XP Updates

Greetings. Is there a Microsoft web page I can access that will tell me what
all the XP updates are for so I caan pick and chose. I have altered the
settings on the Auto Updates and went back about 3 weeks on the Restore
function but still have some I would like to delete. Thanks for your help.
James

james w. morgan wrote:
Greetings. Is there a Microsoft web page I can access that will
tell me what all the XP updates are for so I caan pick and chose. I
have altered the settings on the Auto Updates and went back about 3
weeks on the Restore function but still have some I would like to
delete. Thanks for your help.

Please explain why it is you are wanting to 'delete' previously installed
updates. It may be entirely unnecessary (and possibly ill-advised.)

If you have automatic updates set to notify you but nothing else - you can
get more information on each.

You can also visit http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com and perform a CUSTOM
scan for updates and look through that list of updates you need.

You can also review the releases each month to see what updates you might
need/have needed and what they are.

Each month Microsoft puts out that months patches in an ISO format for
burning to DVD:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/913086 (Back to 2006)


You can see the critical (security and other) patches released for a given
month using the following:

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sec.../ms##-***.mspx

At the end of this line you see "ms##-***.mspx" .. If you simply replace ##
with the two-digit year and the *** with the three character month
abbreviation, you will see the list of "critical" and "important" patches
for that month (since it only happens once a month usually, if you check by
the second Tuesday (wait until afternoon) of each month - you should be
fine) - note that future months will not work.

As an example...

December 2004's patches..
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sec.../ms04-dec.mspx

March 2005's patches..
None released.. so that one will fail...

May 2006's patches..
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sec.../ms06-may.mspx

January 2007's patches..
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sec.../ms07-jan.mspx

April 2008's patches..
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sec.../ms08-apr.mspx

There's at least one third party tool that will download all of them for
you:
http://wud.jcarle.com/

If you are getting these for integration into a cd or some sort of
installation...

http://unattended.msfn.org/
and
http://unattended.sourceforge.net/

Otherwise - please describe what it is you are doing/hoping to find in more
detail.

--
Shenan Stanley
MS-MVP
--
How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

james w. morgan wrote:
Greetings. Is there a Microsoft web page I can access that will
tell me what all the XP updates are for so I caan pick and chose. I
have altered the settings on the Auto Updates and went back about 3
weeks on the Restore function but still have some I would like to
delete. Thanks for your help.

Please explain why it is you are wanting to 'delete' previously installed
updates. It may be entirely unnecessary (and possibly ill-advised.)

If you have automatic updates set to notify you but nothing else - you can
get more information on each.

You can also visit http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com and perform a CUSTOM
scan for updates and look through that list of updates you need.

You can also review the releases each month to see what updates you might
need/have needed and what they are.

Each month Microsoft puts out that months patches in an ISO format for
burning to DVD:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/913086 (Back to 2006)


You can see the critical (security and other) patches released for a given
month using the following:

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sec.../ms##-***.mspx

At the end of this line you see "ms##-***.mspx" .. If you simply replace ##
with the two-digit year and the *** with the three character month
abbreviation, you will see the list of "critical" and "important" patches
for that month (since it only happens once a month usually, if you check by
the second Tuesday (wait until afternoon) of each month - you should be
fine) - note that future months will not work.

As an example...

December 2004's patches..
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sec.../ms04-dec.mspx

March 2005's patches..
None released.. so that one will fail...

May 2006's patches..
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sec.../ms06-may.mspx

January 2007's patches..
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sec.../ms07-jan.mspx

April 2008's patches..
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sec.../ms08-apr.mspx

There's at least one third party tool that will download all of them for
you:
http://wud.jcarle.com/

If you are getting these for integration into a cd or some sort of
installation...

http://unattended.msfn.org/
and
http://unattended.sourceforge.net/

Otherwise - please describe what it is you are doing/hoping to find in more
detail.

--
Shenan Stanley
MS-MVP
--
How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

Well, Mr. Stanley, I'm curious. There are some I don't want. I have reset my
auto updates so that now I can pick and chose. For instance, It downloaded
one that wanted me to enter name and password before I could use MY computer.
It also downloaded one that caused a notice to come up repeatedly telling me
that windows explorer was having a problem and needed to close. And close it
did. Every time. One man told me to restore to a point I thought would be
before certain updates were downloaded. I did this but it didn't solve all
the problems. I'm curious as to why you would ask such a question. This is my
computer and I should be able to knoow what the updates are for. I'm sure
some of them don't apply to the way I use my computer and so there is no need
to download them. Some of them cause problems with other programs I am
running. My question was a simple one and it seems reasonable that microsoft
would have a page that tells what the updates are for or what they cure.
Doesn't that sound reasonable to you? If there is such a web page I would
like to have the address. Thank you very much. James Morgan

"Shenan Stanley" wrote:

james w. morgan wrote:
Greetings. Is there a Microsoft web page I can access that will
tell me what all the XP updates are for so I caan pick and chose. I
have altered the settings on the Auto Updates and went back about 3
weeks on the Restore function but still have some I would like to
delete. Thanks for your help.

Please explain why it is you are wanting to 'delete' previously installed
updates. It may be entirely unnecessary (and possibly ill-advised.)

If you have automatic updates set to notify you but nothing else - you can
get more information on each.

You can also visit http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com and perform a CUSTOM
scan for updates and look through that list of updates you need.

You can also review the releases each month to see what updates you might
need/have needed and what they are.

