Where is the old Windows Update Catalog functionality?

The new Windows Update Catalog service is unusable, in my opinion. How does
it address a simple query, like:

"Give me the updates for windows Vista x86 issued from April 1st 2007"?

The new system uses only full text search instead of strong fields and
categories, which brings either irrelevant results, either too many, or too
few. Try the following:

"Windows Vista" (more than a thousand results, the first one being...
Windows Small Business Server 2003)
"Windows Vista x86" (9 results only!)

The old service permitted an offline Windows installation to be updated. The
"Use administrator options" allowed for manual download of the relevant
updates that were issued in a specified timeframe from a connected computer.
The new service returns a lot of noise and will certainly lead to update
misses. What are my options now, after the launch of your new service, except
forcing me to open this computer to the internet, which is out of the
question?

grammophone wrote:
> The new Windows Update Catalog service is unusable, in my opinion.
> How does it address a simple query, like:
>
> "Give me the updates for windows Vista x86 issued from April 1st
> 2007"?
>
> The new system uses only full text search instead of strong fields
> and categories, which brings either irrelevant results, either too
> many, or too few. Try the following:
>
> "Windows Vista" (more than a thousand results, the first one
> being... Windows Small Business Server 2003)
> "Windows Vista x86" (9 results only!)
>
> The old service permitted an offline Windows installation to be
> updated. The "Use administrator options" allowed for manual
> download of the relevant updates that were issued in a specified
> timeframe from a connected computer. The new service returns a lot
> of noise and will certainly lead to update misses. What are my
> options now, after the launch of your new service, except forcing
> me to open this computer to the internet, which is out of the
> question?

Well - there were several before - other than the method you were using.
They haven't gone away...

Each month Microsoft releases that month's updates in ISO format:
January 2006-current
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/913086

You can see the critical (security and other) patches released for a given
month using the following:

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sec.../ms##-***.mspx

At the end of this line you see "ms##-***.mspx" .. If you simply replace ##
with the two-digit year and the *** with the three character month
abbreviation, you will see the list of "critical" and "important" patches
for that month (since it only happens once a month usually, if you check by
the second Tuesday (wait until afternoon) of each month - you should be
fine) - note that future months will not work.

As an example...

December 2004's patches..
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sec.../ms04-dec.mspx

March 2005's patches..
None released.. so that one will fail...

May 2006's patches..
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sec.../ms06-may.mspx

January 2007's patches..
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sec.../ms07-jan.mspx

Once you get on the page with each month's list of patches.. You can go to
the related KB articles and grab the appropriate files from there. You
should click on "IT Administrator" links - if you plan on using these
individually.

--
Shenan Stanley
MS-MVP
--
How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

Thank you very much for your prompt reply. I guess i will follow your
instructions, since this is what i am left.

I think though that these two alternative update methods are considerably
harder to implement for offline customers compared to the old method. The ISO
method requires separate DVD download for each month that includes
everything, not just the required product's updates. The Bulletin method is
even more manual. So, i miss the automatic bulk download of targeted updates
provided in the past...

Thank you for taking time to help me.

"Shenan Stanley" wrote:

> grammophone wrote:
> > The new Windows Update Catalog service is unusable, in my opinion.
> > How does it address a simple query, like:
> >
> > "Give me the updates for windows Vista x86 issued from April 1st
> > 2007"?
> >
> > The new system uses only full text search instead of strong fields
> > and categories, which brings either irrelevant results, either too
> > many, or too few. Try the following:
> >
> > "Windows Vista" (more than a thousand results, the first one
> > being... Windows Small Business Server 2003)
> > "Windows Vista x86" (9 results only!)
> >
> > The old service permitted an offline Windows installation to be
> > updated. The "Use administrator options" allowed for manual
> > download of the relevant updates that were issued in a specified
> > timeframe from a connected computer. The new service returns a lot
> > of noise and will certainly lead to update misses. What are my
> > options now, after the launch of your new service, except forcing
> > me to open this computer to the internet, which is out of the
> > question?
>
> Well - there were several before - other than the method you were using.
> They haven't gone away...
>
> Each month Microsoft releases that month's updates in ISO format:
> January 2006-current
> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/913086
>
> You can see the critical (security and other) patches released for a given
> month using the following:
>
> http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sec.../ms##-***.mspx
>
> At the end of this line you see "ms##-***.mspx" .. If you simply replace ##
> with the two-digit year and the *** with the three character month
> abbreviation, you will see the list of "critical" and "important" patches
> for that month (since it only happens once a month usually, if you check by
> the second Tuesday (wait until afternoon) of each month - you should be
> fine) - note that future months will not work.
>
> As an example...
>
> December 2004's patches..
> http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sec.../ms04-dec.mspx
>
> March 2005's patches..
> None released.. so that one will fail...
>
> May 2006's patches..
> http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sec.../ms06-may.mspx
>
> January 2007's patches..
> http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sec.../ms07-jan.mspx
>
> Once you get on the page with each month's list of patches.. You can go to
> the related KB articles and grab the appropriate files from there. You
> should click on "IT Administrator" links - if you plan on using these
> individually.
>
> --
> Shenan Stanley
> MS-MVP
> --
> How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
> http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html
>
>
>