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Thursday, December 19, 2019

What Are Service Packs on windows

What Are Service Packs?

Microsoft periodically releases service packs for Windows 10, A service pack is a collection of all updates released to that point, and often includes new features, as well.

You should be familiar with the deployment of service packs to ensure that all operating systems on the network are up-to-date and to avoid issues that you might encounter in the future.

Windows 10 ships with a utility called Winver.exe, which you can use to determine what version of Windows you are running and what level of Service pack (if any) is installed.




To Obtain a Service Pack, 

Service packs are free, and you can get them in the following ways:


 Use Windows Update to update a single computer with a service pack.

 Download the service pack from Windows Update to deploy to many computers. The download is a single large self-extracting executable, which will have a different name depending on the service pack version that you are installing. The file is quite large (85 MB or more), so be sure that you have sufficient bandwidth available to support the download.

 Order the service pack CD. You can order the service pack CD from Microsoft for a nominal fee that covers the cost of manufacture and shipping. In addition to containing the service pack, the CD contains operating system enhancements and other advanced utilities.

 Use Microsoft subscription services. Microsoft has several subscription services,such as Microsoft TechNet, which automatically provide you with service packs with the next issue after the release of the service pack.

To Install a Service Pack


Service pack setup programs can have various names, though must Windows Service Packs use a program named Update.exe. Regardless of the file name, though, most Windows updates support the same command-line parameters, which control how the service pack deploys.


/f Forces all applications to close prior to restarting the system.

/n Does not back up uninstall files. You cannot uninstall the service pack if this switch is used.

/o Overwrites OEM-provided files without prompting the user.

/q Installation runs in quiet mode with no user interaction required (requires /0 to update OEM-supplied files).

/s:[patb to distributionfolderi Creates an integration installation point.

/u Unattended installation (requires /0 to update OEM-supplied files)‘

/x Extracts files without starting Setup. This is useful if you want to move installation files to another location.
 /z Disables automatic restart when installation is finished.

Service pack installations require a significant amount of disk space (hundreds of megabytes). The uninstall folder consumes the majority of this disk space. You can install a service pack without saving uninstall files by using the /n switch when installing the service pack.

You must choose an installation method from the following options:

Update installation The service pack executable is started locally, across the network, or through Windows Update. The service pack is installed on the existing operating system.

Integrated installation Also called slipstreaming, an integrated installation is one in which the service pack is applied to the installation files on a distribution server using the /5 switch, integrating the installation files and the service pack into a single set of updated installation files.
 New installations that included the service pack can then be performed from the integrated distribution point. This eliminates the need to apply the service pack after the installation. However, the service pack cannot be uninstalled if it is applied in this fashion.

Combination installation This involves installation using a combination of an integrated installation, an answer file to control the installation process, and a Cmd lines txt file to launch additional application setup programs after the operating system setup has completed.


When you install new operating system components after a service pack has been installed, Setup requires both the operating system and service pack installation files. This allows Setup to install the updated version of the component.
more info at https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/14162/windows-service-pack-and-update-center

To Uninstall a Service Pack


By default, the service pack setup program automatically creates a backup of the files and
settings that are changed during the service pack installation and places them in an uninstall folder named $NTServicepackUninstall$ in %systemroot%. You can uninstall the service pack through Add/Remove Programs on Control Panel or from a command line by running Spuninstexe from the %systemroot%$NTServicepackUnmstallSpuninst folder.

 If you installed a service pack without creating a backup, you cannot uninstall the service pack.

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