Quick way to update Win 7 for all of 2016

Topic

New Reply

I recently revived a Win 7 PC, but it hasn’t been updated since 2015. Any ideas on how to upgrade this PC in the least amount of time and hassle? Are there any updates I should definitely forbid.

Reply | Quote

Replies

You’ll probably want to install update KB3020369 then re-start the computer and install the Convenience rollup update (KB3125574), followed by update KB3181988. KB3181988 resolves an issue stemming from the Convenience rollup update. You’ll also need to install update KB3172605, which is required for Windows Update itself. Without it, Windows Update will no longer function correctly. You can download all these updates from the Microsoft Update Catalog: http://www.catalog.update.microsoft.com/Home.aspx
After that, simply let Windows update check for whatever other updates your system might still need.

As for updates you don’t want, that depends on whether you object to Microsoft harvesting usage data from your PC. If so, avoid updates KB2952664, KB3021917, KB3068708 & KB3080149.

Cheers,
Paul Edstein
[Fmr MS MVP - Word]

Reply | Quote

As for updates you don’t want, that depends on whether you object to Microsoft harvesting usage data from your PC. If so, avoid updates KB2952664, KB3021917, KB3068708 & KB3080149.

Good list. I decided not to install KB3192403 (October 2016 Preview of Monthly Quality Rollup for Windows 7 for x64-based Systems) because the data-harvesting is included within the 120MB download.

Reply | Quote

Good list. I decided not to install KB3192403 (October 2016 Preview of Monthly Quality Rollup for Windows 7 for x64-based Systems) because the data-harvesting is included within the 120MB download.

+1

Don't take yourself so seriously, no one else does
All W10 Pro at 22H2,(2 Desktops, 1 Laptop).

Reply | Quote

Good list. I decided not to install KB3192403 (October 2016 Preview of Monthly Quality Rollup for Windows 7 for x64-based Systems) because the data-harvesting is included within the 120MB download.

How do you know ?

Reply | Quote

How do you know ?

I just clicked on the More information link:

45820-KB3192403
Click to enlarge

… which took me to this URL: https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/kb/3192403%5B/B%5D%5B/url%5D

… which displayed this:

45821-telemetry
Click to enlarge

Reply | Quote

Would I have to remove existing WU’s since SP1, or will they simply be overwritten?

Thanks!

Reply | Quote

It may have problems checking for updates as my Win 7 had following a factory reset.

I ended up using WSUS Offline Update –

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXAOvbNJYyE

http://download.wsusoffline.net/

It won’t download all but after it has downloaded and installed what it has found, go to Windows Update where the rest should be waiting to download.

After they have installed, go to Installed Updates and enter those KBs that Macropod has warned you about into the top right search box where you can right click on them and select Uninstall.

Of those, I have only recently seen KB2952664 offered in this month’s updates which I hid.

Reply | Quote

If you need to reinstall, reset or update multiple W7 older installations, the method here will be useful.

Reply | Quote

To access any MS websites on an outdated system, you will first need to bring Silverlight up to date which was my experience following a factory reset.

https://www.microsoft.com/silverlight/

Reply | Quote

To access any MS websites on an outdated system, you will first need to bring Silverlight up to date which was my experience following a factory reset.

https://www.microsoft.com/silverlight/

Which Microsoft sites require Silverlight? I don’t have it installed and haven’t found any that need it.

Silverlight is not supported on Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Android, iOS or Windows 10 Mobile.

Reply | Quote

Sorry Sudo15 but I’m not sure that’s the case. I’ve never installed Silverlight and have never had trouble with any Microsoft website… or any other website, for that matter. Perhaps I’ve just been lucky but, even after factory resets and installs of Windows 7 from scratch, I always just hide it (now up to 11 different versions I think):

45817-silverlight
Click to enlarge

A Register article in July of last year claims that even Microsoft were advising against using Silverlight in preference to HTML5 and this month’s Usage of Silverlight for websites survey by W³Techs shows Silverlight share has dropped to 0.1%… and doesn’t include Microsoft in the list of ‘popular’ websites still using it. I’m more than happy to be proved wrong but I think Microsoft has followed its own advices and embraced HTML5.

