Is it possible to remove updates? Uninstalling updates via the command line
By default, Microsoft's OS is configured to automatic search and installation latest fixes– this helps to quickly “close” system vulnerabilities, but sometimes such a solution breaks stable work computer. This article will show you how to remove Windows 7 updates, and we will look at the process using the example of two situations:
The update was installed successfully
Let's say we want to understand how to remove the KB971033 update in Windows when it was automatically added without your participation. In this case, go to Control Panel → Programs and Features (Add or Remove Programs) → View updates.1. This is where the system stores all already installed updates. We left-click on what interests us, the “Delete” button will appear at the top.
2. When you press it, the OS will immediately request confirmation, after which it will ask you to wait a few minutes (depending on the size of the update). When the window asking you to wait disappears, the job is done. Just in case, it's better to restart your computer. The only disadvantage of this method is that one update is removed at a time. If you want to remove a lot, you will have to be patient.
Error installing update
Before the procedure, be sure to create a system restore point so that you can return to it if something goes wrong.
The problem here is this: uninstalled packages “hang” in the list, preventing themselves from being removed and reinstalled. There is only one way out - clear the list.
1. To do this, open the Start menu, enter “services.msc” in the search bar and run the found file.
2. In the list of services, find "Windows Update", right-click and select "Stop".
3. Go to " C:WindowsSoftwareDistribution»
4. Pay attention to 2 folders: DataStore And Download. Deleting files from Download will free up disk space, because... it stores temporary files. Usually, the system itself erases files 10 days after they are installed, but there are also misfires. If it takes up a lot of space, you can clean it.
But from DataStore delete all existing files. Installed updates At the same time, they will not go anywhere, but files with a history of downloaded updates, including damaged ones. After that, return to Services and turn “Update Center” back on. Now, when you launch it from the Control Panel, you will see that the check for available updates has never been carried out. The last thing left to do is to let the system “for the first time” load a list of files, and then select from them the ones you need.
Conclusion
Now you know how to remove old Windows 7 updates (or install those that are causing problems). It’s easy to “clean out” updates, but once again I remind you of the importance of creating control point recovery before any changes. Following safety precautions will protect you from surprises.
Some users are concerned about how to disable Windows 7 updates on their computer. Why are users worried about system updates?
Regularly, in certain periods time (usually once a month), update packages are released for the Windows operating system. Sometimes, if problems arise or vulnerabilities are discovered, emergency patches are released that need to be installed on your computer.
In the operating room Windows system 7, with default settings, automatic updating is enabled. The system periodically downloads and then installs updates and patches released for Windows onto the computer. Most of the updates concern system security.
Users by various reasons refuse to install updates for the operating system. Here are some reasons for not receiving Windows updates 7 via Windows Update:
- It happens that after installing updates, crashes occur. Windows work or applications;
- Windows updates often take a long time, during which you cannot turn off the computer;
- with a limited Internet connection, major updates systems consume a lot of traffic;
- updates take up space on the PC disk;
- users are afraid of losing their operating system activation after installing updates.
How to disable Windows updates 7? This issue can be resolved using the system in two ways: disabling automatic Windows 7 updates, or disabling Windows 7 updating completely.
How to disable automatic updates in Windows 7
After turning off automatic updates for Windows 7, the user will still have the option to download and install updates manually.
This is a better option than complete shutdown updates, as some updates should be installed on your computer to avoid becoming a victim dangerous viruses, For example, .
Go to the Start menu, click on Control Panel, then Windows Update. In the Windows Update window, in the left menu bar, click on the “Customize settings” link.
In the “Settings” window, in the option “ Important updates» select “Don’t check for updates (not recommended)”, and then click on the “OK” button.
Additionally, you can uncheck the two settings below: “Recommended updates” and “Who can install updates.”
In the future, if you need to install updates manually, in the “Important updates” setting, select “Search for updates, but I make the decision to download and install.” Next, after completing the availability search available updates, select the necessary updates to install on your computer.
How to disable Windows 7 update permanently
The second method disables the Windows Update service on your computer, so checking for updates will be disabled.
Go to the Start menu, then go to Control Panel => Administrative Tools. In the “Administration” window, double-click with the left mouse button on the “Services” shortcut.
In the "Services" window, in the list of operating system services, find the "Windows Update" service, and then right-click on the service in the window that opens. context menu select "Properties".
