After a fresh SP1 install, there are +100 windows critical updates. I'm guessing if you install those from 2013, then those from 2012 may disappear from the list. Am i right?
In my experience, Windows Update takes care of that well. It will offer you only what is pertinent to your system.
Some of the offerings are optional and some are more critical than others. If you do the 2013 updates and it still offers you some from 2012, I'd accept them, particularly if they were marked critical or important, rather than optional.
When I do a clean reinstall I always let Windows install ALL the updates automatically. It does take some time & a few restarts but when it has finished you have the latest updates.
Trying to choose some & not others can be confusing & can cause problems as the updates are installed in a sequence that is required by the installation & not necessarily in the order that the user might think it would.
Which updates should you install?
For a home user who has to ask there is only one sensible answer - all of them.
The Windows update system is managed by experts who work with this on a daily basis. It is designed for use by people who know nothing of computers and don't want to learn. The list of updates presented to you has been customized for your system. Older updates that have been replaced will not be shown. Picking and choosing updates is for experts who have done a great deal of research and testing on the system in question. I am sure you have better use for your time.
ALL updates should be installed - it's only on rarre occasions that any update completely replaces earlier ones - and Windows Update takes account of that anyhow.
I know this was a long time ago, but I have both ends of the update spectrum. My sony I3 with win 7 ultimate 64bit SP1 2009 has one update. I deleted all the rest. That is what I am writing on now. My Dell precision, which I just bought and received today has hundreds of updates still on it. I can tell the difference very well. The sony is quite a bit faster and snappier, with 2.3Ghz and my Dell is 1.8 I7 quad 64. The dell seems to always do the proper things, but I am in the process of deleting all the updates I can from the dell. It also seems that the sony gets away with more, because the process is not there to stop it.
In the end, the updates do not disappear from the list!
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