In this tutorial, we will learn how to create a standalone Windows Update Installer from scratch with Windows PowerShell.
In addition to being able to run from an executable (.exe) file, a Windows Update installer can also be executed from a batch (.bat) file. This is useful when you want users of your application or script to be able to update their machines without requiring the user to launch the application they're using.
This is not just a theory - Microsoft has been using this technique in some of their updates for many years now, and it's been used by many others as well.
What is a Windows Update Standalone Installer?
A Windows Update Standalone Installer is a Windows update tool that installs the latest updates for your computer without requiring any user interaction.
The Windows Update Standalone Installer is useful in situations where you don't have administrative privileges. It can also be helpful when an update or upgrade requires you to restart your computer or install other updates in order to complete the installation.
Why Make a Standalone Windows Update Installer?
A standalone windows update installer can be used to make a quick and easy update to your software without going through the long process of updating the software itself.
Some of the advantages of having a standalone windows update installer are:
- It makes updating even easier and faster by focusing on one task.
- You don't need to use complex code in order to create a standalone windows update installer.
- It reduces unnecessary errors from your updates by doing only one thing at a time.
How to Make a Standalone Windows Update Installer with Powershell
The Windows Update installer is an executable program that takes care of updating the software on your computer. It can be used to update Windows 8, 8.1 or 10 including the Surface Pro, Surface Book, Surface Pro 4, and Surface Laptop.
The following steps are necessary to make a standalone installer for your Windows update:
- Create a powershell script that contains all the commands needed for the installation
- Create an unattend file with details of where you want to install the updates and what you want to do with default settings.
- Create an .MSI file that will allow you create standalone executable files
Examples of How to Make a Standalone Windows Update Installer with Powershell
Windows update installer is not only essential for keeping your system updated, but it is also very useful for unattended installations. This article will show you how to make a standalone Windows update installer using vbscript.
The first step of this tutorial would be to download the Windows Update Standalone Installer Toolkit from Microsoft TechNet. The toolkit includes the following files that will be required throughout this tutorial:
- Wusa.exe
- wuauclt.exe
- makensis.exe