macrium Pd vX / GP=2 + FtrU=Semi-Annual + Feature Defer = 1 + QU = 0

• This reply was modified 4 years ago by CraigS26.
• This reply was modified 4 years ago by CraigS26.
• This reply was modified 4 years ago by CraigS26.

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[CraigS26]

Sorry, BUT, at Install in the Auto Update Tab neither Disable Auto Update NOR Automatic Update (default) were checked. Knowing a Change required Re-Start I played around and checked Disable Automatic Update; Then I Clk’d Auto Update (default) and the dark circle moved BUT I could Not erase the Selection. Thinking a Close and Re-open with No Re-start would erase the last selection I found it does Not. A Re-Start Erased my Installed Updates and Hidden Updates — BUT They Remain in wushowhide. Only Installed Updates remain. I uninstalled this app once and just did it a 2nd time.

The Re-Start apparently Chk’d by Itself – Hide the Settings WU Page – which caused me grief prior being unaware of this Setting, so now I have to re-install it to hopefully see Settings Update again.

Add this to your experience manual……

W10 Pro 22H2 / Hm-Stdnt Ofce '16 C2R / Macrium Pd vX / GP=2 + FtrU=Semi-Annual + Feature Defer = 1 + QU = 0

• This reply was modified 4 years ago by CraigS26.

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CraigS26 wrote:

For fun I just instd WUMgr

WUmgr, WUmt, WAU, wushowhide are all portable. No installation is done.

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I just want to confirm that wushowhide is working, for me.  When I posted earlier, I had not waited the appropriate amount of time for WU to catch up to the request to hide items.  When it updates, it does not show the hidden items in the Q.  I have used wushowhide twice since posting and it has worked flawlessly both times.

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… I had not waited the appropriate amount of time for WU to catch up to the request to hide items.

That right there is the main problem with wushowhide.  It shouldn’t be necessary to wait an “appropriate amount of time” for changes to take effect.  When you hide any updates, they should be hidden immediately — or at the very least, as soon as the system is restarted.  That’s one of the reasons I’ve lost confidence in using wushowhide.

Yes, WUMgr is a third-party utility; but it’s much more straightforward and responsive to use.  And, at least for me, it’s worked flawlessly for more than a year now.

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Yeah, it would be nice/more user-friendly if the updates were immediate and probably should be that way.  But, it works for me, so I’ll keep using it.  Good to know there’s other software out there that can be used, if needed.

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https://borncity.com/win/2021/05/01/windows-10-updates-mit-wumgr-blocken-2021/

Start about 2/3 down the page at the indented paragraphs (ie) At this point, however, two remarks – I have been in exchange with David Xanatos for a long time.

Noted IT blogger Gunter Born delayed, But Now recommends  WUMgr WITH a  caveat: it addresses Malware potential — “Furthermore, the Win32 program file wumgr.exe suffers from the problem that a DLL hijacking is possible.” — in the app — with two ways to deal with it.

I’m so busy defining – What is dark matter – Can someone make sense of this article’s suggestions and advise in layman’s terms what to do?

W10 Pro 22H2 / Hm-Stdnt Ofce '16 C2R / Macrium Pd vX / GP=2 + FtrU=Semi-Annual + Feature Defer = 1 + QU = 0

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Cybertooth

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I dunno, it seems to me that if malware could do this sort of thing on your system, then your security was already compromised and you’d have bigger things to worry about than whether some malicious DLL might get copied onto the WUMgr folder.

If I were concerned about this happening but wished to keep using WUMgr, the first step I’d take would be to beef up my PC’s security. (You can find some ideas in the first link down in my signature line.) I might also think about the simpler of Born’s suggestions, copying the WUMgr files onto their own empty folder so that I could monitor what files go into it.

As for changing the permissions, that’s one of those topics where my eyes glaze over as soon as I read the phrase “write permissions,”    so someone else may be better able to handle that part.

P.S. Everyone reading this might want to heed the note in Born’s post about Microsoft removing the download link for wushowhide.diagcab. Anybody who didn’t already have this little program will now have to get it from unofficial sources.

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Alex5723

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Cybertooth wrote:

P.S. Everyone reading this might want to heed the note in Born’s post about Microsoft removing the download link for wushowhide.diagcab. Anybody who didn’t already have this little program will now have to get it from unofficial sources.

FYI, Microsoft re-signed the file with a SHA-2 cert. The tool itself is unchanged. For more details, reference Susan Bradley’s post last month: https://www.askwoody.com/2021/wushowhide-is-back/

Win 11 Pro 23H2, Office 2024.
Win 10 Pro 64-bit 22H2, Office 2019.
Win 7 Pro 64-bit, Office 2010.
Nethermost of the technically literate.

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Perq

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I doubt anyone here will stop using WUMgr because of this .dll hijacking threat Gunter Born raises. I posted this just looking for clarification on a subject above my pay grade. I’m fine with my Security apps, BUT malware occurs on well protected systems so why not get some To-Do’s here?

W10 Pro 22H2 / Hm-Stdnt Ofce '16 C2R / Macrium Pd vX / GP=2 + FtrU=Semi-Annual + Feature Defer = 1 + QU = 0

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The two recommendations are simple enough for anyone to manage.

1. Open Explorer and navigate to the folder that contains wumgr.exe.
   Make sure there are no other files in that folder apart from translation.ini and wumgr.ini.
   Run (double click) wumgr.exe.
2. Make sure WuMgr is in a folder of its own – no other programs.
   In Explorer, right click on the folder containing WuMgr.
   Select Properties > Security.
   Click Edit.
   Select Authenticated Users.
   Scroll through the permissions until you get to Write.
   Tick the Deny box.
   Select OK and Yes.
   Close the Properties dialog.

