TechDiY.net

Install Microsoft updates offline

Everyone knows the importance of keeping your software up-to-date.  Especially your Windows Operating System and Microsoft Office products.  For the geek-on-the-go, downloading updates are not always an option.  Or perhaps the client has a slow internet connection.  You need to maximize the time spent troublehsooting the issue and minimize the time spent doing regular maintentance work such as patching the system or updating the anti-virus.

Thanks to CTUpdate (WSUS offline), you can now download all (or just a select few) Microsoft updates and put them on a CD or DVD for easy installation (I have not tested USB drives, but I have reports that it does work).

Another beautiful thing about this software is that I can have updates ready for any supported Microsoft operating system and Microsoft Office product.  It does not matter if the computer has Windows 2000 with Office 2003 installed, or Windows Server 2003 with Office 2000 installed.  I can be ready for any situation I step into!

I tried this for myself on a freshly installed copy of Windows XP and it worked great!  All updates were installed within 25 minutes and I only had to reboot a couple times!

NOTE:Windows 2000 systems need to copy the reg.exe file from a Windows 2000 installation CD under \support\tools in the support.cab into the client\bin subdirectory. Windows 2003 system need to copy the reg.exe file from Windows\system32 directory of an existing copy of XP.

Version 5 features include:

• Support added for Microsoft Windows Server 2008
• Optional download and installation of .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 and DirectX End-User Runtimes
• Download of Operating Systems’ updates may preferentially be redirected to a local WSUS server
• Number of updates to download and to install will be displayed and logged
• Integrity of updates may be verified on subsequent download runs
• DVD ISO images will be split into x86- and x64-products since ISO file sizes exceeded 4.7 GB
• Windows Installer 4.5 integrated for Windows XP, Vista and Server 2003/2008 systems

The process of getting the updates will take some time, but it is worth it!

1. Download the software from here:  Vulnerability Assessment.co.uk




2. Extract the files and run the UpdateGenerator utility




3. Select the options like shown below:


CTUpdate main screen

I downloaded everything because I work on a variety of different computers and I wanted to be prepared for almost any scenario. I also unchecked the option to verify, but you might want to do this if you have some extra time. I did not chose to clean up download directories because I did not want to download the entire list of updates again when I refresh the software come patch Tuesday. Feel free to play around with these settings until they are tweaked to your needs.

4. Be prepared to wait for a long time when you click the Start button.  There are a lot of updates to download and it does take a while (even on a high speed connection).  I just let my computer run overnight and it was ready for my in the morning.




5. Once the ISO images were complete, I burned them off to DVD to give them a shot.
   WARNING:  These ISO files are HUGE!  Mine were about 6.5GB.  I had to use a DL DVD to burn them.  Since I don’t like to waste a lot of CD or DVD’s, I will probably purchase an 8 GB (or larger) USB drive to copy this onto.




6. Once the DVD was ready, I popped it into my Windows XP machine to give it a shot.  It will autorun to the setup screen, or you can run the UpdateInstaller utility manually from the media.
   

   Update installer

   It’s probably a good idea to take the options:  “Back up existing system files” and “Automatic reboot and recall”

A couple reboots later, my system was completely up-to-date!  I cannot recommend this tool enough.  If you are work on computers, this will save you time.  And we all know that time equals money!

Jason Free software, Tutorials cd, dvd, easy, free, microsoft, mobile, office, offline, updates, windows

Troubleshooting an issue on your computer is a tough job.  Troubleshooting an issue on someone else’s computer is even more difficult.  Who knows what they have install, tweaked, or tuned on their own before calling you for help.  We have all had this familiar dialog:

CUSTOMER: The computer was working fine until about 3 days ago.

PROFESSIONAL (yes, you): Did you install anything or do anything new with the PC?

CUSTOMER <blank stare>: Uhhh… no?

PROFESSIONAL <not spoken out loud>: Yeah right.

So now we have to be both computer repair experts and detectives.  Here is a handy FREE tool from Microsoft that will help you find out the history of a Windows XP machine.  It will give you:

• Installed / Removed applications
• Updates and patches applied
• Driver modifications
• Active-X controls that have been downloaded
• Internet Explorer COM components
• Autostart Extensibility Points

Please note that you will get an error if you try to run this on Windows XP with Service Pack 3.  Follow the instructions below to use this tool error free on all Windows Service Packs.

The instructions below will bypass the built-in installer application (to avoid the error messages) and make the app portable (stick it on a USB drive).

1. If you do not already have it, you will need to download and install 7Zip.  This is a great, free compression utility:  Click here to download 7Zip
2. Download the tool from Microsoft using this link:  Microsoft Change Analysis Diagnostic Tool for Windows XP
3. Once the file has been downloaded, copy it to your USB drive
4. Right-click on the file (called WindowsXP-KB924732-x86-ENU.exe).  Select 7-Zip and Extract Here
   

   Extract the files

5. Once the files are extracted, we’ll clean up some of the unnecessary files / folders.  Delete the update folder, the spmsg.dll file and the spuninst.exe file.
   

   Delete the unnecessary files and folders

6. Change the name of the scdiag folder to be a bit more recognizable.  I called mine “Windows XP Change Analysis Diagnostic Tool”
   

   Rename the folder

7. Now we can run the tool.  Open the folder and run the statechangediag.exe file
   

   Run the tool

8. Click Next on the first welcome screen and you will be brought to the calendar.  This will allow you to select how far back you want to scan.  I chose 7 days in this example, but you might need to go back further.
   

   How far back do you want to scan?

9. When the scan finishes, you will have the option to view the file that was created.  It is saved automatically if you ever want to go back and view it (just make sure you don’t run the tool again and overwrite the file).  The output is an XML file which can be viewed in Internet Explorer.
   

   Take the option to view the report that was created

10. The results are very impressive!
    

    This is a very detailed report

NOTE: I have not tried this tool on any other Microsoft Windows Operating Systems, so I don’t know how well if it will work.

Jason Free software change, detective, free, tool, windows, xp

WuInstall allows you to update Windows from the command line!

I am a big fan of doing things from the command line.  I can script with the best of them and I am always on the lookout for good CLI utilities.

A good use for this tool would be testing a new WSUS server.  Or maybe you need to update some computers outside the regularly scheduled update time.  You can script it and have GPO run this script at login.  Or you can use another one of my favorite tools (PSExec) and run this tool remotely anytime!

Very awesome utility and I highly recommend adding it to your computer toolkit!

Click here to visit their website and download WuInstall.

Jason Free software cli, command, free, line, update, vista, windows, xp