How Windows Update detects hotfixes

[ponghy]

Hi guys.

I need technical and comprehensive information about how Windows Update detects installed hotfixes and checks for correct file versions.

I need to do a self-check in my nLited CD install. I must ensure that *ALL* file versions are properly updated. I'm talking about 90+ hotfixes, therefore it is a very hard work. If Windows Update does not show an specific update, can I say that this update is correctly installed (*all file versions*)?. If I downgrade a file corresponding to a hotfix, will WU say that this update is NOT installed? Does WU check for ALL files of a hotfix or only for *key* files?

Another problem is I have integrated non-critical & non-recommended hotfixes that they're not recognised by WU. How can I do a sanity-check for these hotfixes without WU? Do QFECheck or MBSA will do this?

Thanks in advance

PD: I need the above because I have *modified* the INF files created by nLite for "experimental" purposes...

Edited March 13, 2007 by ponghy

[Sinistrality]

Don't rely on Windows Update to tell you that all your patches are installed properly. Instead use the QFECHECK.EXE utility and the Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer

QFECHeck.exe will do a check to verify within your system what hotfixes are installed properly.

MSBA will go out and pick up update information off of Microsoft's website, and let you know if there are any vulnerabilities you need to worry about.

You can also run the MSBA utility from a command line for more detail information.

No one responded to my post, Check it out.

Oh and I only read the first 4 lines of your post.

Edited March 13, 2007 by Sinistrality

[prathapml]

Plus..... You probably are wasting your time (& disk space) by integrating all of it manually.

http://www.ryanvm.net/msfn/updatepack.html

[ponghy]

Thanks for your answers

prathapml: I know that pack, and I know nLite does an excellent work integrating updates. The purpose of my post is only 'experimental'. I'm trying to 'decipher' the copy directives of TXTSETUP.SIF following the superb Gosh tutorial.

I have been doing some tests with fresh installs and upgrades, and in upgrades, some files are not overwritten by newer versions (I understand the upgrade and new install code, but I want to perform a double-check).

Thanks again for your help

Edited March 14, 2007 by ponghy

[just_laze]

Hey,

I strongly advise you use Ryan's pack and accompanying integrator, it includes QFECheck mentioned above.

laze.

[gunsmokingman]

I do not know if this will help but it will list the updates that not installed on the local machine.

Save As KbToAdd.vbs

 Dim Act   : Set Act = CreateObject("Wscript.Shell")
 Dim Fso   : Set Fso = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
 Dim KbRpt : KbRpt = Act.ExpandEnvironmentStrings("%UserProfile%\Desktop\UpdateReport.txt")
'/-> 
 Dim UpDateSearcher,UpDateSession,SearchResult
  Set UpDateSession = CreateObject("Microsoft.Update.Session")
  Set UpDateSearcher = UpDateSession.CreateUpDateSearcher()
  Set SearchResult = UpDateSearcher.Search("IsInstalled=0 and Type='Software'")
'/-> 
 Dim Line1, TS
  Line1 = Space(3) & chr(171) & " ----------------------------------- " & Chr(187)
  Set TS = Fso.CreateTextFile(KbRpt)
  TS.WriteLine Space(3) & "List Of Updates For This Machine" & vbCrLf & Line1 & vbCrLf 
'/->
 Dim Cnt, I,Update, Rpt
'/-> 
   For I = 0 To SearchResult.Updates.Count-1
   Set update = SearchResult.Updates.Item(I)
   Cnt = Cnt + 1
   If Cnt > 9 Then   
	Cnt = Cnt 
	 Rpt = Rpt & Space(2) & Cnt & " > " & Update.Title & vbCrLf 
	ElseIf Cnt = 9 Then 
	 Cnt = "0" & Cnt 
	 Rpt = Rpt & Space(2) & Cnt & " > " & Update.Title & vbCrLf 
	ElseIf Cnt < 9 Then 
	 Cnt = "0" & Cnt 
	 Rpt = Rpt & Space(2) & Cnt & " > " & Update.Title & vbCrLf 
	End If 
   Next
'/-> If No Updates Are Found 
  If SearchResult.Updates.Count = 0 Then
   Act.Popup "There Are No Applicable Updates Found.",0,"No Updates",4128
   WScript.Quit
  End If
'/-> 
  TS.WriteLine Rpt 
  TS.Close()
'/-> 
  Set I = Fso.GetFile(KbRpt)
  Act.Run("Notepad.exe " & I.Path),1,True 
 Dim ZZ1 : ZZ1 = Act.Popup("Did You Want To Keep The Update Report",0,"Keep Or Delete",4132)
  If ZZ1 = 7 Then  I.Delete() End If

Edited April 19, 2008 by gunsmokingman