Item 2 will prevent anyone writing to the folder containing WuMgr. To undo this setting, remove the Deny Write permission.

cheers, Paul

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ejb, CraigS26

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Open Explorer and navigate to the folder that contains wumgr.exe.
Make sure there are — no other files in that folder —apart from translation.ini and wumgr.ini.

Paul, do you have Tools/Defender Update in your Folder? I have  — C:\WUMgr\WuMgr_v1.1b\Tools\Defender Update) + Translation.ini + wumgr.exe + wumgr.ini ……  Thanks!!

P.S. I’ll add, should anyone do these steps, that (for Me) the “Deny Write” step for the Folder produced an Error Msg that actually was false. The change Did occur in spite of an Access Denied popup.

W10 Pro 22H2 / Hm-Stdnt Ofce '16 C2R / Macrium Pd vX / GP=2 + FtrU=Semi-Annual + Feature Defer = 1 + QU = 0

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All files within the parent folder of WuMgr 1.1b should be dated 16/12/2019 09:00 with the exception of wumgr.ini where the timestamp changes to the date and time on access.

Windows - commercial by definition and now function...

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Perq, CraigS26

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The Tools folder is not a file, but I should have mentioned it.

cheers, Paul

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CraigS26

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WuMgr Help Request

WuMgr is brand new to me and my questions are pretty elementary. Here’s where I’m at.

I currently have Win8.1 and Win7 computers and wanted to experiment with WuMgr in a VM before upgrading anything to Win10.

I created a Win 10 VM and disabled the network adapter before installing the latest Win10 ISO (10.0.19041.631) to prevent upgrade or feature additions by the installer. That should leave lots of updates for testing. After installation, I used a USB stick to transfer the WuMgr zip file and extracted it, configured it to Manual, Run in Background and Disable Automatic Updates. I reactivated network access and started WuMgr. Then I just let it run to see what would happen. Not everything was blocked.

The first day, a message popped up unexpectedly announcing the addition of a feature. No idea what feature. This added four entries to the update download folder.

The second day, at startup, there were two installed updates. First a driver update for my Epson printer. Next was a Windows Defender Intelligence update.

Today, at startup, there are four more Windows Defender updates. Everything else appears to be blocked.

So ‘Disable’ actually seems to mean ‘Disable, almost’. I’m not complaining, just want to learn how this thing works as I go along.

I’d really appreciate any help to understand this behaviour.

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quiscit: Here’s a write-up I put together for myself just as a cheat sheet on what to do each month when updating my Win10 systems with WUMgr.

Using-WUMgr-to-Update-a-Windows-10-System

I can’t guarantee how well this will work on your systems; but on my Win10 systems where I’ve been following this procedure consistently for the past year now, I can report that there hasn’t been a single update installed that I haven’t explicitly selected via WUMgr.  So, at least for me, this procedure has been fully effective at stopping unwanted updates.

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ejb, JBlocksom, quiscit

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One problem with updating using WUmgr is the the process doesn’t update Windows Update history.

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I haven’t been carefully tracking the accuracy of the Windows Update History.  The main reason I use WUMgr is to stop Microsoft from pushing unwanted updates onto my systems.  And, at least in that regard, WUMgr has been working flawlessly.  If there are any inaccuracies or omissions in the History list, I can live with that.

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Cybertooth

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Controlling the “what” and “when” of Windows updates is the same reason for which I useWuMgr. That said, the program does display its own update history, and I can’t remember the last time I looked at the “official” list on the systems where I use this nifty application.

 

Keep Running Windows 7 Safely for Years to Come  
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Tom-R

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WuMgr updated the history on my 20H2 box that I updated this morning.

cheers, Paul

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Paul

Thanks for the PDF. I’m trying it out on my test system to get the hang of things.

quiscit

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Thanks to @Tom-R, too

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Tom-R, Paul T

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WCHS wrote:

Thanks to @Tom-R, too

To @quiscit:
In Nov 2020, made a post at Update in both places in wushowhide, because wushowhide was showing an update in both “Hide updates” and “Show hidden updates”. There were replies to use WUMgr instead. And after that I had a number of questions about how WuMgr worked. You might want to read some of the posts there, including @Tom-R’s first post of his “Using WUMgr to Update a Windows 10 System ” at #2310864, after which he answered a number a questions I had about it.

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I’ve only ever used this in addition to Windows Update and only in manual mode. I’ve not seen a write up on using it to replace WU.

FWIW, I fire WUmgr up when required, hide / install whatever I want, close WUmgr.

cheers, Paul

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quiscit

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Paul T wrote:

WuMgr updated the history on my 20H2 box that I updated this morning.

WUmgr hasn’t updated the Windows Update History (not WUmgr update history) on my PC for April CU, May CU (20H2), 21H1 upgrade.

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I wonder if that’s the update, not WuMgr. I have some failed update notifications in the log, but updates are now installed and WU says I’m up to date.
The only update I installed this month is KB5003173.

cheers, Paul

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Alex5723

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No failed updates.

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and 20H2 kept your history before 20H2 and 21H1 kept your history in 20H2??
Isn’t that strange? I thought that the installation of a new feature update erases the prior history

When I installed 20H2, it erased my history before 20H2. I haven’t installed 21H1 yet, so I don’t know if it will erase the 20H2 history, but I presume it will.

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If WuMgr is an “alternate method” then just what happens to Windows Update in Settings? Does WuMgr render WU inoperable?

Say one wants to hide a particular update for a month or two, then after the bugs have been repaired to the update one wishes to install it, will it be hidden or available in Windows Update or does one have to return to WuMgr to unhide it first and then install it from there?

