Microsoft combines all updates since Windows 7 SP1's release into one giant update
Microsoft combines all updates since Windows 7 SP1's release into one giant update
Note: This article was first published on 18th May 2016.
In an attempt to simplify the updating of Windows 7, Microsoft has today announced a ‘Windows 7 SP1 convenience rollup’ for Windows 7 SP1.
In a nutshell, this is a package that contains all security and non-security fixes released since the release of Windows 7 SP1 (that was early 2011, for those not keeping track) that are suitable for general distribution, up through April 2016. Put simply, if you’ve Windows 7 SP1, this is the mother of all updates you need to install to get you up-to-date as of April 2016. (Then it’s back to normal for updates after April, of course.)
Better yet, if your job is to install Windows 7 on PCs, you can inject this update (that is: slipstream it) into a Windows 7 SP1 install media. Convenience indeed.
A prerequisite for this Windows 7 SP1 convenience rollup is you need to have the April 2015 servicing stack update for Windows 7 (KB3020369) installed first. Then download the rollup package from the Microsoft Update Catalog website.
While there’s no such giant rollup for Windows 8.1, Microsoft has also announced that moving forward, non-security updates for Windows 7 SP1 and Windows 8.1 (as well as Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1, Windows Server 2012, and Windows Server 2012 R2) will be available as a monthly rollup. That means each month Microsoft will be releasing a single update containing all non-security fixes for that month. These fixes will be available through Windows Update, WSUS, and SCCM, as well as the Microsoft Update catalog.
Source: Microsoft.