Each month Microsoft puts out that months patches in an ISO format for
burning to DVD:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/913086 (Back to 2006)


You can see the critical (security and other) patches released for a given
month using the following:

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sec.../ms##-***.mspx

At the end of this line you see "ms##-***.mspx" .. If you simply replace ##
with the two-digit year and the *** with the three character month
abbreviation, you will see the list of "critical" and "important" patches
for that month (since it only happens once a month usually, if you check by
the second Tuesday (wait until afternoon) of each month - you should be
fine) - note that future months will not work.

As an example...

December 2004's patches..
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sec.../ms04-dec.mspx

March 2005's patches..
None released.. so that one will fail...

May 2006's patches..
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sec.../ms06-may.mspx

January 2007's patches..
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sec.../ms07-jan.mspx

April 2008's patches..
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sec.../ms08-apr.mspx

There's at least one third party tool that will download all of them for
you:
http://wud.jcarle.com/

If you are getting these for integration into a cd or some sort of
installation...

http://unattended.msfn.org/
and
http://unattended.sourceforge.net/

Otherwise - please describe what it is you are doing/hoping to find in more
detail.

--
Shenan Stanley
MS-MVP
--
How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

Well, Mr. Stanley, I'm curious. There are some I don't want. I have reset my
auto updates so that now I can pick and chose. For instance, It downloaded
one that wanted me to enter name and password before I could use MY computer.
It also downloaded one that caused a notice to come up repeatedly telling me
that windows explorer was having a problem and needed to close. And close it
did. Every time. One man told me to restore to a point I thought would be
before certain updates were downloaded. I did this but it didn't solve all
the problems. I'm curious as to why you would ask such a question. This is my
computer and I should be able to knoow what the updates are for. I'm sure
some of them don't apply to the way I use my computer and so there is no need
to download them. Some of them cause problems with other programs I am
running. My question was a simple one and it seems reasonable that microsoft
would have a page that tells what the updates are for or what they cure.
Doesn't that sound reasonable to you? If there is such a web page I would
like to have the address. Thank you very much. James Morgan

"Shenan Stanley" wrote:

james w. morgan wrote:
Greetings. Is there a Microsoft web page I can access that will
tell me what all the XP updates are for so I caan pick and chose. I
have altered the settings on the Auto Updates and went back about 3
weeks on the Restore function but still have some I would like to
delete. Thanks for your help.

Please explain why it is you are wanting to 'delete' previously installed
updates. It may be entirely unnecessary (and possibly ill-advised.)

If you have automatic updates set to notify you but nothing else - you can
get more information on each.

You can also visit http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com and perform a CUSTOM
scan for updates and look through that list of updates you need.

You can also review the releases each month to see what updates you might
need/have needed and what they are.

Each month Microsoft puts out that months patches in an ISO format for
burning to DVD:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/913086 (Back to 2006)


You can see the critical (security and other) patches released for a given
month using the following:

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sec.../ms##-***.mspx

At the end of this line you see "ms##-***.mspx" .. If you simply replace ##
with the two-digit year and the *** with the three character month
abbreviation, you will see the list of "critical" and "important" patches
for that month (since it only happens once a month usually, if you check by
the second Tuesday (wait until afternoon) of each month - you should be
fine) - note that future months will not work.

As an example...

December 2004's patches..
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sec.../ms04-dec.mspx

March 2005's patches..
None released.. so that one will fail...

May 2006's patches..
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sec.../ms06-may.mspx

January 2007's patches..
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sec.../ms07-jan.mspx

April 2008's patches..
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sec.../ms08-apr.mspx

There's at least one third party tool that will download all of them for
you:
http://wud.jcarle.com/

If you are getting these for integration into a cd or some sort of
installation...

http://unattended.msfn.org/
and
http://unattended.sourceforge.net/

Otherwise - please describe what it is you are doing/hoping to find in more
detail.

--
Shenan Stanley
MS-MVP
--
How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

james w. morgan wrote:
Greetings. Is there a Microsoft web page I can access that will
tell me what all the XP updates are for so I caan pick and chose. I
have altered the settings on the Auto Updates and went back about 3
weeks on the Restore function but still have some I would like to
delete. Thanks for your help.

Shenan Stanley wrote:
Please explain why it is you are wanting to 'delete' previously
installed updates. It may be entirely unnecessary (and possibly
ill-advised.)

If you have automatic updates set to notify you but nothing else -
you can get more information on each.

You can also visit http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com and perform a
CUSTOM scan for updates and look through that list of updates you
need.

You can also review the releases each month to see what updates you
might need/have needed and what they are.

Each month Microsoft puts out that months patches in an ISO format
for burning to DVD:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/913086 (Back to 2006)


You can see the critical (security and other) patches released for
a given month using the following:

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sec.../ms##-***.mspx

At the end of this line you see "ms##-***.mspx" .. If you simply
replace ## with the two-digit year and the *** with the three
character month abbreviation, you will see the list of "critical"
and "important" patches for that month (since it only happens once
a month usually, if you check by the second Tuesday (wait until
afternoon) of each month - you should be fine) - note that future
months will not work.

As an example...

December 2004's patches..
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sec.../ms04-dec.mspx

March 2005's patches..
None released.. so that one will fail...

May 2006's patches..
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sec.../ms06-may.mspx

January 2007's patches..
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sec.../ms07-jan.mspx

April 2008's patches..
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sec.../ms08-apr.mspx

There's at least one third party tool that will download all of
them for you:
http://wud.jcarle.com/

If you are getting these for integration into a cd or some sort of
installation...

http://unattended.msfn.org/
and
http://unattended.sourceforge.net/

Otherwise - please describe what it is you are doing/hoping to find
in more detail.

james w. morgan wrote:
Well, Mr. Stanley, I'm curious. There are some I don't want. I have
reset my auto updates so that now I can pick and chose. For
instance, It downloaded one that wanted me to enter name and
password before I could use MY computer. It also downloaded one
that caused a notice to come up repeatedly telling me that windows
explorer was having a problem and needed to close. And close it
did. Every time. One man told me to restore to a point I thought
would be before certain updates were downloaded. I did this but it
didn't solve all the problems. I'm curious as to why you would ask
such a question. This is my computer and I should be able to knoow
what the updates are for. I'm sure some of them don't apply to the
way I use my computer and so there is no need to download them.
Some of them cause problems with other programs I am running. My
question was a simple one and it seems reasonable that microsoft
would have a page that tells what the updates are for or what they
cure. Doesn't that sound reasonable to you? If there is such a web
page I would like to have the address. Thank you very much.

