Windows 7: Downloading and installing all updates at once

Hi people, I have come looking for some advice and hopefully a solution.

I have now taken over the formatting of laptops at my work place. We buy and sell second hand laptops, so want to erase all data before we sell them.

Everything is fine, but the updates take forever, and need you to be around to continually restart the computer numerous times.



I downloaded WUD and downloaded every update at once, but still found that they could not all be installed at once (Unless I did something wrong), So I was wondering if there is some way you can install all the windows updates at once, as that would save me so much time, as some of the updates take forever to install, making the whole process a good 4-6 hour job sometimes.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you

Hello Harlem and welcome to the forums

Some updates are cumulative (most security updates for example) and the components from the previous update have to exist before the newer update can be installed. So you won't be able to install all of these at once.

Service packs are introduced every now and then which are big packages of all of the previous updates, so you only have to reboot once.

It is possible to make a disc with all of the updates that you need to install, but I don't know how many times you need to reboot, all I know is that it saves you the hassle of downloading them all again.

WSUS Offline Update - Update Microsoft Windows and Office without an Internet connection

Tick the Windows 7 / Server 2008 R2 and the Create ISO option (whichever of the two suits you best). Then hit the big Start button at the bottom

There's quite a few, so it might take a while to download them all!

Tom

The only way to do that is to manually download all the proper updates from the MS download site. Problem is figuring out which updates to download.

Thanks for the reply Tom. That is a shame as what I wanted to try and avoid is the having to be around rebooting all the time

Thanks for the reply though


Also, maybe you can help me on this, as I don't know the exact laws on Windows 7, but as I sometimes have to reformat 7 or so laptops at once, is it Legal to make a straight copy of a windows 7 disc, as each windows would be activated using its own unique code? I just don't know the laws on this area and want to stay within them

It's not the only way, you can do it with WSUS Offline. I have an 8GB folder on my hard disk with every Windows 7, Vista, XP, Office 03, Office 07, Office 10, .NET and VC++ update inside it and I didn't visit the MS download site once

No worries. Give the WSUS ISO option a try! It might cut a few reboots out, if not, at least it will save you downloading them all over and over again.

Is it a retail disc? As long as you don't redistribute it, I'm pretty sure it's fine. I know it's legal to download the ISO image from the MS distribution server and burn that to a disc, so copying a disc for personal use sounds okay to me. As long as you have one license per machine, you should be okay

Tom

Hi, yeah that is what I thought. As long as I had a unique serial, I thought it may have been fine.

I do have all the updates downloaded, so it does save me a bit of time, which over time I suppose does add up.

Once last question that somebody did suggest to me. Is there a way to update a system fully, then somehow make a mirror of that, so in theory you have a Win 7 disc, which is fully updated? I doubt that is possible, but somebody did suggest, so might as well ask

Hi Harlem,

Well I'm glad you mentioned that, that route hadn't crossed my mind at all.

Your description is an amalgamation of two techniques, so I'll explain both.

You can slipstream a Windows 7 DVD with all of the latest updates and service packs using the WAIK (Google it). It's quite difficult though. There are tools out there to automate the process, but I would highly advise against using them. If you are going down this route, stick to WAIK.

Alternatively, you could install Windows 7 onto one of the machines, update it fully then make an image of the hard disk using Macrium Reflect:

Macrium Reflect FREE Edition - Information and download

Provided the hard drive you will be restoring to is large enough, you will be able to use this image on any of the other computers that you need to finish.

It is essential that you don't do anything else, other than install Windows Updates. When installing Windows, do not enter a product key (you are given a 30 day grace period where Windows will work without a product key), then when you have installed the image, enter the product key that you would like to use and activate Windows. Again, one key per installation or you'll end up blocking your keys.

Another thing to note is not to install any drivers before you make the image! Unless it is an identical computer, these won't work and are going to cause you a lot of problems. Install these after installing Windows 7.

Basic procedure:

1) Clean install Windows 7 using disc that you have - without product key
2) Install Macrium Reflect (the software we will use to image your hard drive)
3) Make an image of your Windows 7 hard drive and save this to an external hard drive
4) On the other computers, boot into the Macrium Reflect Rescue CD and follow the wizard to install your image
5) Install all drivers, and activate Windows using your product keys.

One last crucial point, this will only work if all of your computers have the same system architecture, i.e. x86 (32 bit) or x64 (64 bit). x86 windows will install on x64 computers, but it won't work the other way.

Tom

Option 2 sounds great. Sounds like exactly what I need.

I really appreciate the time you have given to help

I guess I can install the wireless driver, to get my fully updated etc, then uninstall tht driver, then make that image.
Also, sorry to be a pain, but when formatting, is there a reason why some drivers are installed already. For example, on some laptops, the wireless has already been installed as soon as it boots up, where as most of the time, the driver is missing

Hi Harlem,

No worries Glad I could help.

No need to be sorry, I wouldn't be here if I didn't want to be! Ask as many questions as you want and I'll try my best to answer them, if I can't then I'll find someone who can.

Windows will install a very basic copy of the drivers required for the machine to function - display, wireless etc. however these are quite stripped down and will need replacing after installing Windows. You might notice that when you install Windows, Aero might not be available and your display will be in a low resolution - to fix this, all you have to do is install your display drivers. I'm not as sure about wireless drivers, but Windows probably installs a generic driver just so it can get online to check activation and download updates etc. It's always best to download the latest drivers from the manufacturers website after installing Windows though.

Tom

Hi Tom. Thanks again. I got it sorted it seems. These are the steps I took:

1. Install a fresh Windows (Vista, 7 Etc)
2. Fully update the Windows
3. Install Partition Wizard (Made the hard drive small so compatible with all laptops when using Macrium)
4. Install Macrium
5. Make a Macrium Windows PE Disc
6. Sysprep the PC (Apparently wipes all drivers and re-installs on boot up
7. As the computer restarts, The macrium boots up and allows me to make an image to a memory pen
8. Put disc and mem pen into new laptop, and on boot up, macrium loads, and I install the image.
9. Use Partition Wizard to extend the hard drive back to normal size


That gets me a fully formatted laptop with full updates. So far it seems to work perfectly, but I guess only time will tell