In the Properties window: Windows Update ( Local computer)", in the "General" tab, select the startup type: "Disabled", click on the "Stop" button to stop the service in this moment time.
You can re-enable the update in Windows 7 using the same method. In the “Properties: Windows Update (Local Computer)” window, select the startup type: “Automatic (Delayed Start)”, and then click on the “Run” button.
Disable Update Center on the command line
You can disable Update Center on the command line, follow these instructions:
- Run command line on behalf of the administrator.
- Enter the commands sequentially (after entering the command, press the “Enter” key):
After this, the update service and Windows Update will be disabled.
Conclusions of the article
If necessary, the user can independently disable updates in the Windows 7 operating system by disabling updates completely or disabling automatic updating of the operating system.
Name Removing required updates does not fully reveal the meaning of what is described in the article, since it is not entirely clear what exactly is meant by the term “mandatory”. The material could be titled as Removing uninstallable updates, but then it is not entirely clear why they suddenly became undeletable: by the will of the developer or due to errors with the component storage. There is also an option to designate as deleting updates that are not intended to be deleted, but this is somehow redundant or something.
Just recently I discovered one curious feature of some updates: they are not removed by standard operating system tools. In practice, a situation arose in which I could not remove the “broken” update from the system. As we delved deeper into the topic of the question, it turned out that in Windows there are different types updates and what special case The impossibility of removing some of them is not at all a consequence of any local error, but rather reflects a feature. Apparently, this is explained by the architectural nuances of the update mechanism. In practice, it is difficult to create a system of update relationships in which each update will be completely autonomous, that is, independent of the others, and, accordingly, can be deleted without any consequences. But even more important is that some updates for the system are truly critical, since they are quite deeply integrated into it. For example, the update mechanism itself (service stack) is provided by a set of modules (installer, libraries, etc.) that are necessary for installing subsequent updates and on which the performance of the mechanism as a whole depends. Accordingly, all servicing stack updates that introduce algorithmic changes cannot be simply removed, since then some features of these algorithms that were already installed in subsequent service packs will no longer be available. Removing such updates is fraught with serious consequences for the system, such as destruction of the component store, and as a result, potential problems with the performance of the operating system itself. In fact, everything is so scary, since there are only about a dozen such mandatory (non-removable) updates, for example in the Windows 7 system :) But it’s still worth knowing about this nuance, as well as having an understanding of how exactly to perform removing required updates.
Problem
From point of view technical specialist, installation and removal of system updates are of the type trivial tasks. In our age global network Internet, updates to the system are constantly installed, often completely unnoticed by the user. Updates are security fixes various components, modules containing additional functionality already existing applications, as well as new software. However, along with the tasks of installing updates, there are often tasks of removing system updates. The reasons for this can be completely varied, ranging from the need to simply reinstall any of the updates to achieve correct functionality and ending with the need to correct dependency problems and the integrity of the component repository.
The system provides several ways to remove updates from the system, for example through the component Windows Update, applet Installed updates. In this case, the user simply selects (marks) the update he is interested in by clicking the left mouse button and by right-clicking, opens the Delete menu, or selects the item of the same name from the top panel:
everything is trivial here. But with mandatory updates, everything is somewhat more complicated, since during similar actions we do not see the usual controls:
when trying to remove this component from the command line using the wusa utility:
wusa /uninstall /kb:2522422
the error is given: Update for Microsoft Windows is a required component for this computer and cannot be removed.
In this case, the specialist has a reasonable question: why are you doing this to me? :) The fact that the system considers some updates mandatory and does not allow them to be deleted does not at all guarantee that these updates cannot be damaged and cause various kinds of problems. Therefore, in some cases there is a need for removal. Is it possible to remove such uninstallable updates from the system?
Solution
The changes described in this section may result in the component store not working!! You perform the actions given in this section at your own peril and risk!!
Therefore, act extremely carefully, preferably making a complete system backup or by creating a restore point. The main thing is to understand why you are doing all this. If you need to correct the consequences of a crooked update, then uninstall the required update and then install it again. In a successful scenario, after uninstalling/reinstalling a non-removable update, you will be able to correct the consequences of a crooked update, but in the worst case scenario, you will render the system inoperative, since the update may turn out to be key. The result may be damage to the component store with the error STATUS_SXS_COMPONENT_STORE_CORRUPT.
At what level is it ensured that such mandatory updates are not uninstallable? At the parameter level in configuration .mum files.