In other, words does WuMgr clobber Windows Update or do they remain operable side by side? If Auto Update is unchecked in WuMgr, does Widows Update show updates “paused?” If Auto Update is checked, will an update show up in WU?

w

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WUMger use WU to check for updates.
As with WU in case of pause WUMger won’t show any updates, just like WU, until end of pause.
WU continue to work as usual. Hidden updates in WUMgr will continue to be hidden for WU until unhidden and can be installed directly using WUMgr (that is what I do.)

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To me the whole purpose of using this was in the Auto Update tab and clicking on “disable automatic update”

If you don’t do that, you still get automatic updates.

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Tom-R, Cybertooth

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I agree. Since starting to use WUMgr, I haven’t gone into the Windows Updates portion of the newfangled Settings app at all. I don’t deal with “paused” vs. “deferred” (or whatever) updates, I simply use WUMgr which operates a lot like the Updates applet did in Vista and 7.

 

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Tom-R

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In addition to selecting “Disable Automatic Update“, I also make sure that I select the option to “Disable Update Facilitators“.  I’m not sure if it’s absolutely necessary to add that option; but I do it just to be doubly sure.

A while ago (back in mid-2019) I had a system configured without that option; and it appeared that the system did get an update somehow in spite of WUMgr having Automatic Update disabled.  I don’t have the details anymore, and admittedly it was quite a while ago; so I don’t really know what happened anymore in that particular case.  However, for the past couple years now, I’ve consistently included the option to “Disable Update Facilitators” on all my Win 10 systems; and since doing that I’ve never seen a single update get thru without me explicitly selecting it.  Just FYI.

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Cybertooth

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Although I don’t use WUMgr, it sounds like the setting of “Disable Update Facilitators” makes WUMgr automatically hide KB4023057 when it appears each time, so you don’t have to worry about hiding it every two or three months when a new edition seems to show up!

Just sayin’!

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Cybertooth

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If you disable automatic update, does Defender still update both definitions and engine?

cheers, Paul

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ejb

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From what I can tell, once you select “Disable Automatic Update“, it will do exactly that — no updates get done automatically.  At least, that’s what I’ve seen on my systems.  It’s not a big deal for me though.  On the systems that regularly connect to the Internet for normal everyday browsing and email, I have third-party antivirus to protect against malware.  And that third-party software continues to get automatically updated, regardless of WUMgr.  So I don’t rely solely on Windows Defender on those systems.

On one system that’s running dedicated applications (with limited Internet access, rather than for general web browsing) I still do rely on Windows Defender without the third-party antivirus.  But on that system I just manually do a check for definition updates around once a week — for Defender only.  I can do that without touching or making changes to WUMgr.  And, of course, once a month I do a full Check for Updates with WUMgr on all my systems, which updates everything I select, including Defender.

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Alex5723

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I have tended to update defender every few days, and the one-month-behind thing every month. Sometimes there are also hardware updates specific to my hardware and I generally take them as well, after I have backed up that computer.

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I have some questions on how to use WuMgr.  I was following along with some of the replies which say to Disable Automatic Update in WuMgr.  Here is my quandry.

I have updates paused in WU.  I just installed WuMgr.  When I use the double arrows button to search for updates, it doesn’t find any.

Is that because I have WU paused?  I don’t want to un-pause WU because if I do won’t the updates start applying right away?

If I first set WuMgr to Disable Automatic Updates and then try to unpause WU, the WU Settings Page is hidden so I can’t un-pause updates in WU.

How do I get it so that I can pick and choose which updates to apply using WuMgr if I currently have WU paused?  What steps do I need to take?

Any help much appreciated.

Thanks,
Bill

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BillH: If you’ve set WUMgr to not just “Disable Automatic Update“, but to also “Disable Update Facilitators” (and you’ve rebooted the system after doing that), then you should be OK to un-pause updates.  At that point, WUMgr should prevent WU from downloading and installing anything.  I’ve attached the procedure that I’ve been using successfully for the past couple years to this post here.

Using-WUMgr-to-Update-a-Windows-10-System

Basically I don’t concern myself with the Windows Update settings.  In fact, in WUMgr, I include the option to “Hide WUSettings Page“; since I don’t even want (or have a need) to see it.  You can basically follow the same procedure unless you really want to continue to see the WUSettings — in which case just don’t select the option to hide it.

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I have a nasty feeling that you must unpause everything in WU before turning on Disable Automatic Updates.

 

BUT, I do not know.

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krism:  In WUMgr, you can select “Automatic Update (default)“, which won’t take effect until after a reboot.  But you can also keep or select the option in WUMgr to “Block Access to WU Servers“.  If Windows Update can’t get to the WU Servers, then there should be no way for WU to search for or download any updates.

And if you’ve unselected the option to “Hide WU Settings Page“, you can also feel free to go and pause or un-pause updates as well.  Without access to the WU Servers, no updates should be available to Windows Update.  At least that’s what my experience has been.

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BillH

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a wrote:

I have a nasty feeling that you must unpause everything in WU before turning on Disable Automatic Updates.

 

BUT, I do not know.

Another way to get around this might be to disconnect your PC completely from the Internet (meaning: no Ethernet and no Wi-Fi), then unpause the updates in Settings, and then finally disable automatic updates in WUMgr as @Tom-R recommends. Then you could reconnect to the Internet.

 

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BillH

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Cybertooth,

That would have worked as well for me.  I took a bit of a different approach because I had not thought of this.

Thanks,
Bill

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Cybertooth

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Thanks for the replies and info Tom-R and krism.

The only way I could convert to WuMgr from WU while updates were paused in WU was as follows:

1. In WuMgr I left Automatic Update (default) selected and also selected Block Access to WU Servers.  This allowed me to leave Hide WU Settings Pane unselected.

2. I did a restart.

3. In Windows I went to the Update & Security > Windows Update settings and un-paused updates.  I then did a check for updates to ensure nothing would get installed.  I got an error, “Error Encountered We couldn’t connect to the update service.”.  So all good there.

