A few days ago, Microsoft released details on the “convenience rollup” update collection for Windows 7, Microsoft delved deeper into what the update contained in a blog post today. Microsoft released a one-time “convenience rollup” for Windows 7 with Service Pack 1 (SP1) and Windows Server 2008 R2 with SP1. The convenience rollup is a cumulative update back to SP1 and up to April 2016.
Since Windows 7 SP1, there have been over 1,000 updates and instead of applying all of the needed updates, Microsoft found it would be easier to release the convenience rollup for Windows 7 users to save time. The rollup is classified as “optional,” meaning that it is not available via Windows Update, and in order to download the rollup, you need to download it here. The convenience rollup will take up about 2 GB of space on your computer.
Microsoft thought it was important to release the convenience roll-up for many reasons:
- To help customers “catch up” with available updates, including hotfixes, many of which are not available through any other means except direct download from KB articles, one-by-one.
- To help customers get consistent code levels with Windows 7 SP1 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 operating systems, both of which are in “extended” support until January 14, 2020.
- To help customers get the most consistent experience with the Windows 7 SP1 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 family of operating systems as they evaluate the next platform.
- In the event diagnostic efforts are needed in current production environments, there is less chance that an available update needs to be applied before analysis and/or remediation can begin. The goal is to reduce time-to-resolution for diagnostic or analysis efforts, and helping to reduce the total cost of ownership (TCO).
- To ensure that Windows 7 SP1 / Windows 2008 R2 SP1 computers have the same updates used by Microsoft servicing team when testing
Here’s a detailed list of what is included in the Windows KB3125574 convenience rollup:
- Most of the servicing fixes that were released after the release of SP1 for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2.
- Most “hotfixes” released since SP1.
- Updates to “core” .NET components only (no updates to .NET versions that were not released with Windows 7 and/or Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 at the time of SP1)
- Updates for Windows client, Windows server, and most components of each.
For more details on what is not included and possible problems or other errors you may encounter in the convenience rollup update (KB3125574) for Windows 7 SP1 and Server 2008 R2 SP1, be sure to check out the blog post that lists all the details.