Mum file (Microsoft Update Manifest) - configuration file Windows updates XML format, containing package parameters: name, identifier, installation language, dependencies, action flags, and others. Used as an identifier (symbolic name) of a service (stack) for the purpose of performing enable/disable/remove operations on a package using various service utilities (for example, the Package Manager (pkgmgr)). The manifest file contains the name of the update being served in its name and is located in the %WinDir%\servicing\Packages directory;
Msu file (Microsoft System Update/Microsoft Service Pack) - isolated Center package Microsoft updates, containing metadata (describing each service pack contained in the .msu file), one or more .cab files (each .cab file contains modules for a separate update), .xml file (describing the service pack used by Standalone Windows update installer wusa.exe to perform the update installation process), a properties file (the file contains property lines that the wusa.exe utility uses.
The .mum file has a parameter called permanence that takes two values: removable and permanent. Service packs that are not desirable to be removed from the system are declared by Microsoft developers as “permanent”, while all other (regular) service packs are marked as “removable”. Therefore, the process of changing the update type from non-deletable to removable comes down to changing this parameter in the corresponding .mum file.
General algorithm of actions
At the request of readers, the algorithm of actions is presented for the widest possible audience of users, so I tried to describe the process at an accessible level.
- After installing the standard system update The corresponding .mum files are located inside the %Windir%\servicing\Packages\ directory. Therefore, open it in C:\Windows\servicing\ and place the cursor on the Packages subdirectory.
- Often there is a problem with accessing objects in the %Windir%\servicing\Packages\ directory, since permissions to full access are set only for the system account TrustedInstaller. Therefore, to make changes to access rights, click on the Packages directory right button mouse, select Properties and then go to the Security tab. In the window that opens, immediately after the “Groups and Users” section, click the Edit button, then click Add, in the window that opens, write All in the input field, click Check names, select from those found, click OK, then set for the newly added group full rights. Close the window, in the main window Security, at the very bottom click the Advanced button, in the window that opens again, in the “Permissions” tab, select the newly created group (All), click the Change permissions button, then at the very bottom of the new window check the “Replace all” checkbox permissions of a child object to permissions inherited from this object", click OK everywhere, closing all windows.
- We go to the Packages directory, look for the .mum file(s) related to the update to be removed. They usually have a name containing the full name of the package being sought:
- Open the found file for editing:
- We look for a line containing the word permanence, replacing the parameter value with permanence="removable" . In the example above, this is line number 4. Next, close the file and save the changes made.
- We perform similar actions for all .mum files associated with the required non-removable update package, since some updates may have two or more .mum files associated with them.
- After finishing the editing process, close all windows related to updates. In some cases, changes take effect instantly, that is, the update will become available for removal immediately after opening and re-indexing in the section
Is it possible to remove updates? For many reasons, there is a need to uninstall Windows 7 updates. It often happens that after automatic installation updates, one of the programs stops working, the equipment began to work worse due to overload or errors began to appear.
The reasons can be varied: there are updates that directly make changes to the kernel of the Windows 7 operating system itself, which entails a failure of the drivers. There can be a lot of reasons and options. Of course, it’s better not to touch the updates that are installed on your computer; they are usually useful for the operating system, but still to prevent negative consequences we will look at the main ways to remove them.
How to remove updates
Uninstalling an update through the control panel
If you need to remove updates from latest versions Windows 7, you can do this in the appropriate item in the Control Panel:
1. You need to go to the control panel and find the “Windows Update” item.
2. Your second step will be to find the “Installed updates” link.
4. You need to select Windows 7 updates, and click delete, after which you confirm the removal of the update.
After the removal is complete, the system will prompt you to restart your computer. This must be done so that the system is updated again and does not react to fragments from a remote update.
Uninstall update via command line
Windows has a special tool " Offline installer updates." If you call it via the command line (start, run, cmd, Enter)
you can also uninstall the update from Windows 7. To do this, you need to use the following type of command: wusa.exe /uninstall /kb:2222222. In this command, kb:2222222 is the identification number of the update that you need to remove.
In conclusion, I will say that we have covered the basic principles and steps of removing an update on your OS, but if you don’t want to bother, and updates are not so important to you, you can try to completely disable automatic updates Windows 7.
