Cumulative update what. How Windows' new cumulative update model works

Timely and complete updating is the key to the safe and stable operation of modern operating systems. That's why system administrators should always have up-to-date knowledge of how automatic update systems work. However, practice shows that the changes introduced by Microsoft in the fall of 2016 to the model Windows work Update still remain unknown enough a large number specialists, which can cause serious problems in the work of the service windows updates.

It should be noted that these innovations have already managed to collect a wave of negative feedback, especially from the owners of Windows 7, for an unprepared administrator, the situation looks something like this: "everything worked for so many years, and then they took it and broke it ...". However, before jumping to conclusions, you should understand the reasons that prompted Microsoft to change the update model. We'll use Windows 7 as an example, as it provides the most complete picture of the situation, however, the following is true for all editions of Windows, except for Windows 10, in which the new model was introduced initially.

Main problem old model update was that the more time passes since the release of the OS, the more complicated and confusing the situation with updates becomes. Firstly, this is a large amount of updates that should be downloaded and installed after a clean installation of the OS. We think that everyone has seen a similar picture more than once:

In total, immediately after installation, about 200 updates await us, with a total volume of over 600 MB, but this is only the beginning of a "long journey", many updates require other updates and therefore immediately after installing these you will receive a portion of the following, and then the situation will repeat.

By Microsoft data, beginning with Windows release 7 SP1 has over 4,000 updates. Of course, total number there will be fewer updates to install as many updates have been replaced or absorbed by more fresh versions, but this only confuses the situation and creates a strong fragmentation of end systems.

You can indirectly estimate the scale of the problem based on the size of the OS, so after a clean installation, the size occupied by Windows 7 is about 9.25 GB, after sequential installation of all updates, it will grow to 26 GB, cleaning from outdated updates will reduce the occupied space to about 18 GB. Thus, the volume of updates dropped out of the game approaches the volume clean system and is about 8 GB.

But the main problem is not in the space occupied by updates, 8 GB by the standards modern systems- this is negligible, the problem is fragmentation. Miscellaneous systems may have a different set of updates, which will lead to an infinite number of combinations of library versions and system files capable of causing a variety of conflicts and problems.

We have repeatedly encountered a situation where outwardly identical systems, on the same hardware, with the same set of software, behaved differently in some situations, in most cases the situation was saved by methodical downloading and installation of all available updates.

Such a situation, when two externally identical systems are identical only externally, is a real nightmare for any technical support service and software developers, and something had to be done about it. As a result, Windows 10 used a fundamentally different approach - cumulative update packages, when it is enough to get just one, the last, update package to bring the system up to date. By the way, the same way the update system on Linux also works, you always get the latest snapshot of the package repository.

In this regard, starting from October 2016, all systems released before Windows 10 are being transferred to a new update model, which can be schematically represented as follows:

From now on, two main types of updates will be available: security updates and monthly rollup packages . Security updates are non-cumulative and contain fix packs for the current month only, this update is intended for corporate clients and is distributed only through WSUS and SCCM, and is also available for manual download in the Catalog Microsoft Update.

Monthly rollups contain security and OS updates for the current and previous months. They are available for download via windows update, WSUS, SCCM, and the Microsoft Update Catalog.

Both types of packages are released every second Tuesday of the month. For example, on the second Tuesday of October, the October security update and rollup package will be released, which will include the October security update and october updates OS.

Every third Tuesday of the month, an additional monthly update package is released, which, in addition to the contents of the October package, contains pre-release versions OS updates for the next month (November), it is optional, but can be downloaded for testing.

The second Tuesday in November will also see the release of the November Security Pack, which will only contain security updates for the current month, and the November Monthly Pack, which will contain security updates and OS updates for the two months of October and November. On the third Tuesday of November, a preliminary monthly package will be released, which will already have December OS updates.

In December, the security update for December and the monthly package will be released, which will contain updates for three months already.