4. I then went into WuMgr and unselected Block Access to WU Servers.  Now I have only Automatic Update (default) and Include Drivers selected on the Auto Update tab.

With these settings I had WuMgr look for updates and it found the July Cumulative Update for Windows 10 Version 21H1 and also an update for the Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool.  I was able to hide these for now and can install them later.

Hope this helps anyone else that might be as confused as I was about how to get WuMgr working when WU had updates paused.

Bill

EDIT:

After thinking about it I went back in and selected Block Access to WU Servers just to ensure no updates would get unintentionally installed.  When I want to check for updates or install updates in WuMgr, I can deselect this option, do the check or install, and then reselect this option.

 

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Tom-R

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BillH wrote:

I have updates paused in WU.  I just installed WuMgr.  When I use the double arrows button to search for updates, it doesn’t find any.

WUmgr use WU when checking for updates. If there is a pause/deferral WUmgr won’t find any just like WU won’t find any.

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Tom-R, BillH, Cybertooth

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Alex5723,

Thanks for the reply.  Yes… I finally figured that this is what was happening.

Bill

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Lots of good ideas up there. I will bow out of this conversation.

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FYI: There is some additional/partial info here about how WuMgr works if you want to pursue it. Unfortunately there is no other official documentation in one place. This is a trial and error learning app :-).

https://github.com/DavidXanatos/wumgr/issues

(see both tabs for Open and Closed Issues)

 

:W10Pro and W11Pro 22H2

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Cybertooth

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I am finally digging into WuMgr and find that the option for blocking WU servers is greyed out and I can’t figure out how to make it active.  I want it enabled before unpausing WU.  What am I missing?  I am running Win10 Home 20H2.

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Brian, on the Auto Update tab which radio button do you currently have selected?  Did you select “Automatic Update (default)“?  Or “Disable Automatic Update“?  Or did you select one of the other radio buttons (“Notification Only“, “Download Only“, “Scheduled Installation“)?

Also, do you have any of the other Auto Update options currently selected — i.e., “Disable Update Facilitators“, “Hide WU Settings Page“, “Disable Store Auto Update“, “Include Drivers“?

I’m guessing that some combination of those options may be causing the option for “Block Access to WU Servers” to be unavailable.  I can try duplicating your settings on one of my test systems to see if the same issue occurs.  Just let me know what your Auto Update settings (in WUMgr) currently are.

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I have tried numerous combinations of options without joy.  In the Auto Update tab I currently have “Automatic Update (default)“ and “Include Drivers” selected.  All of the other options are grayed out except for “Disable Automatic Updates” and the three at the bottom.

WuMgr.exe is located in C:\Apps\WuMgr.  I have run it as administrator from my standard user account as well as from an administrator account with no change.  The PC was restarted a couple of times while I was trying to figure it out.

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Tank you geekdom for the excellent tutorial! I just downloaded wumgr. Couple Qs

There are six selections for WuMgr from left to right they are:
Circle: Search I understand what this does
Down arrow: Download Download the executable?
Down arrow with box: Install I’ve done this and I see what it does
Trash: Uninstall these next two are self-explanatory
Eye: Hide ok
Chain: Links I saw explanation on this further down.

No response needed, thanks.

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Regarding  “Disable Update Facilitators“ when you enable this option,  I noticed it forces (auto-enables) the option “Hide WU Settings Page” and greys it out so you can’t disable it.

Afterwards, disabling the “Disable  Update Facilitators” will un-grey “Hide WU Settings Page”, however it leaves this option still checked (enabled), but you can manually disable it.

 

 

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Geekdom, thank you for this inspired and inspiring thread. How good is this thread? I became enthusiastic enough to download WuMgr, run the darned thing, and now feel qualified to present a few Traps For Young Players:-

(1) WuMgr is a better interface for the Windows Update process.
(2) WuMgr does not replace the Windows Update process, it gives the user a better feeling of control.
(3) WuMgr works so smoothly and neatly that one feels inclined to actually install the updates.

What could possibly go wrong?

(4) Nothing much, really, except that on a non-SSD laptop, the actual Windows Update process is still going to take an hour or more, and the Windows Update process is still going to say “Update is now complete” in three different ways, each way followed by another message saying “Now installing your updates”, followed by a re-boot with a couple of blue screens along the lines of “Installation is 35% complete” (snide grin).

The novice would be well-advised to buy a house with a garden before attempting all of this, so there is a place to do useful work while the Laptop (“Do NOT turn off your computer!”) is left to Do Its Own Thing.

Truly, thanks again for introducing me to WUGR; I feel more confident about updates today.
Chris

Unless you're in a hurry, just wait.

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wavy, Bob1515

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still going to take an hour or more

I’ve gotten used to a 100MB update taking at least two hours, with my HDD. Using  Resource Monitor, I can see endless writing to log files and filesystem control files. Endless. It’s a minority of the time that is spent on the actual updating.

I dread the 600MB upgrade that M$ keeps trying to push on me. The progress indicators the M$ provides are usually crap; and yes I have had times where everything just jams up and there is no way to distinguish if it is in an endless loop or not.

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It seems WuMgr will do nothing if updates are paused. If I unpause updates, even with being set to metered, W10 will begin downloading some updates and upgrades.

Sometimes, when a download begins, it is impossible to pause again. So I turn off the wifi, and the download eventually times out. But sometimes, I then have to restart because W10 has become flaky from doing all this. Sometimes the restart is then giving problems or takes forever.

I imagine that WuMgr used to be very useful, until MS decided they are going to force downloads whether we want them or not.

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It seems WuMgr will do nothing if updates are paused. If I unpause updates, even with being set to metered, W10 will begin downloading some updates and upgrades.