I gave you the information you needed.

As for why I would ask 'such a question' - why would you call it 'such a
question'? You asked a question here - you chose to *ask a question here*.
I chose to answer your question and felt if I had further information, it
might further aid myself (or others) in answering your question properly.

These 'other programs' - what might they be?
What specific updates cause trouble with/for them?
Even if you do not know the specific update (yet), you likely do know when
the problem started and/or the last time you did not have the problem... In
your add/remove programs, what was installed between those times?

As for 'not applying to the way you use your computer'... Interesting and
short-sighted statement - in my opinion.

As for it being your computer - yes, yes it probably is. Didn't care
before, don't care now whose computer it might be - you asked a question, I
was providing an answer and had follow-up questions.

I suggest you actually read my response instead of taking personal offense
to some part of it - your answer was given in multiple ways. Links inside
the automatic updates (when set to notify instead of fully automatic); The
list of complete updates for a given month; the custom scan option at
"windowsupdate.microsoft.com"; etc.

Good luck. Remember - people may ask you things, I suggest not taking
everyone of them as some personal attack. We all have differing opinions
and different ways of approaching things. ;-)

--
Shenan Stanley
MS-MVP
--
How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

james w. morgan wrote:
Greetings. Is there a Microsoft web page I can access that will
tell me what all the XP updates are for so I caan pick and chose. I
have altered the settings on the Auto Updates and went back about 3
weeks on the Restore function but still have some I would like to
delete. Thanks for your help.

Shenan Stanley wrote:
Please explain why it is you are wanting to 'delete' previously
installed updates. It may be entirely unnecessary (and possibly
ill-advised.)

If you have automatic updates set to notify you but nothing else -
you can get more information on each.

You can also visit http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com and perform a
CUSTOM scan for updates and look through that list of updates you
need.

You can also review the releases each month to see what updates you
might need/have needed and what they are.

Each month Microsoft puts out that months patches in an ISO format
for burning to DVD:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/913086 (Back to 2006)


You can see the critical (security and other) patches released for
a given month using the following:

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sec.../ms##-***.mspx

At the end of this line you see "ms##-***.mspx" .. If you simply
replace ## with the two-digit year and the *** with the three
character month abbreviation, you will see the list of "critical"
and "important" patches for that month (since it only happens once
a month usually, if you check by the second Tuesday (wait until
afternoon) of each month - you should be fine) - note that future
months will not work.

As an example...

December 2004's patches..
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sec.../ms04-dec.mspx

March 2005's patches..
None released.. so that one will fail...

May 2006's patches..
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sec.../ms06-may.mspx

January 2007's patches..
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sec.../ms07-jan.mspx

April 2008's patches..
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sec.../ms08-apr.mspx

There's at least one third party tool that will download all of
them for you:
http://wud.jcarle.com/

If you are getting these for integration into a cd or some sort of
installation...

http://unattended.msfn.org/
and
http://unattended.sourceforge.net/

Otherwise - please describe what it is you are doing/hoping to find
in more detail.

james w. morgan wrote:
Well, Mr. Stanley, I'm curious. There are some I don't want. I have
reset my auto updates so that now I can pick and chose. For
instance, It downloaded one that wanted me to enter name and
password before I could use MY computer. It also downloaded one
that caused a notice to come up repeatedly telling me that windows
explorer was having a problem and needed to close. And close it
did. Every time. One man told me to restore to a point I thought
would be before certain updates were downloaded. I did this but it
didn't solve all the problems. I'm curious as to why you would ask
such a question. This is my computer and I should be able to knoow
what the updates are for. I'm sure some of them don't apply to the
way I use my computer and so there is no need to download them.
Some of them cause problems with other programs I am running. My
question was a simple one and it seems reasonable that microsoft
would have a page that tells what the updates are for or what they
cure. Doesn't that sound reasonable to you? If there is such a web
page I would like to have the address. Thank you very much.

I gave you the information you needed.

As for why I would ask 'such a question' - why would you call it 'such a
question'? You asked a question here - you chose to *ask a question here*.
I chose to answer your question and felt if I had further information, it
might further aid myself (or others) in answering your question properly.

These 'other programs' - what might they be?
What specific updates cause trouble with/for them?
Even if you do not know the specific update (yet), you likely do know when
the problem started and/or the last time you did not have the problem... In
your add/remove programs, what was installed between those times?

As for 'not applying to the way you use your computer'... Interesting and
short-sighted statement - in my opinion.

As for it being your computer - yes, yes it probably is. Didn't care
before, don't care now whose computer it might be - you asked a question, I
was providing an answer and had follow-up questions.

I suggest you actually read my response instead of taking personal offense
to some part of it - your answer was given in multiple ways. Links inside
the automatic updates (when set to notify instead of fully automatic); The
list of complete updates for a given month; the custom scan option at
"windowsupdate.microsoft.com"; etc.