Reply | Quote

That could be the case now Rick, but I had to factory reset a win 7 laptop that pre-dated SP1 and because I wanted to update IE 8 to 11, I needed SP1 installed first.

When I went to the MS website to manually download SP1 I was prompted to update Silverlight to access the website..

I recently had to initially factory reset this one to resolve a problem with Win 10 and while I was bringing things back up to date to the Win 7 system image I’d restored with – I checked my online banking and was told my Silverlight was out of date.

Reply | Quote

That could be the case now Rick, but I had to factory reset a win 7 laptop that pre-dated SP1 and because I wanted to update IE 8 to 11, I needed SP1 installed first.

When I went to the MS website to manually download SP1 I was prompted to update Silverlight to access the website.

I probably don’t see it because I tend to use WSUS Offline Update in auto-reboot mode so it bungs in SP1 and IE11 automatically.

Reply | Quote

When I went to the MS website to manually download SP1 I was prompted to update Silverlight to access the website.

The SP1 download page doesn’t need Silverlight. I can download it in Microsoft Edge: Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1 (KB976932)

Reply | Quote

It may bundle Silverlight in with those updates as that is how it’s usually updated.

Reply | Quote

It may bundle Silverlight in with those updates as that is how it’s usually updated.

I did a Win 7 re-install using WSUS Offline Update about a week ago. I’ve just checked again and there’s no Silverlight installed or waiting to be installed in Windows Update.

Reply | Quote

Win 7 doesn’t use Edge and I can only relate my experience on more than one occasion.

Reply | Quote

Win 7 doesn’t use Edge and I can only relate my experience on more than one occasion.

I know that, but Edge can’t use Silverlight but can download SP1.

Reply | Quote

I would think that Edge has been designed so that it doesn’t have the frailties of IE.

Reply | Quote

And its twin brother KB3192404 lies in wait on Windows 8.1 machines :o:

45822-kb3192404

Reply | Quote

That one is coming off then – I normally click on the More info button but was lulled into a false sense of security by its name and hiding KB2952664 – sneaky MS.

Reply | Quote

sneaky MS

Got to watch em every dadgum minute :o:

Don't take yourself so seriously, no one else does
All W10 Pro at 22H2,(2 Desktops, 1 Laptop).

Reply | Quote

Got to watch em every dadgum minute :o:

That’s a fact :D: thought we were safe after the free Win 10 upgrade was no longer plaguing us

Reply | Quote

No, you don’t have to remove anything.

If you use WSUS and it tries to install any that are already installed, then they’ll fail but as it hasn’t been updated since 2015, then I would think there would be a few that have been superseded.

When you have installed all there is to install then go to Installed Updates and enter those KBs into the top right search box that you have been advised not install, then right click on them and select Uninstall.

Reply | Quote

No, you don’t have to remove anything.

If you use WSUS…but as it hasn’t been updated since 2015…

The latest version of WSUS Offline is Version 10.8 (released 26.09.2016), see: http://download.wsusoffline.net/

I downloaded WSUS Offline and tried WSUS Offline about September 2015 (v9.6.0 02-04-2015) but as you say that version only installed available WU patches up to early 2015, so I continued to use “Portable Update” for some months.

But by about June 2016 “Portable Update” didn’t seem to be working any more, so I had another look at WSUS Offline and found that the later versions generally work very well.

I have WSUS Offline on a 2.5in. 1TB USB HDD so it is very easy to connect it to any system I am working on. Each month after M$ releases updates the first time I connect the USB HDD to a system I run “UpdateGenerator.exe” from the WSUS folder on the USB HDD to download the latest WU patches. Then I can connect the USB HDD to any other PC and run “UpdateInstaller.exe” from the “client” folder in the WSUS folder. Works really well and saves me a lot of time and downloading.

