Windows Updates are essential for maintaining the security and performance of your Windows operating system. They provide critical patches, new features, and improvements. While most users manage updates through the graphical user interface, there are powerful command-line tools available for advanced users and system administrators. This article will guide you through managing Windows Updates using Command Prompt (CMD) and PowerShell.

Examples:

1. Checking for Updates via CMD:

   While CMD itself doesn't provide direct commands for managing Windows Updates, you can use the Windows Update Agent API through the wuauclt command. However, note that wuauclt is deprecated in Windows 10 and later, but it still works for some tasks.

   wuauclt /detectnow
   wuauclt /updatenow

   These commands force Windows to check for updates and install them if available.

2. Using PowerShell to Manage Updates:

   PowerShell provides a more robust and modern way to handle Windows Updates. You can use the Windows Update PowerShell Module, which needs to be installed first.

   • Installing the Windows Update Module:

     Open PowerShell as an administrator and run:

     Install-Module PSWindowsUpdate

     You may need to confirm the installation and agree to install from an untrusted repository.

   • Checking for Updates:

     After installing the module, you can check for available updates:

     Get-WindowsUpdate

   • Installing Updates:

     To install updates, use the following command:

     Install-WindowsUpdate -AcceptAll -AutoReboot

     This command will download and install all available updates and automatically reboot the system if necessary.

3. Scheduling Updates:

   You can schedule updates using Task Scheduler in combination with PowerShell scripts. Create a PowerShell script with the update commands and schedule it to run at your desired time using Task Scheduler.

   Example PowerShell script (UpdateScript.ps1):

   Import-Module PSWindowsUpdate
   Get-WindowsUpdate
   Install-WindowsUpdate -AcceptAll -AutoReboot

   Then, use Task Scheduler to run this script at a specific time.