Update Notifications and Install-at-Shutdown Behavior

Hi All,

 

There have been some recent questions about how users are notified about updates and comments that sometimes customers aren’t being notified that updates are available when they shut down their computer. We are investigating the reports and trying to clarify with the community exactly what people are experiencing. We also want to make sure you understand how the update notifications work.

 

1. The tray icon should display when all of your available updates have been downloaded. If there are some downloads that haven’t completed, Windows Update (WU) and Automatic Updates (AU) will reschedule the “updates are available” tray notification until those downloads have completed. We wait to notify you after all available updates are downloaded, so you are not constantly interrupted with notifications while using your computer.

2. Upon shutdown, Windows Update and Automatic Updates will also notify customers if there are any available and downloaded (but not yet installed) updates. We do this by prompting customers via the shutdown button to install the downloaded updates. The shutdown and install updates button does not prompt users to install updates – like Service Packs, Internet Explorer, etc… – that require manual interaction (accepting a EULA or completing an installation wizard). It only prompts on updates that could otherwise be installed automatically, according to the user’s configuration. Customers can also choose not to install these updates at shutdown.

 

Please call Microsoft Support if updates are installed when you shut down your computer and the shutdown button did not inform you that updates would be installed. If you don’t want to be prompted to update at shutdown, you can disable this feature using the guidance provided in the Controlling the Install Updates and Shutdown Feature section of the linked TechNet article. Please note that if your computer attaches to a corporate network, your IT Administrator may be enabling this feature through Group Policy, and it may be turned back on the next time you connect to your corporate network.

 

Note: Some updates shown in the update list aren’t downloaded with the other updates, and you aren’t notified to install them (described in KB910340). Some customers call support believing that WU isn’t working correctly, because it isn’t downloading or notifying them about some updates. These updates are held back by WU. You can download and install them manually through WU, but WU won’t automatically download or notify you about these specific updates until the WU servers make them “available” for your computer. We gradually allow computers to start downloading larger updates, like Service Packs, because they are bigger downloads that require more network bandwidth to download. If an update is held back from your computer, it will not prevent WU from notifying you on the system tray after all of the “available” updates have been downloaded.

 

We hope this helps!

 

MU Team

Comments

• Anonymous
  January 01, 2003
  Not happened on the Vista machines we've patched. Hope you get the sorted Torehov, that sounds a little frustrating to say the least!

• Anonymous
  January 01, 2003
  The comment has been removed

• Anonymous
  January 01, 2003
  The comment has been removed

• Anonymous
  January 01, 2003
  Everyone should be careful in this regard have trouble get installations Thanks for your news

• Anonymous
  January 01, 2003
  people would like to thank you for giving useful information

• Anonymous
  January 01, 2003
  Not the most appropriate place to ask, but can you please look into why it seems BITS won't download any Windows Updates if 1 NIC in a NIC team is disabled or has it's network cable unplugged even though the other NIC is fine. Just found that out today on Server 2008 SP2 64-bit on a HP DL360 G6.

• Anonymous
  January 01, 2003
  I have a big problem with all our Vista machines at the office. after the sp2 update all machines are in an endless loop??? the only way to get them working as been to do a system restore. what the h..l is happening? can anyone help me with this ? this only happens with our Vista Business coputers.

• Anonymous
  January 01, 2003
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  January 01, 2003
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  January 01, 2003
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• Anonymous
  January 01, 2003
  Not the most appropriate place to ask

• Anonymous
  January 01, 2003
  I got a question regarding the internals of Windows/Microsoft Update and was hoping someone on the MU team might intercept this and give a response. I haven't been able to find a definitive answer so far. I'm curious as to what happens behind the scenes when Windows/Microsoft Update is "Checking for the latest updates for your computer." How does it know for sure what is and what isn't installed? Does it query the filesystem and check the actual files associated with each update or does it query a local database/registry that contains information about which updates have been applied. It would seem to me that it would have to check individual files to be certain.

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  January 01, 2003
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• Anonymous
  January 01, 2003
  I don't mind auto-updates, but how do you turn off an auto-restart after the fact?

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  January 01, 2003
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• Anonymous
  January 01, 2003
  To install the updates and that they are useful for us, thank you for your news

• Anonymous
  January 01, 2003
  thank you for sharing your news with us

• Anonymous
  January 01, 2003
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• Anonymous
  January 01, 2003
  The comment has been removed

• Anonymous
  January 01, 2003
  Many thanks for this useful information

• Anonymous
  January 01, 2003
  Checking for the latest updates for your computer." How does it know for sure what is and what isn't installed? Does it query the filesystem and check the actual files associated with each update or does it query a local database/registry that contains information about which updates have been applied. It would seem to me that it would have to check individual files to be certain.

• Anonymous
  January 01, 2003
  Does it query the filesystem and check the actual files associated with each update or does it query a local database/registry that contains information about which updates have been applied.

• Anonymous
  May 26, 2010
  Thanks for the additional information. Very useful!

• Anonymous
  May 26, 2010
  Thanks for the addtional information. Very useful!

• Anonymous
  May 26, 2010
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• Anonymous
  May 26, 2010
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• Anonymous
  May 26, 2010
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• Anonymous
  October 26, 2010
  Not sure this is the right place, but as I'm unable to find anything ... is there any chance I could have some updates (namely Windows Defender ones) installed automatically, while keepin the rest on "Download but let me choose whether to install"? I do not want to install everything right away, especially if it would restart my computer, but having to click off the defender updates every two or three days gets a bit ... annoying. Thanks, Jenda

• Anonymous
  December 14, 2010
  The comment has been removed

• Anonymous
  May 11, 2011
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  May 11, 2011
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  September 27, 2011
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  September 27, 2011
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  June 28, 2016
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