Thank you for your responses.
If I am keeping the computer off the internet, would the Windows updates really be necessary? If yes, then why so?
Hello!
Some Windows Updates help to improve stability, and you would want those.
Some are security updates for things like exploitation via memory sticks, and you would want those.
However, the majority are to prevent you from exploitation via an internet connection.
An important question would be whether you plan to connect this computer to a network, or whether there is a
physical air gap between this computer and the internet.
Activation and validation don't require an internet connection as long as you activate over the phone.
Windows Updates won't require an internet connection to activate or anything like that - they don't actually check.
This is the reason that downloading via the Microsoft Website required to check validation before downloading but via Windows Update doesn't. Windows Update has already done it the first time, but Microsoft want a quick check before they give you updates which don't require activation - they are offline installers after all.
BTW, do you have a server? Would WSUS do the job for you? If you don't know what WSUS is, then it won't
If you can give me a little bit more information, I might be able to help you with some nicer solutions, such as WSUS Offline etc. And do you have a physical air gap?
Richard
