Is Anybody Familiar with WAU Manager

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[John782]

I have seen WAU Manager mentioned in the forum section a few times when I did a search, but has anybody got any positive or negative feedback on it?  This is what Carifred Windows Software says about their product. “WAU Manager (Windows Automatic Updates Manager) is a fully featured replacement for the  built in Windows Updating interface. This tool gives you full control of the Windows Updates, such as when and how they are installed, and has full uninstall and maintenance support for Windows updates.”

Thanks for any info.

John

• This topic was modified 2 years, 6 months ago by John782.

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NaNoNyMouse, Cybertooth

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I had never heard of this, but it looks very appealing.

Been using Windows Update Manager (WUMgr) on my Win10 systems, but this one seems simpler and more straightforward to use. Certainly the documentation is better than for WUMgr.

There’s also a lot of other useful-looking software on Carifred’s website. Thanks for telling us about it!

 

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John782

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Seems to be a great tool for Windows 10 Home users.
The app is portable as well.

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John782

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Cybertooth wrote:

this one seems simpler and more straightforward to use. Certainly the documentation is better than for WUMgr. There’s also a lot of other useful-looking software on Carifred’s website. Thanks for telling us about it!

Seems like it to me too.  You’re welcome.

 

 

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Cybertooth

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Alex5723 wrote:

Seems to be a great tool for Windows 10 Home users.

Thanks,  Alex. Both of my machines are 2004 Home version. I just don’t see the need or justification currently to go to the Pro version. It seems like WAU Manager gives Home users something similar to Group Policy that the Pro version has.

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[EP]

though you need to update the WAU Manager app from time to time (latest version so far is v2.8.0.0).

when new versions of WAU Manager come out you have to download the new version and replace the old version. the app tells me if I’m using the latest version (or not)

• This reply was modified 2 years, 6 months ago by EP.

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John782, Cybertooth

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I like WAU Manager when it works.  But it offers zero in the way of meaningful progress or error messages.

For example: After installing WAU Manager v3.1.0.0 a couple of hours ago, I got it to search for fresh Windows Updates exactly once,.  When I ran it, I set it to replace the built-in automatic WU system, only search for new (unseen before?) WUs but definitely not download or install them.  I did not set it to run on any schedule but did tell it to look for newer versions of itself (WAU Manager).

Since what I downloaded is the actual program, not an installer, I created a desktop shortcut to the location in the Program Files directory where the executable resides.  This can be done within WAU Manager if the dashboard shows up before anything else happens.

Therein lies the problem.  I knew there was a December 2021 Windows 8.1 x64 Security Rollup available for download, but WAU Manager spent almost an hour without finding any new WUs.  No output at all.

I shut the system down gracefully and rand WAU Manager again.  It decided to spend its time “Searching for a newer WAU Manager version…” which I know it should find within a few minutes at worst.

So, now I am stuck with it endlessly looking for newer versions of itself, or sometimes if I rename a locked SoftwareDistribution file in the Windows folder, I can clean the system drive and get WAU Manager to show the dashboard, but  then it just looks for new WUs forever if I do not set it to check for newer versions of WAU Manager.

Has anyone located a good troubleshooting guide for WAU Manager that deals with less bloated versions of Windows than 10 or 11?  The main reason I do not trust the MS WU system is that I learned how it was being used to distribute malware — entirely new releases of Windows 10 — to people who expected it to just keep their existing Windows XP, 7, 8, 8.1 installations updated, NOT obliterated by nastier bloatware disguised as an OS.

There is a real possibility that I might have to do a fresh install of Win8.1 then install a whole lot of application, utility, development, and other software.   I do have plenty of backups made over the past couple of months, so rebuilding the system from wiped drives is not a huge issue, but I really would like to know if something related to WUs is the cause of the problem.  WAU MAnager worked well enough for me from v1.9.?.? onward, until a couple of months ago.

FractalZ

 

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I’ve been running a Win 10 Home computer for 10 months and a Win 10 Pro computer for 2 months. My update strategy so far is to pause updates until the day before the next patch Tuesday. I resume updates when Susan says it’s OK. This has worked well but there is one thing I don’t like. In addition to getting any “regular” .NET patches, I also get the Preview .NET patches and I end up having the Previews installed only about a week after they’ve been released and that makes me uneasy.

So, I’ve been reading the documentation of wushowhide, the WU minitool, WuMgr, and WAU Manager. To me, the WAU Manager seems the most intuitive and easily understood and most similar to Windows Update in Windows 7 and 8.1. Why do so many AskWoody Loungers seem to prefer Windows Update alternatives other than WAU Manager?

Also, WAU Manager has been referred to as a portable app. Does that mean I need to leave it running all the time – including having it start on boot-up – in order for it to work? If it’s not running all the time how can it keep specified updates from being installed, hidden updates from becoming unhidden, etc.? Isn’t Windows Update running all the time?

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DrBonzo wrote:

Also, WAU Manager has been referred to as a portable app. Does that mean I need to leave it running all the time

You ran WAU, WUmgr… manually when you want to check and install updates, hide updates… providing you didn’t pause/metered.. updates

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