That’s why I never use the Windows Update settings page to pause updates — ever.  I keep the Windows Update setting un-paused at all times.  I rely on WUMgr to block and confirm which updates are available, and which updates I choose to allow thru.  My normal WUMgr options are set to:

• Block Access to WU Servers
• Hide WUSettings Page
• Disable Store Auto Update
• Disable Automatic Update
• Disable Update Facilitators

Only once a month — when the MS-DEFCON level drops to 4 or 5 — do I ever touch those settings.  And at that point, for just the short period of time needed, I’ll change the WUMgr setting to “Automatic Update (default)”; so that I can manually search for updates and decide which ones I want installed.  As soon as I’ve gotten the desired updates installed (usually around 10 to 15 minutes), I revert the WUMgr settings back to their normal mode to block and disable everything again until the following month.

Attached is a PDF of the detailed procedure that I’ve been using for over the past couple years on multiple Windows 10 systems.  And, at least so far (fingers crossed), I have never yet had an update get downloaded and installed that I didn’t explicitly allow to get thru.

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Bob1515, Cybertooth

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I wonder if the greayed out options in my Auto Update are due to MS update being paused.   I read that that you could disable automatic updates in WuMgr and then unpause MS update effectively turning the updating control over to WuMgr but I can’t get it to work.

Another unknown is whether WuMgr works differently on Win10 Home vs. Pro.

I am going to try to remember to check WuMgr when I unpause MS update for the Sept round.

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Another unknown is whether WuMgr works differently on Win10 Home vs. Pro.

As far as I can tell, WUMgr appears to work the same regardless of whether the system is Home or Pro.  But keep in mind that on the systems where I’m using WUMgr, I always keep the Windows Update setting un-paused.  So I don’t know what effect pausing updates in Home vs Pro might have on how WUMgr operates.  In my experience, it’s safer to let WUMgr handle the blocking (or pausing), not Windows Update.

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Cybertooth

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WUMgr uses Windows Update fuctionality in a controlled way.
When you use Pause or Defer updates, updates will not show up in (be visible to) Windows Update until the Pause or Deferral ends.
Therefore, they will not show up in (be visible to) WUMgr either.
If you use WUMgr, do not Pause or Defer updates. Let WUMgr control Windows Update. THat’s what it is for.

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Bob1515, Tom-R, Cybertooth

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Using WuMgr instead of Windows Update is my goal however my problem is that all of the options in the upper section of the WuMgr Auto Update tab are greyed out except Disable Automatic Update and Automatic Update (default).  The Automatic Update one is selected.

An unanswered question is whether this is the result of Windows Update currently being paused.  I hope to answer it myself when I unpause for the September updates.

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…my problem is that all of the options in the upper section of the WuMgr Auto Update tab are greyed out except Disable Automatic Update and Automatic Update (default). The Automatic Update one is selected.

That’s basically normal.  When you have “Automatic Update” selected, the following options will be greyed out:

• Disable Update Facilitators
• Notification Only
• Download Only
• Scheduled Installation

That’s how WUMgr is supposed to work.  The reason I qualified that with “basically” though is that one other option should not be greyed out.  That’s the checkbox option to “Block Access to WU Servers“.  That one option should still be selectable.  Can you confirm whether or not you’re able to select the “Block Access…” option?

 

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Can you confirm whether or not you’re able to select the “Block Access…” option?

It is not selectable (greyed out).

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Brian, it’s really strange that the “Block Access…” option is greyed out.  I’ve never seen that happen on any of my systems.  Here’s some additional questions then.

First, a couple basic questions.  Are you running WUMgr version 1.1b?  And did you download the zip file directly from the WUMgr release page on Github, which would be here: Github-WUMgr-Releases

Did your system somehow get the infamous KB4023057: (Update for Windows 10 Update Service / “Microsoft Update Health Tools”)?  If so, have you tried removing that update, rebooting, and then re-running WUMgr?

On the WUMgr “Auto Update” tab, is any option currently selected in the top or bottom section — other than “Automatic Update (default)”?  If so, which ones?

On the WUMgr “Options” tab (with “Windows Update” in the drop down menu) are any options there currently selected (top or bottom section)?  If so, which ones?

On the standard MS Windows Update Settings page, is there a message at the top of that page that “Some settings are managed by your organization”?  If so, what are the configured update policies listed there?

Also on Windows Update Settings does it indicate updates are currently Paused?

Under Windows Update Advanced Options, are any Update Options selected?

Under Advanced Options Delivery Optimization, do you currently “Allow downloads from other PCs”?

Other than WUMgr, are you using any other third-party software to block or control Windows updating?

Have you made any customizations to Windows yourself in an attempt to block or control Windows updating?  For example, disabling a service or task, renaming a DLL or EXE file, blocking any service or port or EXE file via an outbound Firewall rule, etc.?

Finally, do you have more than one Windows 10 system available there to try running WUMgr on to see if the same behavior occurs with it?

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Tom-R wrote:

Did your system somehow get the infamous KB4023057

I have updated KB4023057 5 times already this years and WUmgr function normally.

KB4023057 isn’t the devil people here are making of it.

WUmgr doesn’t function properly probably due to a Windows Update GP settings or some registry hack.

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WUmgr doesn’t function properly probably due to a Windows Update GP settings or some registry hack.

Alex, I doubt that KB4023057 is responsible for the WUMgr problem too.  But by asking about it I’m trying to eliminate all the possible variables that at least potentially could be contributing to the problem.  Personally, I’ve been keeping KB4023057 off all my systems just as a precautionary measure.  But it’s encouraging to know that you haven’t seen any issues with it on your systems — especially with WUMgr.

Having said that though, Brian still has an issue with not being able to select the “Block Access to WU Servers” option.  That’s what I’m interested in helping him solve.  Do you have any suggestion as to what specific GP or Registry setting might cause that?  Also, have you seen any reports from anyone else complaining about the same problem?  This is the first such report that I’m aware of.

