How to check against Windows Update without activating?

[deadbug]

When I first started to test my AIO-DVD (a few years ago now) I would install in a VM, activate and check against windows update to make sure that I had the very latest updates integrated.

After a few weeks I found that activation failed and - it turns out - that after a certain number of activations in a certain period of time I had to call Microsoft to get things reset.

Now I slipstream fixes using RyanVM's post-sp3 pack and I've also slipstreamed WMP11 and IE7.

So how can I find out how up to date I am without activating Windows?

To clarify: I don't want to download any updates from my virtual install (I can do that from my physical machine) and I don't want to simply install everything from the hot fix topic here via SVCPACK (that wastes space and time). I also realise that I'll be up to date for on average only two weeks or so. But, given that it is so simple to do, I want to know I'm reasonably up to date at final burn time!

-- deadbug