Windows Update - download once update all networked PC's
I would like to know why Microsoft does not allow users with valid Authenticated Windows versions (like Win 7) that reside in a local network to spawn / share / locally re-distribute within the LAN, the Windows Updates that they have downloaded? I have three machines at home all running Win 7 Pro. They all connect and do critical updates. Thats poor use of resources, and can be a big expense in South Africa where bandwidth is still pricey (although its improved through competition). I've checked fairly carefully on the internet but there does not appear to be a simple method to do this - i.e. without having to run a Domain or Active Directory to control rights etc. Surely you could create a limited data file share that could be polled once a day for new files - each machine polling the other as users tend to be active at different times. Then any critical downloads can be shared (local IP adresses only) and save - in my case 60% of the cost of downloading the same thing. Please let me know if there is a way of doing this and I am just being a typical noobie. Thanks Naafi (Port Elizabeth -South Africa)
July 22nd, 2010 11:08pm

In message <a927e512-d83e-4bc4-a047-cc2bde961384@communitybridge.codeplex.com> Naafi was claimed to have wrote: I would like to know why Microsoft does not allow users with valid Authenticated Windows versions (like Win 7) that reside in a local network to spawn / share / locally re-distribute within the LAN, the Windows Updates that they have downloaded? They do, on a corporate level, using WSUS. I have three machines at home all running Win 7 Pro.  They all connect and do critical updates. Thats poor use of resources, and can be a big expense in South Africa where bandwidth is still pricey (although its improved through competition). I've checked fairly carefully on the internet but there does not appear to be a simple method to do this - i.e. without having to run a Domain or Active Directory to control rights etc.  WSUS doesn't need a domain or Active Directory (although it simplifies setup), but it does require a server. Surely you could create a limited data file share that could be polled once a day for new files - each machine polling the other as users tend to be active at different times.  Then any critical downloads can be shared (local IP adresses only) and save - in my case 60% of the cost of downloading the same thing. Please let me know if there is a way of doing this and I am just being a typical noobie. I believe you can still download and install patches individually, just not through Windows/Microsoft Update. This is a huge pain though. Another option might be to look at running your own proxy server, squid has configuration settings for caching Windows Update, although I've never personally tried it since I run WSUS.
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July 23rd, 2010 12:13am

Hey Dave, Thanks for your comments - I'll do a little research into WSUS and see if I can set up something around that.... Naafi
July 25th, 2010 12:38pm

Also to check which clients would need update you may use MBSA.
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July 25th, 2010 2:11pm

You can save bandwith with the /install_cache feature of WuInstall - all you need is WuInstall and a shared directory for all clients Let p:\TEMP be a shared directory, which all client machines can access with read-write permissions. You can do like this: On the first Machine you call: c:\DATA\WuInstall>wuInstall /install_cache p:\temp /logfile c:\data\temp\inst.txt (the /logfile switch tells WuInstall where to log the output for further analyisis) For an the first client WuInstall puts the following: 2010/08/11-11:08:01 Checking cache for update: Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool - August 2010 (KB890830)2010/08/11-11:08:01 Update Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool - August 2010 (KB890830) Multi-Lingual - Delta not found in cache directory p:\temp\20110b11-6dd2-4153-a76d-e660ec78ebed2010/08/11-11:08:01 Update bundle not found, downloading...2010/08/11-11:08:01 Copying downloads directly...2010/08/11-11:08:01 Downloading: http://download.windowsupdate.com/msdownload/update/software/uprl/2010/08/windows-kb890830-v3.10-delta_b6366a428af17c9c7c524ebd15aafe3608d3fa39.exe to p:\temp\20110b11-6dd2-4153-a76d-e660ec78ebed/windows-kb890830-v3.10-delta_b6366a428af17c9c7c524ebd15aafe3608d3fa39.exe ... 2010/08/11-11:08:13 OK2010/08/11-11:08:14 Download OK2010/08/11-11:08:14 Checking cache again...2010/08/11-11:08:14 Update Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool - August 2010 (KB890830) Multi-Lingual - Delta found in cache directory, copying to local cache...2010/08/11-11:08:15 OK Now calling the same command for the second client (and all the others), WuInstall gets the update from the cache (P:\TEMP) instead of downloading it: 2010/08/11-11:20:27 Checking cache for update: Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool - August 2010 (KB890830)2010/08/11-11:20:28 Update Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool - August 2010 (KB890830) Multi-Lingual - Delta found in cache directory, copying to local cache...2010/08/11-11:20:28 OK You can also use /download_cache, just for downloading the updates to the local cache without installing them. You can download it under http://www.wuinstall.com
August 14th, 2010 12:16am

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