Relevence of ms updates prior to the date of installation?

lDear friends, I have the Win.7 Professional version,installed on 11/11/10. The multinational company to which i am a consultant Physician and Diabetologist has bought the Win.7s as bulk (volume) licenses in August'2010. So, when i replaced Win.XP Pro with this version,the OS downloaded FIFTY ONE (sorry for the bold type) MS updates.

I visited the following site, just to check whether i missed any critical updates. Link : Download the Windows 7 Security monthly updates and patches. I checked out by selecting to download and install TWO critical updates from the September ones and found that the system needed them.

Should i download the SP1 (correct me if i am wrongo) for the Win.7 i have. I have not seen in the ADD/REMOVE panel any SP1 (which means i don't have it). Help me out and thanks a lot for the patient reading. All informed help is gratefully accepted.

Warm Regards,
DR.Sreedhav.

Link : http://www.softwarepatch.com/windows...y-updates-2010

SP1 is still in beta testing which means beta testers and enthusiast users are trying it out to identify bugs that MS will then fix in the final release. I suggest you skip the beta and wait for the final release, at that time SP1 will be delivered automatically to your PC via windows updates. You're not missing much because in any case SP1 will be more or less all the hotfixes released till then bundled together.

As for the question in the title of your post, MS doesnt release new RTM disks everytime a patch or hotfix comes out. So the win7 install disks will be the same whether you bought them in October last year or in October this year. thats why you need to downlaod and install all the updates irrespective of when you installed. But after SP1 final is released, the new install disks will have sp1 integrated.

Dear Bill2,
Thank you for the reply! I get to understand from your post that SP1 is still in beta stage and there is no harm(in fact "gain") in downloading relevant old critical updates.
Regards,
Sreedhav.

sreedhav said:

Dear Bill2,
Thank you for the reply! I get to understand from your post that SP1 is still in beta stage and there is no harm(in fact "gain") in downloading relevant old critical updates.
Regards,
Sreedhav.

Hello!

There is certainly no harm, but there IS gain. The old security updates are not on your disk. You need to take every update after the disk was designed. Every update that comes through Windows Update is applicable. An example.

Disk was printed 1/1/2010. At this point, example.sys was in version 1.0.1, produced 12/12/2009.

The disk sits on the shelf in the factory. The version remains the same. While the disk is sitting on the shelf, Microsoft discovers a CRITICAL bug in example.sys on 2/2/2010, allowing HACKERS access to your computer and possibly even your FINANCIAL data. The disk sits on the shelf and is not updated, still at version 1.0.1, and still at risk.

On 5/5/2010, you install the Operating System from the disk. It copies example.sys, version 1.0.1 onto your computer, WITH THE BUG. Your computer is not protected, even though the update came out almost three months ago, and everyone else's system is protected.

Windows Update asks to install an update, dated 2/2/2010, BEFORE you installed the system. It wants to update example.sys to version 1.1.0, making it SAFE from HACKERS.

All updates which come through Windows Update, and labled Important or Critical apply to your system, to patch vulnerabilities in the files currently on your system, and need to be applied immediately to protect you.

I hope this makes things clearer, rather than more confusing. Read it a couple of time if needs be.

As your CD then sits on the shelf at home, Microsoft releases more and more updates, and so if you were to ever reinstall, you would need to install more updates than last time. This is the use of service packs. To try and reduce the vast number of updates which your system would be doing, Microsoft roll them all up into one neat little package called Windows 7 SP1. NOTE: Windows 7 SP1 is still in beta, and is not considered necessarily safe for the average end user.

Ask any questions that come to mind!

Richard

EDIT:

is no harm(in fact "gain")

misunderstood you the first time! You already realised that there was gain! Maybe this will benefit other users! Need to read more carefully!

You should most definitely install all Updates as many of these fortify the Win7 firewall which is your first line of defense again invaders.

Others are hotfixes and patches upon which software is dependent for smooth fuctioning.

In addition, newer drivers are imported via optional Windows Updates which will benefit performance.