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Tom-R wrote:

Having said that though, Brian still has an issue with not being able to select the “Block Access to WU Servers”

Why “Block Access to WU Servers” ?
How can WUmgr function with no access to WU Servers ?

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Alex, I keep the “Block Access …” option enabled as added insurance that Microsoft won’t be able to push thru any unwanted updates.  And so far (for over 2 years now) that added layer of protection has worked flawlessly for me.  WUMgr functions just fine; since during the 15 minutes or so each month that I update my systems, I disable that option to allow WUMgr to check for updates.  But then, as soon as the updates get installed, I immediately re-enable it; so that nothing additional can get thru.   For more details on the exact procedure refer back to my previous post: Post-2389329

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Tom-R, Thanks for trying to help.  Here are the answers to your questions.

Are you running WUMgr version 1.1b?  And did you download the zip file directly from the WUMgr release page on Github, which would be here: Github-WUMgr-Releases

Yes.  Unzipped to C:\APPS\WUMGR

Did your system somehow get the infamous KB4023057: (Update for Windows 10 Update Service / “Microsoft Update Health Tools”)?  If so, have you tried removing that update, rebooting, and then re-running WUMgr?

KB4023057 is not installed.  Edit:  My update history only goes back to 2/27/21 (20H2 installation date?)

On the WUMgr “Auto Update” tab, is any option currently selected in the top or bottom section — other than “Automatic Update (default)”?  If so, which ones?

Only “Include drivers”.

On the WUMgr “Options” tab (with “Windows Update” in the drop down menu) are any options there currently selected (top or bottom section)?  If so, which ones?

“‘Manual’ Download/Install”, “Register Microsoft Update”, & “Always run as administrator”

On the standard MS Windows Update Settings page, is there a message at the top of that page that “Some settings are managed by your organization”?

No

Also on Windows Update Settings does it indicate updates are currently Paused?

Yes

Under Windows Update Advanced Options, are any Update Options selected?

“Receive updates for other Microsoft products…”, “Show a notification when your PC requires a restart…”, and of course the pause (until Sept 25th).

Under Advanced Options Delivery Optimization, do you currently “Allow downloads from other PCs”?

No

Other than WUMgr, are you using any other third-party software to block or control Windows updating?

No

Have you made any customizations to Windows yourself in an attempt to block or control Windows updating?

No.  I have been relying on pausing Windows Update as for out as possible.

Finally, do you have more than one Windows 10 system available there to try running WUMgr on to see if the same behavior occurs with it?

Unfortunately not.

 

 

1 user thanked author for this post.

Tom-R

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Brian, I appreciate you providing all the details on your settings the way you did here.  Unfortunately, even though I changed my settings to match yours as closely as possible, my systems here don’t have the same problem that you’re seeing.  The option to “Block Access to WU Servers” is never greyed out for me, and is always available to be selected on two different systems where I tried to reproduce the problem.

Now, having said that, there are two differences between my systems and yours.  First, even though a couple other posters here claim that KB4023057 doesn’t make any difference to WUMgr, that is one of the two differences that stands out to me.  None of my systems have that update installed.  And, since my systems are what I would term “production” systems, I didn’t really want to chance installing that update on them just for testing purposes.  But if you’re willing to try uninstalling that update from your system, it would be interesting to see if that has any effect on WUMgr.  (You don’t need to worry about re-installing it, since MS re-publishes it every month anyway; so you’re sure to have it offered to your system again soon, if you really want it.)

The other big difference that I noted between my systems and yours are that both of my systems are on Windows 10 version 21H1, while yours seems to still be on 20H2.  Also the other poster that reported the same problem with the “Block Access…” option (vp2006) said that he’s running 20H2 as well.  So that’s something that the two of you have in common; and (again) is different from my systems.  I doubt that the Windows version actually has anything to do with this; but it is a difference that I noted.

I posted a report of this problem on the WUMgr Github page as a new issue/question.  So we’ll see if I get any response or feedback there.  But in the meantime, if you think of any other details or info to add, please post it here and let me know.

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I will try uninstalling KB4023057 when I get a chance.  Probably won’t be for a couple of days.

 

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** IMPORTANT UPDATE **

Brian, I have some new information on this problem.  After messaging back and forth a couple times with David Xanatos (the WUMgr developer), he indicated that the “Block Access to WU Servers” option is implemented via a GPO (Group Policy Object).  When that option is checked, the program sets a specific GPO to disable access to the WU severs.  However, according to David, that particular GPO is only respected by Windows 10 Pro.  Win 10 Home Edition does not respect it.  Consequently, if the WUMgr program detects that it’s running on Home Edition rather than Pro, the option will always be greyed out; since it wouldn’t work anyway.

That’s one major difference between my systems and yours that I neglected to take into account.  You have Win 10 Home, while my systems are all Pro.  Sorry for not realizing that sooner.  Unfortunately, it looks like the only solution to this problem is to pay the Microsoft “tax” to upgrade your system to Win 10 Pro.  Sad but apparently true.

Bottom line: You can only enable “Block Access to WU Servers” on systems running Windows 10 Pro (or higher).

4 users thanked author for this post.

Cybertooth, vp2006, Peobody, Alex5723

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Thank you Susan.
I am one with the Home Edition and had the same issue with WUMgr and we now know why.

Oh boy.  Now I need help. I tried checking “Disable Automatic Update” in WUMgr wondering if that would have any effect on Microsoft and auto updates, but to my chagrin, I now can not find Windows Update at all in my Windows settings! It is gone. So I unchecked “Disable Automotic Update” in WUMgr but I still can not bring up Window Updates under Update & Security and I even tried typing Windows Updates in the search box and help box and  nothing.   It is gone.  I tried troubleshooting and rebooted of course, and again,  settings to Update & Security, only gives me Delivery Optimization, Windows Security, Backup, Troubleshoot, and a few others.   What do I do to get this back?  By the way, the troubleshooting report shows under Detection Details, IsPostback_RC-PendingUpdates, but otherwise, no other issues present.  And maybe my change in WUMgr is just a coindence, but honestly, Update & Security was there earlier today when I checked to see what date I had updates paused to.