Microsoft Corporation for all its creations in the form operating systems With enviable regularity, it releases update packages or patches, which seem to be designed to patch holes in the security system and improve the operating level of the OS. Unfortunately, in Windows 7, after installing some updates, problems may occur (a black screen appears, the system slows down or completely freezes, etc.). For many users who are not familiar with the intricacies of configuring this OS, uninstalling Windows 7 updates becomes a real headache, since some packages are uninstallable. That is standard means does not work. Next, we offer several options for consideration that allow you to remove old Windows 7 updates and recently installed updates.
Why are there problems with Windows 7 updates?
First, let's figure out why problems arise with updates and why they need to be removed. The problem here is that today in the market motherboards There is unprecedentedly strong competition, and each manufacturer is trying to introduce something new into their devices. But you can’t keep track of everything. And the updates released by Microsoft are quite high degree universal and do not take into account the specifics of a particular mother chip.
All this only leads to the fact that some updates are simply not suitable for a specific application. computer system, although the OS itself functions more or less normally. When problems occur, uninstalling Windows 7 updates in most cases has a positive effect on the operation of the PC or laptop. But the main thing here is to uninstall them correctly, and also take some important steps to prevent a recurrence of the situation in the future.
Removing unnecessary Windows 7 updates: standard technique
Let's digress from the main topic for now and see how you can remove updates from the system using the standard method.
Windows 7 updates are uninstalled from the installed updates section of the Update Center, which is located in the Control Panel. In principle, you can do it easier by immediately entering the programs and components section and using the appropriate item (in the previous version, when you click on view, you will still be redirected to the programs and components section).
Here it is enough to choose some installed package and through RMB just run the uninstallation line. If required, all packages can be sorted by installation date (this can be useful when the exact time of occurrence of a particular glitch or error is known).
Windows 7: uninstalling updates. Command line.
But not all update packages can be uninstalled using the method described above. Some critical updates cannot be removed using standard techniques. What to do in this case? The only possible and fail-safe remedy is to use a command line launched with administrator rights.
You can start it from the “Run” menu using the cmd combination, call it from the main “Start” menu, or open it as an administrator executable file cmd.exe, located in the System32 directory of the operating system root folder.
Since all update packages are designated KBXXXXXXXX, where XXXXXXX is the seven-digit code of the update number, in command console Along with the main command, you will need to register this number. IN general outline The uninstall line will look like this: wusa.exe /uninstall /kbXXXXXXX. The number of the patch itself must be remembered or written down when viewing it in the installed updates section.
All possibilities main team in terms of use additional attributes can be viewed by entering the line wusa /?, after which help information will appear in the console.
Batch removal of updates using a BAT file
But uninstallation in the past case applies exclusively to each individual package. If there are enough of them that you don’t have to waste time entering the command every time, you can use the batch uninstall scheme, which, by the way, works great for those cases when you need to uninstall some update standard method turns out to be impossible.
To do this, you will have to launch a standard Notepad, write there the lines wusa /uninstall /quiet /norestart /kb:XXXXXXX, where, again, XXXXXXX are the update numbers, and save the created file with manual assignment to it BAT extensions(batch Windows file) in the current user directory (for example, c:\Users\Vasya), otherwise the file will not be able to start. After that, all that remains is to launch it double click, after which the command line will appear, and in it you can see the removal process in progress. After all processes are completed, you should not restart the computer under any circumstances, although this is necessary for the changes to take effect. It will become clear why later.
Pay attention to the quiet and norestart parameters. They are necessary so that when uninstalling, confirmation for deletion is not requested for each package.
Actions after uninstalling updates
So, the removal of Windows 7 updates via the command line seems to have been completed, but it’s too early to rejoice. The essence of the following problems is that if the system has automatic update, whether you like it or not, the system will still (even if you reboot after deleting) start looking for packages again. Thus, to prevent updates from being installed, the function must be disabled.
To do this, you should use the same “Update Center”, select the settings section, and set the preferred action to “Do not check for updates”. If updates are still needed, as a last resort, you can use the download installation with an installation offer, which you can always refuse.
Conclusion
As you can see, uninstalling Windows 7 updates is not such a troublesome task. If we approach the implementation of such actions from the point of view of rationality, of course, the best option will be created with all the numbers of packages to be uninstalled included in it. But here it is necessary to show Special attention, so as not to enter something unnecessary (meaning critical
Finally, as an addition, somewhat distracting from the topic, owners of some laptop models can be advised to use special buttons or menus that allow you to bring the system into factory condition With full reset settings. Naturally, all updates will also be deleted. But this will only work as a last resort.