WSUS shows update is not needed, Windows update website says it is

Update # 896727 shows not needed on WSUS, for Windows XP SP2. Yet when i go
to the Windows Update site it is listed as an update that is availible for
the same computer. Any Idea's?

Thank You
Brian

 

You need to be careful when reviewing these type of updates on WSUS.

There are actually two different sets of metadata that would seem to apply
to Windows XP.

"Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer 6 Service Pack 1
(KB896727)" and
"Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer for Windows XP (KB896727)"

The former will show as "Not Needed", as it only applies to IE6SP1 on
Windows 2000 systems,
while the latter should be detected as "Needed" for all XP systems.

 

Thank you for your response. I see the two different updates, the update for
Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer 6 Service Pack 1
says its for windows 2000 and windows xp family.
It applied to my XPSP1 systems. How am i to tell what to approve.

 

In general, the updates for IE for XP (SP2) will be listed for Windows XP.

The updates for the generic IE6SP1 on Windows 2000 (and sometimes on XP or
XP/SP1) will be listed for IE6 SP1.

The IE6 that exists in XP SP2 is actually different from the IE6SP1 that
exists on Win2000, WinXP, and WinXP/SP1 systems.

While it's never been given the label, you can think of this as IE6SP2.

The /best/ way to determine which ones you need where is to mark them all as
"Detect Only" and then review what the client reports that it needs, and
approve those accordingly. Hopefully this will be consistent with what is
recorded in the metadata.

Note also that you need to /unapprove/ all superceded Cumulative Updates,
because a 'bug' in the detection logic of the WUA with regard to CumUpdates
for IE/OE, fails to properly exclude superceded Cumulative Updates.

My original response is slightly inaccurate, as you've aptly noted, but the
concept remains the same. Depending on the update, sometimes the update
applies to all IE on all XP systems, sometimes it only applies to the
IE6(SP2) on XP SP2 systems. It's a case-by-case basis, so the best
methodology is to read the metadata and observe what the WUA reports that it
"needs".

 

Lawrence,
Thank you very much for your thorough response i have a much better
understanding now.
Brian