Leaving your Windows PC to download and install updates automatically can sometimes trigger unwanted problems. So, it’s better to have control over it. The ABC-Update tool is created with this very purpose in mind. The freeware tool can be used to install Windows Updates as per your convenience.

Schedule Windows Update time

ABC-Update tool comes in two versions namely-

GUI version
Command line version

Choose to install Windows Updates to networked computers

Both versions, allow Windows users to optionally download and install or uninstall update categories of choice. Also, you can schedule activity to an off-hours service window, control reboot loops, and do other things. The scheduling feature is only available in the GUI version. So, we’ll see this version in detail.

1] ABC-Update GUI version

With this version, you can select computers for an update.

a] Selecting computers for update

Computers for updating can be selected from the Windows Active Directory domain, from files or typed directly.

Clicking on a name will select the computer on the list. Even the entire domain can be selected. ABC-Update is capable of handling even hundreds of simultaneous remote update sessions.

Alternatively, you can click the ‘Input’ button to write the name of targets. Named targets can be saved to a file for later use, and you can read targets from files.

Once the target/s is selected, a new information window appears where the process of pinging, starting and executing at the remote locations can be followed. Clicking a machine name anywhere in the program gives access to a live log window for that machine.

b] Schedule in a Service window

You can choose the timing of your choice and convenience for scheduling the updates and reboots. Simply define a service window and kick off operations to run only at the specified time.

2] ABC-Update Command line version

This version of ABC-Update tool allows installing Windows Updates by grouping them into categories. Furthermore, it is possible to sort categories by filtering them.

ABC-Update tool can filter these categories with the /C: switch. The switch accepts a comma as a separated list of categories. For example –

ABC-Update.exe /C: FeaturePacks, SecurityUpdates, UpdateRollups

The different filter options include-

Filtering by KB number
Filtering by Type
Filtering by Name / Title
Filtering by Date
Filtering by query string

Overall, ABC-Update is an easy-to-use tool that sets you in control of Windows Update operations. To download it visit its official website.