Can't Uninstall Updates on Vista! WUSA.EXE

Hi,

Following a recent post called "Update History" I asked what is the file
mapping for the new Vista "MSU" files, no answer...

I found out it's is an EXE file called WUSA.EXE, so if you wanted to
script some Vista updates you could use this EXE to perform the task. BUT

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/934307

says you can NOT use WUSA to _Uninstall_ the udpates.

Let's say you have a network with 1000 computers and have rolled out
some updates, then there's a serious problem, how can you quickly
uninstall that update from all 1000 computers?

Under Win2k and XP it's easy, so how do you do it on Vista?

The kind of problem you could encounter, is where you rolled out an
update but then users with certain printers suddenly get crashes, as
we've seen before with Microsoft Updates.

--
Gerry Hickman (London UK)

Gerry,

Thanks for sending this our way. Although I'm not a patch installation
expert, I use PKGMGR regularly to uninstall updates in Vista.

Unfortunately, to perform an uninstallation, PKGMGR requires data that can
only be obtained from running WUSA.EXE against the MSU package. So,
although WUSA.EXE cannot be used to perform the uninstalation, PKGMRG can.

--
--

Doug Neal [MSFT]


This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

If newsgroup discussion with experts and MVPs is unable to solve a problem
to your satisfaction, feel free to contact PSS for support on the Microsoft
Baseline Security Analyzer (MBSA). Information is available at the following
link:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx

This e-mail address does not receive e-mail, but is used for newsgroup
postings only.
"Gerry Hickman" <> wrote in message
news:%...
> Hi,
>
> Following a recent post called "Update History" I asked what is the file
> mapping for the new Vista "MSU" files, no answer...
>
> I found out it's is an EXE file called WUSA.EXE, so if you wanted to
> script some Vista updates you could use this EXE to perform the task. BUT
>
> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/934307
>
> says you can NOT use WUSA to _Uninstall_ the udpates.
>
> Let's say you have a network with 1000 computers and have rolled out some
> updates, then there's a serious problem, how can you quickly uninstall
> that update from all 1000 computers?
>
> Under Win2k and XP it's easy, so how do you do it on Vista?
>
> The kind of problem you could encounter, is where you rolled out an update
> but then users with certain printers suddenly get crashes, as we've seen
> before with Microsoft Updates.
>
> --
> Gerry Hickman (London UK)

Hi Doug,

I didn't even know there was a PKGMGR on Vista. This looks interesting, it
says it can "install" and "uninstall", but you appear to be saying it only
works if you first use WUSA.EXE, is that right? If so, it seems a bit messy.

What is the proper (and most simple) way to silently install, uninstall
updates on Vista?

"Doug Neal [MSFT]" <> wrote in message
news:...
> Gerry,
>
> Thanks for sending this our way. Although I'm not a patch installation
> expert, I use PKGMGR regularly to uninstall updates in Vista.
>
> Unfortunately, to perform an uninstallation, PKGMGR requires data that can
> only be obtained from running WUSA.EXE against the MSU package. So,
> although WUSA.EXE cannot be used to perform the uninstalation, PKGMRG can.
>
> --
> --
>
> Doug Neal [MSFT]
>
>
> This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
rights.
>
> If newsgroup discussion with experts and MVPs is unable to solve a problem
> to your satisfaction, feel free to contact PSS for support on the
Microsoft
> Baseline Security Analyzer (MBSA). Information is available at the
following
> link:
> http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx
>
> This e-mail address does not receive e-mail, but is used for newsgroup
> postings only.
> "Gerry Hickman" <> wrote in message
> news:%...
> > Hi,
> >
> > Following a recent post called "Update History" I asked what is the file
> > mapping for the new Vista "MSU" files, no answer...
> >
> > I found out it's is an EXE file called WUSA.EXE, so if you wanted to
> > script some Vista updates you could use this EXE to perform the task.
BUT
> >
> > http://support.microsoft.com/kb/934307
> >
> > says you can NOT use WUSA to _Uninstall_ the udpates.
> >
> > Let's say you have a network with 1000 computers and have rolled out
some
> > updates, then there's a serious problem, how can you quickly uninstall
> > that update from all 1000 computers?
> >
> > Under Win2k and XP it's easy, so how do you do it on Vista?
> >
> > The kind of problem you could encounter, is where you rolled out an
update
> > but then users with certain printers suddenly get crashes, as we've seen
> > before with Microsoft Updates.
> >
> > --
> > Gerry Hickman (London UK)
>
>