Blogging IT

There's always something new to learn......

Windows Update

September 15 2007.  Windows Update is very cool.  It's Microsoft's way of getting all the latest security updates to our computers.  And it works pretty well. 

The one problem it does have is bandwidth. If you're on dial-up it takes forever... almost literally!  And for a technician, downloading and updating several machines can take more time than a client wishes to pay for.  WSUS is great for updating a network where there is a server, but I keep meeting new clients with no WSUS, no server, slow internet, and who need lots of updates.

If you're somewhere with an un-patched machine, there is always the fear it will be infected before getting all the updates installed.

A great find for me was the article at Heise Security on making Windows Update which runs from a CD. Their free program CTUpdate downloads the Windows Updates for the language and operating systems you choose.  This can be burned to a CD which will sort out which updates are needed by the machine you are visiting and apply them. Very cool!

When I first tested the program it did not work, but continually crashed out on one file.  The file wsusscn2.cab was read-only, as you would expect, being on a CD!  But copying the CD to a USB key and removing the read-only attribute solved the problem.  It was fast and fantastic on the two machines I tested.  Of course, the original install needs updating each month after Patch Tuesday, but that's trivial, and can be part of a technician's routine.