See: http://download.wsusoffline.net/ for the latest version of WSUS Offline.

Reply | Quote

I was talking about that the computer hadn’t been updated since 2015 from the opening thread.

Sorry about any confusion.

Reply | Quote

When you have installed all there is to install then go to Installed Updates and enter those KBs into the top right search box that you have been advised not install, then right click on them and select Uninstall.

It’s quicker not to install them in the first place.

[*]Within the wsusoffline folder, navigate to the client > exclude folder.
[*]Create a new text file called ExcludeList.txt.
[*]In this new file, type the kb number of the updates you don’t want installed. If you want, you can include a description but make sure a comma (,) separates the description from the kb number.
[*]Save the file.

Now, when you use UpdateInstaller.exe, the updates won’t be installed.

My ExcludeList.txt file currently looks like this:

kb2952664,Compatibility update for keeping Windows up-to-date in Windows 7 (Installs telemetry)
kb3021917,Update to Windows 7 SP1 for performance improvements (Nonsense – Installs telemetry)
kb3068708,Update for customer experience and diagnostic telemetry
kb3080149,Update for customer experience and diagnostic telemetry
kb3184143,Remove software related to the Windows 10 free upgrade offer (not needed)
kb3102429,Update that supports Azerbaijani Manat and Georgian Lari currency
kb3192403,October 2016 Preview of Monthly Quality Rollup (Installs telemetry)

IMPORTANT: Do you find that some expected updates aren’t installed? It’s a common misperception that WSUS Offline Update is an alternative to Windows Update… it’s not. Its sole purpose is to quickly get a new Windows installation to a state where it’s safe to connect to the Internet, for example – to use Windows Update (or Microsoft Update), nothing more.

As a result, by default, WSUS Offline Update only downloads/installs ‘Critical’ and security-related patches, not every ‘Important’, ‘Recommended’ or ‘Optional’ ones.

(In my experience, the ‘download/installs’ include recent updates to Windows Update itself… so WSUS Offline Update is also useful as a workaround for bypassing some of the damage Microsoft has recently caused to its own update mechanism.)

If you want to change its basic purpose then check the FAQ webpage for info about adding other updates to the default ‘download/installs’.

Also, check out the ExcludeList.txt file in the folder above, i.e. wsusofflineclientexclude. I just updated WSUS Offline Update to 10.8 and found this in the wsusofflineclientexcludeExcludeList.txt file:

kb816093,MS03-011: Flaw in the Microsoft VM could enable system compromise
kb951847,.NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1
kb890830,Malicious Software Removal Tool
kb944036,Internet Explorer 8
kb982861,Internet Explorer 9
kb2718695,Internet Explorer 10
kb2841134,Internet Explorer 11
kb976002,Browser Choice
kb2526086,Office 2007 Service Pack 3
kb2687455,Office 2010 Service Pack 2
kb2817430,Office 2013 Service Pack 1
kb914961,Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2
kb936330,Windows Vista / Server 2008 Service Pack 1
kb948465,Windows Vista / Server 2008 Service Pack 2
kb976932,Windows 7 / Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1
kb3081444,August 2015 cumulative update for Windows 10
kb3081448,August 2015 cumulative update for Windows 10

You can find more info on the WSUS Offline Update FAQ page.

I’ve found that the easiest way to use WSUS Offline Update is to run UpdateInstaller.exe and select Automatic reboot and recall. A warning will appear to let you know UAC will be disabled temporarily. You can then kick off the install and walk away. When you return you should find the updates have all been completed.

45836-wsus_recall
Click to enlarge

If the device doesn’t support automatic continuation, for example, if it won’t boot with a USB stick/HD attached then you can always copy the client folder to the device then delete the folder after the update. This may not be an option for devices with only a small amount of storage (currently my client folder is just over 23GB because I download updates for several legacy products as well as current. YMMV).

