Windows Update not working, when changing shell parameter

[RonniePedersen]

Short and sweet: 

 

If I change the shell value in [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon] to example iexplore.exe in a kiosk machine (and nothing else, no GP security changes), Windows update stops working. It will try to initiate download of updates, but after 5+ minutes of "preparing", it throws a generic error message. 

 

If I revert the shell key to explorer.exe, everything works fine at the next login. 

 

I honestly don't remember if the background WUP service is functional, but at this point in time we need to be able to initiate it manually.

 

Any Ideas?

[Tripredacus]

This is likely caused by the fact there is no system tray to display notifications. Look in the update log file and see if this is the case.

 

Windows Update is designed to run as a child process/application of Explorer.exe.

 

Other than using a custom Update installer or WSUS. You can also change the Updates option to "download and install later" which will do it automatically, but will only do the actual installation on a (normal) shutdown. If you choose this one, your application will need to have a way to invoke a normal shutdown, so that installation of updates is triggered. I know a lot of ISVs are still building appliances that are designed to be turned off manually.

[RonniePedersen]

Seems like you hit it on the head. Oh well, we'll have to just let the background processes do the work instead. Thanks