At this point, the attentive reader will notice that updates to rollups are only starting to be collected from October 2016, but what about updates released before that time?

Realizing that it is impossible to change the entire system overnight, Microsoft has planned a phased transition to the new model:

• May - September 2016- new updates are packed into monthly packages
• October 2016 - January 2017- monthly updates include packages from previous months
• February - June 2017- packages will actively include updates from previous periods
• July 2017- end of support - monthly update pack contains all available updates

In addition, in March 2016 was released Convenience Rollup for Windows 7 (KB3125574), which contains all the updates since the release of SP1 in 2011. Thus, to update the system in the period before July 2017, you will need:

• Install Convention Rollup for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008R2
• Install "November Update" KB3000850 for Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2
• Install all available updates released before October 2016
• Install latest monthly update

Another actual question, which arises after familiarization with new model updates, this is the size of the monthly update package. However, contrary to the fears of many, the catastrophic size of downloaded updates will not happen. For example, a Convenience Rollup containing 5 years of updates is only 476.9 MB. This is because instead of a sequential set of updates Current Package contains the most latest versions files, excluding all intermediate options. The volume of a clean system after installing Convenience Rollup will also increase from only 9.25 GB to 12 GB.

Thus, many hours of searching, downloading and installing updates are slowly becoming a thing of the past, and very soon after installing the system from a distribution kit of any degree of prescription, it will be enough to download a single relative update package. small size and to get current version system in use.

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Hi all!
In May 2016, Microsoft released a new cumulative (cumulative) update for Windows 7 operating systems. service pack 1 (32bit and 64bit) and Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1 (64bit). Purely formally, the promise made in 2012 has been fulfilled: this service pack is not called Service Pack 2, but “ Convenience rollup update for Windows 7 SP1 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1. But this package is very similar to SP2. This update number is KB3125574. This update is not downloaded through Windows Update (Windows Update), it has a lot of very important updates and you can download it only through IE.

This update is not available from Windows Update and must be manually downloaded to install. software package from the official Microsoft Update Catalog website ( Microsoft Update Catalog). It should be noted that Microsoft acted in its own style: you can only access the Microsoft Update Catalog website from a browser MicrosoftInternet Explorer 6.0 or later.

The download size of the update is 316 MB for 32-bit edition of Windows 7 and 477 MB (becomes 476 MB after downloading to a computer) for 64-bit editions of Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2.

Note #1.
Your Windows 7 must be SP1 or KB3125574 will not install! In addition, before installing KB3125574, you must have installed another minor update - KB3020369 , otherwise KB3125574 will not install either.

Note #2.
Please note that this package does not include some previously released "patches", but includes several "spyware" updates, which add a telemetry feature and prepare the seven for the transition to Windows 10.
For example, here are these:
KB3068708- installs a telemetry service, prepares the system for an upgrade to Windows 10, implements a "quality improvement program software" (CEIP) Win7, Win8.1, Server 2008 R2, Server 2012 R2.

KB3075249- adds telemetry to consent.exe (UAC tracking) Win7, Win8.1, RT8.1, Server 2008 R2, Server 2012 R2.

KB3080149- time zone fixes, even more telemetry, possibly CEIP in Win7 SP1, 8.1, Server 2008 R2, Server 2012 R2.

After installing the large update package KB3125574, you can get rid of unwanted "spyware" updates by removing them through the command line. Type in command line the following commands and press Enter:

wusa.exe /kb:3080149 /uninstall /quiet /norestart

Replace /kb:3080149 with desired number updates to uninstall, then restart your computer. Tip: It's easier and faster to copy and paste these codes with the mouse than to type them on the keyboard.

Installing the KB3125574 package takes approximately 15 minutes (on a system with 4 nuclear processor, and ), during which two reboots are performed. For more weak computers installation can take from half an hour to an hour. The version of the seven does not change: "build 7601, Service Pack 1".

Let's summarize.