Note that using Automatic reboot and recall creates a WSUSAdmin account that, very occasionally, may not be automatically removed. I’ve been using WSUS Offline Update for many years and have only had this happen once, about 2 years ago. Full recovery instructions can be found in the FAQ webpage.

Two last tips:

[*]Always run UpdateInstaller.exe using the right-click Run as Administrator option from the context menu.
[*]Always temporarily disable AV (especially Microsoft Security Essentials) before using UpdateInstaller.exe. This is because AV scanning can significantly increase the amount of time it takes to calculate ‘superceeded updates’ by 15 mins or more [i.e. the bit where the commandline window shows “Listing ids of missing updates (please be patient, this will take a while)…”].

Hope this helps…

Reply | Quote

You can find more info on the WSUS Offline Update FAQ page.

Thanks for finding that, Rick. I’ve been using WSUS Offline Update (and it’s predecessor) for the better part of a decade, and never came across that FAQ before.

I’ve always wondered what the “custom” subfolders were for, and the FAQ is the only place that makes any mention of them. Looks like you can have two excludelist.txt files, one as clientexcludeexcludelist.txt and one as clientexcludecustomexcludelist.txt. I don’t know why anyone would need two lists, but I just ran some experiments in a VM and verified you can put your blacklisted KBs in either one and WSUS Offline Update will honor both lists.

(BTW, two of your three links to the FAQ appear to have been corrupted.)

Reply | Quote

Thanks for finding that, Rick. I’ve been using WSUS Offline Update (and it’s predecessor) for the better part of a decade, and never came across that FAQ before.

I’ve always wondered what the “custom” subfolders were for, and the FAQ is the only place that makes any mention of them. Looks like you can have two excludelist.txt files, one as clientexcludeexcludelist.txt and one as clientexcludecustomexcludelist.txt. I don’t know why anyone would need two lists, but I just ran some experiments in a VM and verified you can put your blacklisted KBs in either one and WSUS Offline Update will honor both lists.

(BTW, two of your three links to the FAQ appear to have been corrupted.)

Hi dg1261, I could be wrong but I believe .wsusofflineclientexcludeexcludelist.txt is for WSUS Offline Update‘s excludes, (i.e. the one’s that fall outsite its own rules) and .wsusofflineclientexcludecustomexcludelist.txt is for ‘our’ excludes. Anyway, that’s how I’ve used them, rightly or wrongly.

There’s also the .wsusofflineexclude folder which looks like a mixture of blank templates and actual exclude lists, especially the large ExcludeList-superseded.txt file. I haven’t got round to testing a .wsusofflineexcludecustomExcludeList.txt file yet so it’s only a guess that it may stop the ‘excluded’ KBs from being downloaded in the first place.

Many thanks for pointing out the problems with the links in my earlier post. I’ve corrected them.

Reply | Quote

I believe .wsusofflineclientexcludeexcludelist.txt is for WSUS Offline Update‘s excludes, (i.e. the one’s that fall outsite its own rules) and .wsusofflineclientexcludecustomexcludelist.txt is for ‘our’ excludes. Anyway, that’s how I’ve used them

I’ve always done the opposite; I’ve always added my KBs to the pre-existing clientexcludeexcludelist.txt.

There’s no explanation on the website or FAQ, so I scanned the program’s script files to see if maybe the author had commented the script with any annotation that might hint at why there were two excludelists. No such luck, but here are the relevant lines from one of the program’s cmd scripts:

Code:

if exist ..excludeExcludeList.txt (
  type ..excludeExcludeList.txt >”%TEMP%ExcludeList.txt”
)
if exist ..excludecustomExcludeList.txt (
  type ..excludecustomExcludeList.txt >>”%TEMP%ExcludeList.txt”
)

From this it’s clear the two lists are simply concatenated at run time, so it doesn’t matter how we use them.

