Windows 7: Installing updates, why shutdown?

So maybe this is a stupid question or not but I tried google for answers and could not find one, maybe its just my noobness shinning here but why does windows update need to shutdown the machine to apply updates? Why cant it apply updates and reboot?




Ok so Im not alone on this found this before hitting submit:
https://connect.microsoft.com/Window...-restartNative

Updates are downloaded, installed and configured.

Some updates cannot be configured while the computer is switched on, which is why it shuts down then restarts.

If you check the screen during this period you will see a message when updates are being configured, which can be both before and after the shutdown and restart.

You usually find that it's the security updates that need to undergo this routine.

You will also notice that you are requested to shutdown then restart your computer when installing or uninstalling certain software. This is so that your computer can be reconfigured also.

....also....
Windows cannot make changes to files that are currently in use by the system, or are locked by running applications. Sometimes Windows can work around this by scheduling fileswaps for the next time the file becomes free by restarting services and suchlike, but some changes to critical files need to be done when the Windows GUI is not running, or corruption may creep in. Windows therefore requires a reboot to clear these scheduled replacements.

all that is well and true, however alot of configuration can be made at restart. Also when have you ever installed any windows update, even those that windows update installs, manually and have it ask you to shutdown? I work with ConfigMgr so we install ALOT of software and software updates; shutting down isnt only unnecessary its inconvenient, which is what a lot of people were talking about in the link I posted above, for those that dont want to go to another site Ive added a screencap below:

Updates only request reboots when System Files that were in use at the time of the install are affected - and for no other reason.
The number of updates requiring reboots has dropped significantly since the days of Win2K (which required reboots for most updates), and will depend on what else the system is doing at the time of the install - If the system has a number of open apps it's more likely to require a reboot than if it's just been started.

I'm not sure whether you are saying you have to power off the machine and then power it back on. If you are then you don't have to. You just have to perform a restart.

This is exactly what Im saying when I just do a restart, no updates get applied. After the reboot the option for "shutdown and install updates" still pops up when I do choose to "shutdown and install updates" the computer installs the updates and shuts down I have to physically power it back on.

That's interesting. It must behave differently when you have Automatic Updates specified rather than the method I use is to have windows inform me of any outstanding updates and then apply them manually. In that case pressing the restart button that appears on the updates dialogue when when it completes does the job. It restarts and applies the updates.

I found this on the web. Not sure what happens to the updates if you do suppress it. http://tipsfor.us/2009/06/22/disable...on-in-windows/

It depends on exactly how you have updates set.
If you have them set to install automatically, they will download ASAP - but wait until (by default) the machine is running at 3.00 a.m. before installing, and then auto-reboot if necessary.
If the machine is shut down in the meantime, then it will install the updates during the shutdown/startup. It will ignore a restart.

If you have 'download but do not install' then it will (I think) wait for you to initiate the install - and will ignore both restart and shutdown.

Thanks Noel. That fits with what we have seen.