Is it even worth installing this big update package KB3125574 (a la Service Pack 2)? Definitely worth it if Windows Update 7 you have it disabled at all and previously you have not installed almost any updates (or, you have installed very rarely selective updates). After all, many Windows 7 users prefer to turn off the Update Center and not put everything on the system. KB3125574 contains many important updates that improve the stability of Windows 7, fix several bugs, and fix some security holes.
If your Update Center is running in automatic mode, then most of these updates are already installed on your system.

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This week was the second Tuesday of the month, which means the arrival of software updates. Microsoft products. Various versions operating system Windows 10 received four cumulative updates. They were KB4042895 (RTM), KB4041689 (1511), KB4041691 (1607), KB4041676 (1703).

Cumulative update for RTM versions available only to enterprise customers who continue to receive support for the original version of Windows 10. For consumers, Microsoft has already stopped updating this version, so users need to upgrade to more modern versions of the system.

Version 1511, also known as the November update, received its latest cumulative update for consumer computers. As we already wrote, support for this version is also being discontinued.

Thus, support continues to receive Windows 10 Anniversary update(1607) and Windows 10 Creators Update(1703). Coming next week Windows version 10 Fall Creators Update (1709).

Since the updates are cumulative, installing them brings the system up to date. As a result, the size installation files grows every month, although you can save traffic and download only the additions made to the file. In particular, system administrators can download delta updates from the directory Microsoft updates. After installing the updates, a reboot is required.

Also, cumulative updates were released for Windows 7, 8.1 and Windows Server 2008 and 2012. Windows 7 SP1 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 received update KB4041681. Several issues have been resolved here Internet browser Explorer, there is a mode driver security update Windows kernel, graphic Microsoft component, search engine Windows component, Windows kernel, SMB Server. There are also separate update security KB 404 1678.

Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2 received KB4041693. The updates here are mostly the same as those for Windows 7. There is also a variant of the security update KB40041687. Windows Server 2012 has security update KB4041679 with two fixes.

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Although this figure may vary depending on the study, it becomes clear that Windows 7 is a popular solution with users. Good reasons: stable work systems even on old computers, pleasant appearance and full support of modern software.

If you're using Windows 7, you're running into one major problem: system updates.

Windows 7 was released in October 2009 and since then users have to update their computers every month. If a automatic update disabled, then get all actual updates it was like a nightmare - the computer was downloading hundreds of updates, constantly rebooting, and all this took a decent amount of time.

Microsoft decided this problem in February 2011 when the package was released Update Service Pack 1 which included everything previous updates and patches. Users could now install all updates at once, without having to go through a lengthy, incremental update process.

Since then, many users have expected a second service pack, but Microsoft had other plans for this.

Hundreds of updates for a clean installation of Windows 7

If you are doing a clean Windows installation 7 today, you probably noticed that in order to get a fully up-to-date version of the OS, you need to install two hundred updates. This process can take in best case couple of hours. This is due to the fact that since the release of Service Pack 1 in February 2011, Microsoft no longer released cumulative updates for Windows 7, so you had to get updates released in 5 years in pieces.

Microsoft solved this problem with Windows 10 by releasing cumulative updates (which include all previous patches and installing a cumulative update installs all available updates), and now this work is being conducted with Windows 7. True, without the release of Service Pack 2.

Redmond recently released an update called “Convenience rollup update” for Windows 7 SP1 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 (KB3125574). An update includes all updates released since exit Windows 7 Service Pack 1 through April 2016. To get the most up-to-date OS version, you need to install updates released after this date.

To install the Convenience rollup update, you must first install the Service Stack Update for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 (KB3020369). This is necessary condition to see the download. You will need at least 4 gigabytes of disk space to install the update.

What's waiting Windows users 7? It's hard to predict, but don't expect a new cumulative update anytime soon. Microsoft promised to release non-security update packages for Windows 7 and 8.1 every month, but did not provide information about cumulative updates.

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