Good luck. Remember - people may ask you things, I suggest not taking
everyone of them as some personal attack. We all have differing opinions
and different ways of approaching things. ;-)

--
Shenan Stanley
MS-MVP
--
How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

Originally Posted by james w. morgan

Greetings. Is there a Microsoft web page I can access that will tell me what
all the XP updates are for so I caan pick and chose. I have altered the
settings on the Auto Updates and went back about 3 weeks on the Restore
function but still have some I would like to delete. Thanks for your help.
James

I don't know how to help you with this one since I am not yet accustomed to Windows XP that much, need some information about this for the meantime.

james w. morgan,
I do not think that MS offers a removal tool that you can use, but you can
manually remove the updates using the following method:

1. Start Programs Windows or Microsoft Update Custom When scan is complete
On the left side pane under Options Select Update History.
2. It should list the last 40 updates that you did. My history list shows
updates since Sept'08, yours may be different.
3. Write down the numbers and names so you can check and see if they are on your
computer..
4. On your PC Control Panel Add/Remove Programd Make sure Show MS Updates is
checked.
5. Scroll through the list, and remove any updates that you do not want. You may
have to reboot after removal of an update, before moving onto the next update.
6. When you are done removing updates, I would reboot PC one more time.
7. Repeat step one, select each of the updates that is listed after the scan,
click the "+" sign, and select to hide the update, if desired. Then installed
any update that is left from the list. Reboot PC.

You need to be aware of the following:

1. If an individual update that you want to remove, was installed as part of
Service Pack, it might not be listed in Add/Remove Programs. You will need to
uninstall the entire Service Pack, and reinstall the other updates that you want
that were part of that SP.
a. If later on, you decide to install the Service Pack, those updates that
you hid, may still be installed anyway.
2. When removing the Framework updates, be aware that they may cause proplems
with other programs that you have on your PC.
a. You may have multiple vcrsions of Framework listed, individual versions
may be necessary to run different programs on your PC.
3. Removal of IE updates may cause problems with Outlook Express. Since they
share common files.
4. Removal of MS Office updates, or updates for individual MS Office products,
may also affect other MS Office and MS Works products.

--
Add MS to your News Reader: news://msnews.microsoft.com
Rich/rerat
(RRR News) message rule
Previous Text Snipped to Save Bandwidth When Appropriate


"james w. morgan" wrote in message
news Greetings. Is there a Microsoft web page I can access that will tell me what
all the XP updates are for so I caan pick and chose. I have altered the
settings on the Auto Updates and went back about 3 weeks on the Restore
function but still have some I would like to delete. Thanks for your help.
James

james w. morgan,
I do not think that MS offers a removal tool that you can use, but you can
manually remove the updates using the following method:

1. Start Programs Windows or Microsoft Update Custom When scan is complete
On the left side pane under Options Select Update History.
2. It should list the last 40 updates that you did. My history list shows
updates since Sept'08, yours may be different.
3. Write down the numbers and names so you can check and see if they are on your
computer..
4. On your PC Control Panel Add/Remove Programd Make sure Show MS Updates is
checked.
5. Scroll through the list, and remove any updates that you do not want. You may
have to reboot after removal of an update, before moving onto the next update.
6. When you are done removing updates, I would reboot PC one more time.
7. Repeat step one, select each of the updates that is listed after the scan,
click the "+" sign, and select to hide the update, if desired. Then installed
any update that is left from the list. Reboot PC.

You need to be aware of the following:

1. If an individual update that you want to remove, was installed as part of
Service Pack, it might not be listed in Add/Remove Programs. You will need to
uninstall the entire Service Pack, and reinstall the other updates that you want
that were part of that SP.
a. If later on, you decide to install the Service Pack, those updates that
you hid, may still be installed anyway.
2. When removing the Framework updates, be aware that they may cause proplems
with other programs that you have on your PC.
a. You may have multiple vcrsions of Framework listed, individual versions
may be necessary to run different programs on your PC.
3. Removal of IE updates may cause problems with Outlook Express. Since they
share common files.
4. Removal of MS Office updates, or updates for individual MS Office products,
may also affect other MS Office and MS Works products.

--
Add MS to your News Reader: news://msnews.microsoft.com
Rich/rerat
(RRR News) message rule
Previous Text Snipped to Save Bandwidth When Appropriate


"james w. morgan" wrote in message
news Greetings. Is there a Microsoft web page I can access that will tell me what
all the XP updates are for so I caan pick and chose. I have altered the
settings on the Auto Updates and went back about 3 weeks on the Restore
function but still have some I would like to delete. Thanks for your help.
James

james w. morgan wrote:
Greetings. Is there a Microsoft web page I can access that will
tell me what all the XP updates are for so I caan pick and chose. I
have altered the settings on the Auto Updates and went back about 3
weeks on the Restore function but still have some I would like to
delete. Thanks for your help.

Shenan Stanley wrote:
Please explain why it is you are wanting to 'delete' previously
installed updates. It may be entirely unnecessary (and possibly
ill-advised.)

If you have automatic updates set to notify you but nothing else -
you can get more information on each.

You can also visit http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com and perform a
CUSTOM scan for updates and look through that list of updates you
need.

You can also review the releases each month to see what updates you
might need/have needed and what they are.

Each month Microsoft puts out that months patches in an ISO format
for burning to DVD:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/913086 (Back to 2006)


You can see the critical (security and other) patches released for
a given month using the following:

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sec.../ms##-***.mspx

At the end of this line you see "ms##-***.mspx" .. If you simply
replace ## with the two-digit year and the *** with the three
character month abbreviation, you will see the list of "critical"
and "important" patches for that month (since it only happens once
a month usually, if you check by the second Tuesday (wait until
afternoon) of each month - you should be fine) - note that future
months will not work.

As an example...