I agree that any excludelists outside the client folder are for the purposes of download rather than installation, but I deliberately don’t tinker with those because I prefer to have blacklisted KBs downloaded and not installed rather than not downloaded all. That way, it’s much easier for me to tell what blacklisted KBs are still “active” and subject to installation if not for my client excludelist.

The program will delete obsolete updates from the offline cache if the “Clean up download directories” option is ticked in updategenerator.exe, so when I see KBs have been removed from the cache I know I can prune my excludelist to remove obsolete KBs. I wouldn’t be able to tell if the downloads had been prevented in the first place.

Reply | Quote

I’ve always done the opposite; I’ve always added my KBs to the pre-existing clientexcludeexcludelist.txt.

There’s no explanation on the website or FAQ, so I scanned the program’s script files to see if maybe the author had commented the script with any annotation that might hint at why there were two excludelists. No such luck, but here are the relevant lines from one of the program’s cmd scripts:

Code:

if exist ..excludeExcludeList.txt (
  type ..excludeExcludeList.txt >”%TEMP%ExcludeList.txt”
)
if exist ..excludecustomExcludeList.txt (
  type ..excludecustomExcludeList.txt >>”%TEMP%ExcludeList.txt”
)

From this it’s clear the two lists are simply concatenated at run time, so it doesn’t matter how we use them.

I agree that any excludelists outside the client folder are for the purposes of download rather than installation, but I deliberately don’t tinker with those because I prefer to have blacklisted KBs downloaded and not installed rather than not downloaded all. That way, it’s much easier for me to tell what blacklisted KBs are still “active” and subject to installation if not for my client excludelist.

The program will delete obsolete updates from the offline cache if the “Clean up download directories” option is ticked in updategenerator.exe, so when I see KBs have been removed from the cache I know I can prune my excludelist to remove obsolete KBs. I wouldn’t be able to tell if the downloads had been prevented in the first place.

Good analysis of the program’s cmd scripts. Thank you.

Reply | Quote

No, you don’t have to remove anything.

If you use WSUS and it tries to install any that are already installed, then they’ll fail but as it hasn’t been updated since 2015, then I would think there would be a few that have been superseded.

When you have installed all there is to install then go to Installed Updates and enter those KBs into the top right search box that you have been advised not install, then right click on them and select Uninstall.

I’m not technically inclined enough for WSUS, it sounds kind of scary to me. Can I just download the rollup file like macropod said in message 2 and let Windows update install it?

Reply | Quote

I was talking about that the computer hadn’t been updated since 2015 from the opening thread.

Sorry for any confusion.

Reply | Quote

I didn’t know about that option in WSUS, but I ran it following a factory reset of a Win 7 laptop and of the 251 updates I was originally offered by Windows update and didn’t seem to want to download, WSUS installed just 142 of them.

Whether some of the ones recommended not to install were included in the 142 or the remainder – I don’t know, but I wasn’t going to rake through the remaining 142 and just let them rip, as it was my intention to upgrade the machine to Win 10 anyway.

Reply | Quote

I ran it following a factory reset of a Win 7 laptop and of the 251 updates I was originally offered by Windows update and didn’t seem to want to download, WSUS installed just 142 of them.

I’ve amended my earlier post to give more prominence and a better explanation (hopefully ) to ‘why WSUS Offline Update doesn’t install expected updates’.

Hope this helps…

Reply | Quote

Yes, but sometimes when you download an update on its own, it can get stuck on searching your computer for updates – it could be checking to see if you already have it installed, so you end up no further forward – but give it a try and it may install okay.

Reply | Quote

See satrow’s #8 post at http://windowssecrets.com/forums/showthread//177385-How-to-fix-Windows-Update-slow-downloads?p=1070666&viewfull=1#post1070666 which has a link to a Micro$oft article “Windows Update is taking an unusually long time to scan and install updates”.

Reply | Quote