Thank you in advance.  I am so out of my league here.

Vicki

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Vicki, in WUMgr, do you have the option to “Hide WU Settings Page” selected?  If so, you need to un-check it.

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Tom!  That was it and thank you so much!!  Somehow it got checked so I unchecked it, rebooted and lo and behold my Windows update is there again.

Another question, should the Register Microsoft Update be checked in WUMgr?

Again thank you so much.  Vicki

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Vicki, if you have other Microsoft products to update (e.g., MS Office), then you probably want to select the “Register Microsoft Update” option.  Personally, I’m not using Office or other MS products (besides Windows itself and Defender); so on my systems I don’t have that option checked.  Whether or not to select it depends on your particular situation; although other folks may have their own opinion about it.

One other suggestion I’d add (even though you didn’t ask) is that I also don’t select the “Include Drivers” option.  I generally won’t install any driver software thru Windows Update.  If I need to get driver updates, I’ll go directly to my hardware vendors’ websites (e.g., HP, Dell, etc.).  But again, that’s my personal preference.  Other folks here may have their own opinions about how to handle driver updates.

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BTW, I have my connection set to “Metered”.

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I am having the same issues.  And update Kb4023057 IS showing up as installed on 9/11/21 under View Update History but when I click on Unnstall updates, it is not there.  But I am still running version  20H2.

 

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It installs as Windows Health something-or-other in Settings App\Apps or in Control Panel\Programs & Features. It is an App, not a system update.
It does not show up in Installed Updates.

1 user thanked author for this post.

vp2006

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Thanks.

It looks like it is there in Programs under Microsoft Update Health Tools.  Will try uninstalling and then rebooting.  But I suspect this is not the culprit from what I have read here so far today.

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Yep.  No change.  I uninstalled the update Kb4023057 or Microsoft Update Health Tools in Programs in the Control Panel, then rebooted.  Now interestingly enough, each time I try to open WUMgr which I added to my task bar,  I get the Microsoft box with this message: “The app you’re trying to install isn’t a Microsoft-verified app”  Then it gives me the option to “Get apps from Store” or “Install anyway.”  So naturally I click on “Install anyway”.  But my question, why do I have to install WUMgr each time I want to open it?  Why doesn’t Microsoft save it?

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A portable program is never installed.

If you don’t want the warning, change Settings, Apps, Choose where to get apps to Anywhere.

1 user thanked author for this post.

Cybertooth

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I found KB4023057 installed as “Update for Windows 10 for x64-based Systems (KB4023057)”.  I’m not going to uninstall it for now based on yp2006’s experience that it didn’t help with WuMgr.

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Peobody wrote:

Yes.  Unzipped to C:\APPS\WUMGR

Why on earth did you unzipped to C drive ?
Create a folder on your data partition/drive (D?) and unzip. Remove it from C\apps.

Have you installed any registry hacks to change Windows Update behavior/settings ?
I understand it is a Home version.

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Alex5723 wrote:

Why on earth did you unzipped to C drive ?

Why not?

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Thanks @Tom-R for the guide. It’s very helpful.

When I click to “Get Links”, a very long list of URLs (only 2 are pasted here) is copied to clip, what is that list and why so many? I expected a single URL for the selected KB5005565 and my system.

2021-09 Cumulative Update for Windows 10 Version 20H2 for x64-based Systems (KB5005565)
http://tlu.dl.delivery.mp.microsoft.com/filestreamingservice/files/1f78cce7-d543-445f-939e-6f38cf778614?P1=1632068694&P2=404&P3=2&P4=bcTOvpL3rYQVlpQAX8FqlLbUjBJ%2bm33kgOuw6Z%2f1RzRa2fxPCgUKSOQ%2fUJeuOLZsTWLWoW0Vp7hsn77VIafGnQ%3d%3d
http://tlu.dl.delivery.mp.microsoft.com/filestreamingservice/files/8598c5e2-5b61-4e17-891b-54f163cc6fb1?P1=1632068798&P2=404&P3=2&P4=QdMvbvqpqrTgqTD7oVT%2b%2fJQvTyLSHo191q%2fPZPIXTxaN5QFbX%2fcL8AZbmCliEFqyBglr6vUojrJryJfIGQ%2fgbw%3d%3d

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Bob, before you clicked the Links button, did you select the single entry for KB5005565 — and only that one single entry?

Also, regardless of what links or info you see for KB5005565, at this point in time I would recommend against running WUMgr, or doing any Windows updating.  As long as Susan is keeping the status here at MS-DEFCON 2 I’m not touching WUMgr at all.  Until she gives the “all clear” (MS-DEFCON 4 or 5), your best and safest bet is to keep your systems locked down as thoroughly as possible.  That means don’t go checking for any updates, regardless of whether you’re using WUMgr or the native Windows Update page in Settings.  In other words, don’t go looking for trouble right now.

1 user thanked author for this post.

Bob1515

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Yep, Tom, KB5005565 was the only one available.

I do practice these days what you suggest about waiting. Except I’m doing updates for this particular month because in the coming weeks I’ll be tied up. I had a very bad update from hell in March, which was specific to my installation – so if heaven forbid that were to happen again, I want to get it out of the way this week.

I’d prefer to never do updates for Win10, if only that were possible. My update from hell was that bad, because I tried to thoroughly understand and fix it; but after weeks I had to do a repair install anyway. Yep, this summer I did buy a USB HDD and use that all the time now with Macrium.