December 2004's patches..
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sec.../ms04-dec.mspx

March 2005's patches..
None released.. so that one will fail...

May 2006's patches..
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sec.../ms06-may.mspx

January 2007's patches..
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sec.../ms07-jan.mspx

April 2008's patches..
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sec.../ms08-apr.mspx

There's at least one third party tool that will download all of
them for you:
http://wud.jcarle.com/

If you are getting these for integration into a cd or some sort of
installation...

http://unattended.msfn.org/
and
http://unattended.sourceforge.net/

Otherwise - please describe what it is you are doing/hoping to find
in more detail.

james w. morgan wrote:
Well, Mr. Stanley, I'm curious. There are some I don't want. I have
reset my auto updates so that now I can pick and chose. For
instance, It downloaded one that wanted me to enter name and
password before I could use MY computer. It also downloaded one
that caused a notice to come up repeatedly telling me that windows
explorer was having a problem and needed to close. And close it
did. Every time. One man told me to restore to a point I thought
would be before certain updates were downloaded. I did this but it
didn't solve all the problems. I'm curious as to why you would ask
such a question. This is my computer and I should be able to knoow
what the updates are for. I'm sure some of them don't apply to the
way I use my computer and so there is no need to download them.
Some of them cause problems with other programs I am running. My
question was a simple one and it seems reasonable that microsoft
would have a page that tells what the updates are for or what they
cure. Doesn't that sound reasonable to you? If there is such a web
page I would like to have the address. Thank you very much.

Shenan Stanley wrote:
I gave you the information you needed.

As for why I would ask 'such a question' - why would you call it 'such a
question'? You asked a question here - you chose to *ask a question
here*. I chose to answer your question and felt if I had further
information, it might further aid myself (or others) in answering your
question properly.

These 'other programs' - what might they be?
What specific updates cause trouble with/for them?
Even if you do not know the specific update (yet), you likely do know when
the problem started and/or the last time you did not have the problem...
In your add/remove programs, what was installed between those times?

As for 'not applying to the way you use your computer'... Interesting and
short-sighted statement - in my opinion.

As for it being your computer - yes, yes it probably is. Didn't care
before, don't care now whose computer it might be - you asked a question,
I was providing an answer and had follow-up questions.

I suggest you actually read my response instead of taking personal offense
to some part of it - your answer was given in multiple ways. Links inside
the automatic updates (when set to notify instead of fully automatic); The
list of complete updates for a given month; the custom scan option at
"windowsupdate.microsoft.com"; etc.

Good luck. Remember - people may ask you things, I suggest not taking
everyone of them as some personal attack. We all have differing opinions
and different ways of approaching things. ;-)

Additionally:

You could just - through the 'Add or Remove Programs' Control Panel - find
the KB###### for each of the updates you have installed that have valid
removal methods intact and visit the web page for each one...

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/######\

(where ###### is replaced by the obvious.)

That would work.


Belarc Advisor (http://belarc.com/free_download.html) might help you out as
well - it should list the installed and needed updates *decently accurately*
and you could use the KB######'s in the same way I describe above.
Actually - Belarc (I believe) has a "Details" link next to most of the
installed/needd updates that take you to the KB page as I describe - so...
In reality - there's your list.


Remember - you *may* own your computer - but if you read the EULA for
Windows carefully - you are basically just given the right to *use* the
operating system. Sad - but seemingly true. (See #6 in the EULA - "6.
TERMINATION". Start button -- run -- type in: winver -- Click OK --
Click on the words "End-User License Agreement" in the "About Windows" box
that should appear.)

Come back - reply - let everyone know how things turned out. Remember -
this post is available indefinitely - so people 10 years from now may still
read it and (possibly) even benefit from it. (
http://groups.google.com/group/micro...0177ab1c410572 )

--
Shenan Stanley
MS-MVP
--
How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

james w. morgan wrote:
Greetings. Is there a Microsoft web page I can access that will
tell me what all the XP updates are for so I caan pick and chose. I
have altered the settings on the Auto Updates and went back about 3
weeks on the Restore function but still have some I would like to
delete. Thanks for your help.

Shenan Stanley wrote:
Please explain why it is you are wanting to 'delete' previously
installed updates. It may be entirely unnecessary (and possibly
ill-advised.)

If you have automatic updates set to notify you but nothing else -
you can get more information on each.

You can also visit http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com and perform a
CUSTOM scan for updates and look through that list of updates you
need.

You can also review the releases each month to see what updates you
might need/have needed and what they are.

Each month Microsoft puts out that months patches in an ISO format
for burning to DVD:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/913086 (Back to 2006)


You can see the critical (security and other) patches released for
a given month using the following:

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sec.../ms##-***.mspx

At the end of this line you see "ms##-***.mspx" .. If you simply
replace ## with the two-digit year and the *** with the three
character month abbreviation, you will see the list of "critical"
and "important" patches for that month (since it only happens once
a month usually, if you check by the second Tuesday (wait until
afternoon) of each month - you should be fine) - note that future
months will not work.

As an example...

December 2004's patches..
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sec.../ms04-dec.mspx

March 2005's patches..
None released.. so that one will fail...

