When Windows 7 is configured to automatically update at a certain time (say Friday 5pm), is that also when it tries to download updates, or does it pull in the updates throughout the week, and only installs them at the update time?

Hi, Updates are automatically downloaded behind the scenes when you're online and don't interfere with other downloads. If you disconnect, updates will continue to download in the background the next time you go online. If your computer is configured to automatically update at a certain time, then the computer should be switched ON and should be online at that particular time, so that it will install important updates. Updates will be downloaded and installed at a certain time if it is configured like that (say Friday 5PM) and not before that or after that. For more information I would suggest you to refer these links: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/Understanding-Windows-automatic-updating http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/Updates-frequently-asked-questions Please respond and let us know the status of the issue. Azam – Microsoft Support.

Thanks, The issue we have is that updates seem to be taking a long time to install, and they are arriving thick and fast, so there is a good deal of disruption to our users (we are a working in a school with every teacher and student using a laptop). We would prefer the updates to be downloaded during the school day (as there is ample bandwidth in the school for this), but only to be installed after normal school hours to minimize disruption. Letting users decide whether to install the updates is not ideal, as many would automatically click 'dismiss' (conditioning as a result of too many un-important error messages over the ages). We may later look into using a WSUS server, but this is not an option right now. Is there a way to fine-tune this process (e.g. via group policy or the registry) to do what I want (e.g. download updates between 9am and 3pm Mon-Fri, and install on Fri 5pm)? Victor

Victor, I'm moving your thread over to our TechNet forums as they will be able to help more with discussing group policy and WSUS items. Mike - Microsoft Answers Support Engineer Visit our Microsoft Answers Feedback Forum and let us know what you think.

You can open “gpedit.msc” in Windows 7, then locate to the following policy. Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Windows Update In the right pane, double-click “Configure Automatic Updates”. Choose “4. Auto download and scheduled install” and also configure the schedule.Arthur Xie - MSFT