Educause Security Discussion mailing list archives

Re: Windows Automatic Updates not auto updating


From: Chris Green <cmgreen () UAB EDU>
Date: Thu, 10 Nov 2005 12:08:40 -0600

On 11/10/05 11:58 AM, "Kevin Shalla" <kshalla () UIC EDU> wrote:

We've set up Windows Automatic Update to automatically download and
install updates every day, and have found that some updates still
won't go without manual intervention.  In particular, we've found
that some were still waiting for XP service pack 2!  In the lower
right-hand corner there is an icon that says (if you mouse over) that
updates are ready to be installed, but our users don't look at that,
so they don't get installed.  Is there a way to set up Windows
Automatic Update to install updates without any input required?

1) Consider setting up a WSUS server [ http://www.microsoft.com/wsus ]

   This allows you to provide updates locally and get some reporting.  It
also allows you to enforce deadlines that users can't easily get by saying
"reboot later" and never rebooting or installing the update.

 Consider carefully your deployment, our installation is targeted at
desktops & non-production servers.


2) Under the policy object (either local or in the appropriate OU), there
are some options you can set for scheduling the install and what is prompted
to the user.

# Launch mmc
# Navigate to File > Add/Remove Snap In and click "Add"
# Select the Group Policy Object Editor snap-in and click "Add"
# It defaults to the Local Computer policy object; Browse to find the Group
policy object you wish to edit and Hit "OK"
# Hit "Close" to close the Add Standalone snap-in menu and "OK" to close the
first menu
# Nagivate to Policy Object -> Administrative templates -> Windows
Components -> Windows Update
--
Chris Green
UAB Data Security, 5-0842

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