May 2006's patches..
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sec.../ms06-may.mspx

January 2007's patches..
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sec.../ms07-jan.mspx

April 2008's patches..
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sec.../ms08-apr.mspx

There's at least one third party tool that will download all of
them for you:
http://wud.jcarle.com/

If you are getting these for integration into a cd or some sort of
installation...

http://unattended.msfn.org/
and
http://unattended.sourceforge.net/

Otherwise - please describe what it is you are doing/hoping to find
in more detail.

james w. morgan wrote:
Well, Mr. Stanley, I'm curious. There are some I don't want. I have
reset my auto updates so that now I can pick and chose. For
instance, It downloaded one that wanted me to enter name and
password before I could use MY computer. It also downloaded one
that caused a notice to come up repeatedly telling me that windows
explorer was having a problem and needed to close. And close it
did. Every time. One man told me to restore to a point I thought
would be before certain updates were downloaded. I did this but it
didn't solve all the problems. I'm curious as to why you would ask
such a question. This is my computer and I should be able to knoow
what the updates are for. I'm sure some of them don't apply to the
way I use my computer and so there is no need to download them.
Some of them cause problems with other programs I am running. My
question was a simple one and it seems reasonable that microsoft
would have a page that tells what the updates are for or what they
cure. Doesn't that sound reasonable to you? If there is such a web
page I would like to have the address. Thank you very much.

Shenan Stanley wrote:
I gave you the information you needed.

As for why I would ask 'such a question' - why would you call it 'such a
question'? You asked a question here - you chose to *ask a question
here*. I chose to answer your question and felt if I had further
information, it might further aid myself (or others) in answering your
question properly.

These 'other programs' - what might they be?
What specific updates cause trouble with/for them?
Even if you do not know the specific update (yet), you likely do know when
the problem started and/or the last time you did not have the problem...
In your add/remove programs, what was installed between those times?

As for 'not applying to the way you use your computer'... Interesting and
short-sighted statement - in my opinion.

As for it being your computer - yes, yes it probably is. Didn't care
before, don't care now whose computer it might be - you asked a question,
I was providing an answer and had follow-up questions.

I suggest you actually read my response instead of taking personal offense
to some part of it - your answer was given in multiple ways. Links inside
the automatic updates (when set to notify instead of fully automatic); The
list of complete updates for a given month; the custom scan option at
"windowsupdate.microsoft.com"; etc.

Good luck. Remember - people may ask you things, I suggest not taking
everyone of them as some personal attack. We all have differing opinions
and different ways of approaching things. ;-)

Additionally:

You could just - through the 'Add or Remove Programs' Control Panel - find
the KB###### for each of the updates you have installed that have valid
removal methods intact and visit the web page for each one...

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/######\

(where ###### is replaced by the obvious.)

That would work.


Belarc Advisor (http://belarc.com/free_download.html) might help you out as
well - it should list the installed and needed updates *decently accurately*
and you could use the KB######'s in the same way I describe above.
Actually - Belarc (I believe) has a "Details" link next to most of the
installed/needd updates that take you to the KB page as I describe - so...
In reality - there's your list.


Remember - you *may* own your computer - but if you read the EULA for
Windows carefully - you are basically just given the right to *use* the
operating system. Sad - but seemingly true. (See #6 in the EULA - "6.
TERMINATION". Start button -- run -- type in: winver -- Click OK --
Click on the words "End-User License Agreement" in the "About Windows" box
that should appear.)

Come back - reply - let everyone know how things turned out. Remember -
this post is available indefinitely - so people 10 years from now may still
read it and (possibly) even benefit from it. (
http://groups.google.com/group/micro...0177ab1c410572 )

--
Shenan Stanley
MS-MVP
--
How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

Shenan Stanley wrote:
james w. morgan wrote:
Greetings. Is there a Microsoft web page I can access that will
tell me what all the XP updates are for so I caan pick and chose. I
have altered the settings on the Auto Updates and went back about 3
weeks on the Restore function but still have some I would like to
delete. Thanks for your help.

Shenan Stanley wrote:
Please explain why it is you are wanting to 'delete' previously
installed updates. It may be entirely unnecessary (and possibly
ill-advised.)

If you have automatic updates set to notify you but nothing else -
you can get more information on each.

You can also visit http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com and perform a
CUSTOM scan for updates and look through that list of updates you
need.

You can also review the releases each month to see what updates you
might need/have needed and what they are.

Each month Microsoft puts out that months patches in an ISO format
for burning to DVD:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/913086 (Back to 2006)


You can see the critical (security and other) patches released for
a given month using the following:

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sec.../ms##-***.mspx

At the end of this line you see "ms##-***.mspx" .. If you simply
replace ## with the two-digit year and the *** with the three
character month abbreviation, you will see the list of "critical"
and "important" patches for that month (since it only happens once
a month usually, if you check by the second Tuesday (wait until
afternoon) of each month - you should be fine) - note that future
months will not work.

As an example...

December 2004's patches..
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sec.../ms04-dec.mspx

March 2005's patches..
None released.. so that one will fail...

May 2006's patches..
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sec.../ms06-may.mspx

January 2007's patches..
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sec.../ms07-jan.mspx

April 2008's patches..
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sec.../ms08-apr.mspx

There's at least one third party tool that will download all of
them for you:
http://wud.jcarle.com/

If you are getting these for integration into a cd or some sort of
installation...

http://unattended.msfn.org/
and
http://unattended.sourceforge.net/

Otherwise - please describe what it is you are doing/hoping to find
in more detail.

james w. morgan wrote:
Well, Mr. Stanley, I'm curious. There are some I don't want. I have
reset my auto updates so that now I can pick and chose. For
instance, It downloaded one that wanted me to enter name and
password before I could use MY computer. It also downloaded one
that caused a notice to come up repeatedly telling me that windows
explorer was having a problem and needed to close. And close it
did. Every time. One man told me to restore to a point I thought
would be before certain updates were downloaded. I did this but it
didn't solve all the problems. I'm curious as to why you would ask
such a question. This is my computer and I should be able to knoow
what the updates are for. I'm sure some of them don't apply to the
way I use my computer and so there is no need to download them.
Some of them cause problems with other programs I am running. My
question was a simple one and it seems reasonable that microsoft
would have a page that tells what the updates are for or what they
cure. Doesn't that sound reasonable to you? If there is such a web
page I would like to have the address. Thank you very much.

