Microsoft Update Product Team Blog : WU

Update Notifications and Install-at-Shutdown Behavior

muteam — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 03:32:00 GMT

Hi All,

There have been some recent questions about how users are notified about updates and comments that sometimes customers aren’t being notified that updates are available when they shut down their computer. We are investigating the reports and trying to clarify with the community exactly what people are experiencing. We also want to make sure you understand how the update notifications work.

1. The tray icon should display when all of your available updates have been downloaded. If there are some downloads that haven’t completed, Windows Update (WU) and Automatic Updates (AU) will reschedule the “updates are available” tray notification until those downloads have completed. We wait to notify you after all available updates are downloaded, so you are not constantly interrupted with notifications while using your computer.

2. Upon shutdown, Windows Update and Automatic Updates will also notify customers if there are any available and downloaded (but not yet installed) updates. We do this by prompting customers via the shutdown button to install the downloaded updates. The shutdown and install updates button does not prompt users to install updates – like Service Packs, Internet Explorer, etc… – that require manual interaction (accepting a EULA or completing an installation wizard). It only prompts on updates that could otherwise be installed automatically, according to the user’s configuration. Customers can also choose not to install these updates at shutdown.

Please call Microsoft Support if updates are installed when you shut down your computer and the shutdown button did not inform you that updates would be installed. If you don’t want to be prompted to update at shutdown, you can disable this feature using the guidance provided in the Controlling the Install Updates and Shutdown Feature section of the linked TechNet article. Please note that if your computer attaches to a corporate network, your IT Administrator may be enabling this feature through Group Policy, and it may be turned back on the next time you connect to your corporate network.

Note: Some updates shown in the update list aren’t downloaded with the other updates, and you aren’t notified to install them (described in KB910340). Some customers call support believing that WU isn’t working correctly, because it isn’t downloading or notifying them about some updates. These updates are held back by WU. You can download and install them manually through WU, but WU won’t automatically download or notify you about these specific updates until the WU servers make them “available” for your computer. We gradually allow computers to start downloading larger updates, like Service Packs, because they are bigger downloads that require more network bandwidth to download. If an update is held back from your computer, it will not prevent WU from notifying you on the system tray after all of the “available” updates have been downloaded.

We hope this helps!

MU Team

Windows IE 8.0 Installation

muteam — Sat, 09 May 2009 04:17:00 GMT

Hi All,

We’ve been hearing that there is some confusion with how Windows Internet Explorer 8 is offered through Windows Update (WU) and Automatic Updates (AU), so we thought we’d post a little bit of information regarding this update.

WU and AU will not automatically install Internet Explorer 8. It can be installed just like any other interactive update in WU or AU. The update will be offered to you, and you can choose Install, Don’t Install or Ask me later. If you choose Don’t Install then it won’t be actively offered to you again, and it will become an Optional Update which you can manually install at some point in the future.

Why is it classified as an Important (or High Priority on XP) Update? This classification is used for updates that protect you from security or privacy threats, significantly improve the reliability of your PC, etc. There are many new security features in IE8 that protect you while browsing the Web, and this update is offered like other updates that have similar security implications, like the Microsoft Software Removal Toolkit (MSRT). For more information about how we classify updates, please visit the Windows Update Website on microsoft.com.

Hope this information is clear!

MU Team

Upcoming Expiration Reminders of Windows XP and Windows Vista SP Blocker Tools

muteam — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 01:01:00 GMT

Hi Folks,

Just a reminder, If you have used the Service Pack Blocker Tool for Windows XP or Windows Vista then make sure you’re prepared for the expiration of the blocker tool. The Windows Vista blocker tool expires on April 28, 2009. The Windows XP SP3 blocker tool expires May 19, 2009.

For those of you who haven’t used the blocker tools. They temporarily prevent certain updates or service packs from being offered to a computer through WU. The service pack blockers work for one year after general availability of the service pack. We provide them for business customers who don’t manage software updates using Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) or our System Center products and solutions.

For more information on the Service Pack Blocker Tool, please see the FAQ available through the Springboard Series on TechNet.

Thanks,

The MU Team

Upcoming updates for Windows 7 testing

muteam — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 01:37:00 GMT

Hi all,

Starting on February 24^th we will be offering some test updates to Windows 7 Beta (build 7000) computers. We do typically verify update scenarios during a Beta, and releasing these test updates will help ensure that when we need to release real updates, the process will run smoothly. There will be at most five updates. These updates test the Windows 7 servicing infrastructure. They will not deliver any new features or fixes.

The updates will be offered interactively. This means that users will be notified of available updates, but they won’t install automatically. Users will need to go to the Windows Update control panel and manually start installation. They will also be clearly titled as a test update. If you don’t want to install the updates then you can right click on each update and select “Hide update” to prevent it from being shown in the list of available updates.

MU Team

Rollout start and client availability

muteam — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 23:54:00 GMT

Hi Folks - Noticed a little confusion from our blog post yesterday regarding the Windows Update Agent Update availability. Last night's blog post was to give you some lead time before we started rolling out and making our standalone WUA update available. We are on schedule to start the rollout Monday, 11/3/08. Hope this helps and sorry for any confusion.

The MU Team

Critical Security Update Released Today

muteam — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 22:31:00 GMT

Hello,

Microsoft has released a critical security update today, 10/23/2008 and made this update available via all update distribution channels. For more information see: Microsoft Security Bulletin MS08-067.