Windows Update Agent and WSUS oddity

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I’m no expert on WSUS, so I pass this on for general consumption. From IT: I’m a System Admin, running SBS2011 with WSUS. In the SBS Console I have up
[See the full post at: Windows Update Agent and WSUS oddity]

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This business of Microsoft bypassing update settings needs to go. I posted in the previous thread about Windows 10 pro.

I am a consulting (old-school) engineer. I am the only employee. I don’t have an IT dept on call and I am scared to death that one of these days, an update is going to bite me in the behind. If an update borks my computers, I begin losing money *immediately*.

I have enough stress and anxiety trying to make sure that I have money to pay the bills every month. I don’t need this constant threat. Where is the appropriate forum to let Microsoft know how much this annoys me?

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Your guess is as good as mine…

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Windows Update agent is installed automatically regardless of any settings. This comes from the WSUS server normally, although the agent checks the internet update site sometimes.
I can’t tell from your post if the WSUS installation is new or has changed recently, however out of the box you will have Security Updates and Critical Updates installed automatically via a default rule. If you don’t need that level of automation and you should not, the default rule needs to be disabled.
I use multiple WSUS servers at the moment, 2012R2 and 2008R2 on which SBS2011 is built and I am not aware of any forced update from Microsoft in relation to WSUS, other than the agent which was mentioned before and it has always been updated automatically. Even the version of the agent that was pushed seems old (.256) as the current one is .320 but this may be different according to the OS version.

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Apparently M$ is giving everybody what they decide is needed now whether we want it or not. Welcome to forced updates one and all!

It sounds like even WSUS is experiencing the same lack of the user’s control as in this thread…

https://www.askwoody.com/2016/when-did-download-updates-but-let-me-choose-change/

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I have McAfee LiveSafe antivirus software and discovered recently that they added a feature, vulnerability scanner. This finds and installs latest software updates for Microsoft Windows and other programs you may have installed. I disabled the feature. Wonder how many other antivirus software companies will follow suit.

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Microsoft doesn’t actually care how much it annoys you (or anyone), nor would they care if you were inconvenienced in any way. They are currently of a “we’ll do it the way we want, not the way it should be” state of mind.

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I continue to recommend Microsoft Security Essentials and Secunia PSI.

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@Retired

Go to Navigation in your McA user interface.
Click on “Vulnerability Scanner” –> Click on “Custom Scan Settings” –> Click “Don’t Check for Windows Updates”.

Next, Click on “Scheduled Scan Settngs” –> scroll down and check “Don’t set a scan schedule”.

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I second MSE and Secunia PSI… However with PSI make sure you uncheck Microsoft updates and automatic updates in general, otherwise your Adobe Acrobat will be updated to A-dopy Cloud… Yeah just what I want… To give A-dopy access to all of my PDF’s as well… For heavens sake, do they strive to be just as bad as MS?

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Just a note to what I said before. On Windows 2008R2/SBS 2011 WSUS, you need to have KB2938066 to receive the .320 version of the agent and in general to have the latest functionality of the WSUS server version 3.0 SP2 (or 3.2 as it is also known).
This update KB2938066 does not come on Windows Update for SBS2011 and has to be downloaded and installed manually.
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/2938066

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Then again, there are alternatives to Adobe Acrobat. Nothing 100 percent the same, but many alternatives.

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True, since Adobe went Cloud I have halted all Adobe updates and have been moving to other PDF readers where possible. Acrobat has been the standard for years and for some users in our company advanced PDF creation is essential. Mass confusion would entail if I moved everyone at once.

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My Bitdefender Internet Security software has the same kind of vulnerability scan and I’ve disabled it on all of my computers to avoid any possibility of accidentally installing any Windows 10 enabler updates…

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Updates to Adobe Reader XI are available, as of January’s release it’s at 11.0.14.

If you check for an update in Adobe Reader XI click on the “Details” link in the lower left area instead of the “Install” button. You have to jump through a few hoops along the way by choosing your patch but you can manually download and install the patches. The most recent patch from January is named “AdbeRdrUpd11014.msp”

I have XI on all my computers here, I save the download while updating the first system and put the patch on a flash drive to update the others.

Looks like Adobe has adopted the M$ tactic to hide what you really want and guide you to installing what they want you to use.

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