Shenan Stanley wrote:
I gave you the information you needed.

As for why I would ask 'such a question' - why would you call it 'such a
question'? You asked a question here - you chose to *ask a question
here*. I chose to answer your question and felt if I had further
information, it might further aid myself (or others) in answering your
question properly.

These 'other programs' - what might they be?
What specific updates cause trouble with/for them?
Even if you do not know the specific update (yet), you likely do know when
the problem started and/or the last time you did not have the problem...
In your add/remove programs, what was installed between those times?

As for 'not applying to the way you use your computer'... Interesting and
short-sighted statement - in my opinion.

As for it being your computer - yes, yes it probably is. Didn't care
before, don't care now whose computer it might be - you asked a question,
I was providing an answer and had follow-up questions.

I suggest you actually read my response instead of taking personal offense
to some part of it - your answer was given in multiple ways. Links inside
the automatic updates (when set to notify instead of fully automatic); The
list of complete updates for a given month; the custom scan option at
"windowsupdate.microsoft.com"; etc.

Good luck. Remember - people may ask you things, I suggest not taking
everyone of them as some personal attack. We all have differing opinions
and different ways of approaching things. ;-)

Additionally:

You could just - through the 'Add or Remove Programs' Control Panel - find
the KB###### for each of the updates you have installed that have valid
removal methods intact and visit the web page for each one...

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/######\

(where ###### is replaced by the obvious.)

That would work.


Belarc Advisor (http://belarc.com/free_download.html) might help you out as
well - it should list the installed and needed updates *decently accurately*
and you could use the KB######'s in the same way I describe above.
Actually - Belarc (I believe) has a "Details" link next to most of the
installed/needd updates that take you to the KB page as I describe - so...
In reality - there's your list.


Remember - you *may* own your computer - but if you read the EULA for
Windows carefully - you are basically just given the right to *use* the
operating system. Sad - but seemingly true. (See #6 in the EULA - "6.
TERMINATION". Start button -- run -- type in: winver -- Click OK --
Click on the words "End-User License Agreement" in the "About Windows" box
that should appear.)

I learn something new every day using this newsgroup. Run, winver:

END-USER LICENSE AGREEMENT FOR MICROSOFT SOFTWARE
WINDOWS XP HOME EDITION SERVICE PACK 2

3. RESERVATION OF RIGHTS AND OWNERSHIP
The Software is licensed, not sold.

6. LINKS TO THIRD PARTY SITES
Is my EULA different to yours? Your post says 6 is Termination.

15. TERMINATION
Without prejudice to any other rights, Microsoft may terminate this EULA
if you fail to comply with the terms and conditions of this EULA. In
such event, you must destroy all copies of the Software and all of its
component parts.

I don't even own it and they can take it back anytime they want? :-(

Come back - reply - let everyone know how things turned out. Remember -
this post is available indefinitely - so people 10 years from now may still
read it and (possibly) even benefit from it. (
http://groups.google.com/group/micro...0177ab1c410572 )


--
JD..

Shenan Stanley wrote:
james w. morgan wrote:
Greetings. Is there a Microsoft web page I can access that will
tell me what all the XP updates are for so I caan pick and chose. I
have altered the settings on the Auto Updates and went back about 3
weeks on the Restore function but still have some I would like to
delete. Thanks for your help.

Shenan Stanley wrote:
Please explain why it is you are wanting to 'delete' previously
installed updates. It may be entirely unnecessary (and possibly
ill-advised.)

If you have automatic updates set to notify you but nothing else -
you can get more information on each.

You can also visit http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com and perform a
CUSTOM scan for updates and look through that list of updates you
need.

You can also review the releases each month to see what updates you
might need/have needed and what they are.

Each month Microsoft puts out that months patches in an ISO format
for burning to DVD:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/913086 (Back to 2006)


You can see the critical (security and other) patches released for
a given month using the following:

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sec.../ms##-***.mspx

At the end of this line you see "ms##-***.mspx" .. If you simply
replace ## with the two-digit year and the *** with the three
character month abbreviation, you will see the list of "critical"
and "important" patches for that month (since it only happens once
a month usually, if you check by the second Tuesday (wait until
afternoon) of each month - you should be fine) - note that future
months will not work.

As an example...

December 2004's patches..
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sec.../ms04-dec.mspx

March 2005's patches..
None released.. so that one will fail...

May 2006's patches..
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sec.../ms06-may.mspx

January 2007's patches..
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sec.../ms07-jan.mspx

April 2008's patches..
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sec.../ms08-apr.mspx

There's at least one third party tool that will download all of
them for you:
http://wud.jcarle.com/

If you are getting these for integration into a cd or some sort of
installation...

http://unattended.msfn.org/
and
http://unattended.sourceforge.net/

Otherwise - please describe what it is you are doing/hoping to find
in more detail.

james w. morgan wrote:
Well, Mr. Stanley, I'm curious. There are some I don't want. I have
reset my auto updates so that now I can pick and chose. For
instance, It downloaded one that wanted me to enter name and
password before I could use MY computer. It also downloaded one
that caused a notice to come up repeatedly telling me that windows
explorer was having a problem and needed to close. And close it
did. Every time. One man told me to restore to a point I thought
would be before certain updates were downloaded. I did this but it
didn't solve all the problems. I'm curious as to why you would ask
such a question. This is my computer and I should be able to knoow
what the updates are for. I'm sure some of them don't apply to the
way I use my computer and so there is no need to download them.
Some of them cause problems with other programs I am running. My
question was a simple one and it seems reasonable that microsoft
would have a page that tells what the updates are for or what they
cure. Doesn't that sound reasonable to you? If there is such a web
page I would like to have the address. Thank you very much.

