A thread · 9 notes · Engineering
Windows Update, untangled.
Why updates stall, where a PC gets them from, and how to push, log and check them at scale.
- 1
Patching Without Fear: Rings, Risk and a Way Back
How I think about patch risk now. Sort updates by blast radius, roll them out in rings, decide what "bad" looks like up front, and know your way back before you need it.
- 2
WSUS, WUfB or Windows Update? Check (and Reset) Where a PC Gets Its Updates
One script that reads the WSUS, scan-source and Windows Update for Business settings on a device and tells you where it's really getting updates from, with a safe reset for leftovers.
- 3
Re-Enable Windows Update with PowerShell: Find Every Registry Block, Not Just One
When Windows Update is greyed out or just won't run, check all the policy values and services that can block it, and put them back the way Windows shipped.
- 4
Opting Devices In to Microsoft Update with an SCCM Package
Register the Microsoft Update service through the Windows Update Agent's own COM API, so devices pick up Office and other Microsoft product updates, not just Windows.
- 5
Checking WinRM Before You Patch Remotely (Packaged for SCCM)
A read-first WinRM check that tells you why remote PowerShell won't connect, fixes it only when you ask, and doubles as a ConfigMgr compliance script.
- 6
Collecting Windows Update Logs with an SCCM Package
On Windows 10 and 11 there's no Windows Update logging to switch on. The trick is collecting it, and this script does that in one zip per machine.
- 7
Deploy the Most-Needed Updates in MECM with PowerShell
Find the updates the most machines are actually missing, bundle them into a group, and deploy them to a pilot collection, with a WhatIf preview first.
- 8
Check MECM Software Update Deployment Status with PowerShell
One object per update deployment with targeted, compliant, failed and unknown counts, so you can spot the deployments that need you.
- 9
Find Out Why a Windows Machine Rebooted with PowerShell
Pull shutdown, startup and crash events from the System log so you can tell a planned restart from a power cut, and see who or what asked for it.