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Bob, I understand the need to get updates done on your schedule rather than Microsoft’s.  Just following up on your other posting though.  You said that you weren’t able to download or install KB5005565 with WUMgr.  Is that still the case?  If so, did you try going directly to the Microsoft Update Catalog to download it there?

• MS Update Catalog KB5005565 20H2 x64

BTW, it’s good to know you’re covered with Macrium for backups.

1 user thanked author for this post.

Bob1515

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Yep, Tom, I updated today from the catalog. I will no longer update from the Win10 Update page, btw, since the time I was halfway through the March 5 GB upgrade when Win10 told me, “Oops, something went wrong with your download. Begin it again. Too bad for you.” That’s with my 1Mb connection, which took hours to get that 2.5 GB half. So since then I’ve been using Free Download Mgr to get from the catalog.  Plus I’ll then  have the msu saved in case the install goes badly and needs to be redone.

Thanks for posting the link, though. Since it is now installed, I cannot see if there is still a problem with it, since it won’t be presented to me.

Is a download using WuMgr resumeable?

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Is a download using WuMgr resumeable?

I’m not really sure.  Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) I’ve never run into a situation with WUMgr where the download got interrupted.  So I don’t know what would happen.  If someone else here has run into that situation maybe they can shed some light on how WUMgr would handle that.

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I searched and see KB5005565 is available. But I can’t download or install it. I get errors:

1. Illegal characters in URL
2. 403 Forbidden

I also get the file size saying 103 GB, instead of file size as in the catalog of 6 GB.

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Bob1515 wrote:

I searched and see KB5005565 is available. But I can’t download or install it. I get errors:

1. Illegal characters in URL
2. 403 Forbidden

I also get the file size saying 103 GB, instead of file size as in the catalog of 6 GB.

Installed yesterday KB5005565 using WUmgr.
No problems.
Disregard file size. According to Microsoft file size is 207-602MB.

1 user thanked author for this post.

Bob1515

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Bob1515 wrote:

I’d prefer to never do updates for Win10, if only that were possible.

@Bob1515, by using WUMgr it’s certainly possible to never update Windows 10. It works much the same way as Windows Updates did in versions of Windows before 10: you can view (or hide) the available patches, and simply never get around to clicking to download/install them.

As to whether it’s advisable to never update Windows, around here you’ll get a variety of opinions on that one. 

 

Keep Running Windows 7 Safely for Years to Come  
Make Windows 10 look and work like Windows 7

1 user thanked author for this post.

Bob1515

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Thanks, Cybertooth, I might try that. It’s tempting, since my March update from hell gave me a bad case of Post Traumatic Win10 Disorder.

It’s noteworthy that WuMgr did not present the feature upgrade to me, so I will continue on with WuMgr to see what is presented, even if I download from the catalog.

I’ve bookmarked your “Keep Running Windows 7 Safely for Years to Come”. I might resurrect my old Win7 laptop. I like that concept.

1 user thanked author for this post.

Cybertooth

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Alex5723 wrote:

Hidden updates in WUMgr will continue to be hidden for WU until unhidden and can be installed directly using WUMgr (that is what I do.)

Could you tell me how to unhide an update? I hid KB 5005565 in WuMgr and now want to install it, but I don’t see how to unhide it so that I can do that.

Thanks! Much appreciated!

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Highlight the update you want to unhide in the hidden updates list.

Now click the “eye” symbol you used to hide it. It acts like a toggle.

The update will now appear in the list of updates ready to install.

 

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Great – thanks so much!! That eye has a slash through it, so I though that was just to hide – not unhide!

Thanks for the quick reply!

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OK – I “think” it downloaded, but I can’t be sure.

WuMgr now shows this:

How do I access that file and install it?

Thanks!

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If it was downloaded, it would show up as pending in WUMgr and/or Windows Update. If it was installed, it would be in the list of installed updates:
Control Panel\Programs & Features – View installed updates link top left
OR
Settings App\Windows Update\View update History – link to “uninstall updates at the top.

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Thanks so much! I did finally figure it out and that I also needed to click on the Install button!

So – will this update only show in the WuMgr list – not on the WU list itself?

Seemed pretty fast and easy. Now I’m going to try to do the 21H1 update that I had put off a while ago due to connection issues. If I reset Group Policy to allow that version, where will I see it – in WuMgr or WU, or both?

Thanks again for the help!

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If you are using WUMgr as the control, it will show up there and you can run the install from there.

If you turn off the WUMgr control, so WU is in control, then it should show up in WU and install from there.

Changing Group Policy will simply let it show up so whatever is in control can handle it.

1 user thanked author for this post.

LHiggins

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I was using WuMgr this morning to look to see if 21H1 was available to me yet and found that I am still struggling to understand it.  Please help me with the follow questions:

1.  There is some sort of preview update available.  Windows Update shows it as optional but I don’t see an ‘optional’ identifier in WuMgr.  When using WuMgr, how can I tell an item is optional?
2.  WuMgr offered an old Silverlight update that I am certain I hid in Windows Update.  Do they each keep their own record of hidden updates?

TIA

 

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Brian:  As far as I know, WUMgr doesn’t categorize updates the way Microsoft does.  I’ve never noticed identifiers such as “Optional”, “Important”, “Critical”, etc.  It just lists the updates with their descriptions and KB numbers (if applicable), and leaves it up to the user to decide what’s appropriate or needed.

As for the old Silverlight update, I noticed that getting offered up to me by the native Windows Update on an older Win 8.1 system of mine.  And I had also hidden all the Silverlight updates on that system as well — in Windows Update.  So I wouldn’t put the blame on WUMgr.  Apparently, for some unknown reason, Microsoft pushed out Silverlight updates to some systems this month.  I’ve got no explanation as to why.

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