Shenan Stanley wrote:
I gave you the information you needed.

As for why I would ask 'such a question' - why would you call it 'such a
question'? You asked a question here - you chose to *ask a question
here*. I chose to answer your question and felt if I had further
information, it might further aid myself (or others) in answering your
question properly.

These 'other programs' - what might they be?
What specific updates cause trouble with/for them?
Even if you do not know the specific update (yet), you likely do know when
the problem started and/or the last time you did not have the problem...
In your add/remove programs, what was installed between those times?

As for 'not applying to the way you use your computer'... Interesting and
short-sighted statement - in my opinion.

As for it being your computer - yes, yes it probably is. Didn't care
before, don't care now whose computer it might be - you asked a question,
I was providing an answer and had follow-up questions.

I suggest you actually read my response instead of taking personal offense
to some part of it - your answer was given in multiple ways. Links inside
the automatic updates (when set to notify instead of fully automatic); The
list of complete updates for a given month; the custom scan option at
"windowsupdate.microsoft.com"; etc.

Good luck. Remember - people may ask you things, I suggest not taking
everyone of them as some personal attack. We all have differing opinions
and different ways of approaching things. ;-)

Additionally:

You could just - through the 'Add or Remove Programs' Control Panel - find
the KB###### for each of the updates you have installed that have valid
removal methods intact and visit the web page for each one...

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/######\

(where ###### is replaced by the obvious.)

That would work.


Belarc Advisor (http://belarc.com/free_download.html) might help you out as
well - it should list the installed and needed updates *decently accurately*
and you could use the KB######'s in the same way I describe above.
Actually - Belarc (I believe) has a "Details" link next to most of the
installed/needd updates that take you to the KB page as I describe - so...
In reality - there's your list.


Remember - you *may* own your computer - but if you read the EULA for
Windows carefully - you are basically just given the right to *use* the
operating system. Sad - but seemingly true. (See #6 in the EULA - "6.
TERMINATION". Start button -- run -- type in: winver -- Click OK --
Click on the words "End-User License Agreement" in the "About Windows" box
that should appear.)

I learn something new every day using this newsgroup. Run, winver:

END-USER LICENSE AGREEMENT FOR MICROSOFT SOFTWARE
WINDOWS XP HOME EDITION SERVICE PACK 2

3. RESERVATION OF RIGHTS AND OWNERSHIP
The Software is licensed, not sold.

6. LINKS TO THIRD PARTY SITES
Is my EULA different to yours? Your post says 6 is Termination.

15. TERMINATION
Without prejudice to any other rights, Microsoft may terminate this EULA
if you fail to comply with the terms and conditions of this EULA. In
such event, you must destroy all copies of the Software and all of its
component parts.

I don't even own it and they can take it back anytime they want? :-(

Come back - reply - let everyone know how things turned out. Remember -
this post is available indefinitely - so people 10 years from now may still
read it and (possibly) even benefit from it. (
http://groups.google.com/group/micro...0177ab1c410572 )


--
JD..

james w. morgan wrote:
Greetings. Is there a Microsoft web page I can access that will tell
me what all the XP updates are for so I caan pick and chose. I have
altered the settings on the Auto Updates and went back about 3 weeks
on the Restore function but still have some I would like to delete.
Thanks for your help. James

Hi Jim,

Each update already installed on your machine has a KB (Knowledge Base)
article associated with it that explains its purpose and how critical it
may or may not be.

If you look in C:\Windows, there is a record there of all your installed
updates in the form of uninstallers, which I assume you have already
found, but if not, you may have to go to Explorer's Tools; Folder
Options, the View tab, and adjust three settings there that have to do
with exposing hidden and system files. They are all marked as Hidden
files.

Each $NtUninstallKBxxxxxx ... file, the KB part indicates the associated
Knowledge Base article about it. After looking at and examining a few
of those, you'll shortly realize how to check for and find each and
every one that has ever been released. Careful searching: Be sure you
go to the ones for your own Operating System, not a different one.

In the Catalogs section of MS's site, you can individually
download/install/read about any of the updates you wish. You have
already been given several excellent links for that purpose; check them
out. I think it was Shenan gave them to you. Shenan does ask some
pretty dumb questions now and then about why you're doing things, but in
some ways his heart is in the right place. In most cases, I've found
the questions silly and condescending, so it's either ignore him or pick
apart his posts for something useful. Often his post will be nothing
but those kinds of silly questions, many of which are none of his
business. When I find those, I simply stop following the thread unless
someone more intelligent about people follows him; then I look to see if
I can learn anything.

All that said: you may also find a gazillion log files about KB stuff
and SP downloads in the C:\Windows directory. If you really want to get
deep into this, those are very informative.

What you propose to do though, is highly non-recommended. For one
thing, some updates require other updates, so removing one without the
other can cause you some pretty big problems. Collateral issues are
common, so research it carefully.

If you're having updates that conflict with certain programs, it is very
highly likely that the problem is in that program, not with the updates.
Many of the updates are considered "critical" in that they plug
securty holes in the operating system. Deleting those can be armegeddon
for your machine.

Your post would draw much better response with details. Like, exactly
what you need to accomplish and your reasoning that an update is the
culprit. YOu'll get some strange responses from those who disagree with
your reasoning, but you may also end up with a very valuable bit of
knowledge about your issues that not only applies to yur current
situation but many others too.
Being specific is always a huge benefit and always include details on
the machine's OS & program versions, etc.

HTH,

Twayne