It does not require patching Windows Update files, but it does require that you have an IIS or apache network server on another machine so that you can proxy windowsupdate.microsoft.com to that machine so it can serve the files since the Windows Update v3 website files are down and have been down for 11 years.
I have installed the 2016 WUMT/Proxy etc on an old XP system, and it works well, installing around 200 updates. However, a very quick manual search of MS Update Catalog returns many more updates that also appear to be applicable to my simple XP system, so my question is 'How does that earlier version of WUMT build its list of updates, and what criteria does it use when deciding to include/exclude an update'? Getting the number of manual search results below 1000 required some fairly broad exclusions in the search terms, and examining all the items that WUMT didn't catch is mind-numbing to say the least. MS's 'replaces/replaced-by' is sometimes enough to drive you to drink. Perhaps someone has crafted a search expression that delivers a reasonably balanced list of 'possibles'.
WUMT return the default search result, without superseded updates this supersedence evaluation is executed by WU engine, depending on current device status, and the updates metadata and some updates will not be offered until some other updates are installed first
The number of the updates is also higly dependent on what is the starting situation. If you start with a stock image with nothing installed, first you get all the IE6 updates, then IE7/IE8 are offered, then the updates to IE7/IE8. If you install IE8 manually only the IE8 updates are offered. That alone makes a big difference in the total number of updates installed at the end of the whole process. Then there is .net variable, some optional packages and their updates and so on... And all the above assuming we are talking of XPsp3, if one starts from sp2 there are further variables, IE updates and some .net packages can be installed before or after the SP3 leading to further scenarios. Then there is the "optional" trick to get the Posready updates. Really the question "how many updates needs XP" has no hope to get a simple answer.
Thats simple, use OnePiece UpdatePack. If you would like to do on-line install, just grab updates according to included CAT files
That's not a my practical problem, I was just taking about the matter "academically". Perhaps a question that who prepared the update packs had to face at least once.
Wow! Thanks very much, I wasn't aware of the OnePiece packages before. I'll save an image of my current state, reinstall XPSP3, and then the OnePiece pack. And then compare. Do you know what that 'default search' is? It surely can't be just 'XP'. (can it?)
Code: "(IsInstalled = 0 and IsHidden = 0) or (IsInstalled = 1 and IsHidden = 0) or (IsHidden = 1)" WUMT or the search criteria does not define the OS or Updates specs the engine do that by evaluating the metadata from the server
Thank you to all who responded. I slipstreamed Onepiece's pack with nLite and my XP Pro disk, then installed it on a fresh partition. It worked like a charm, with the only slight drawback being that all the updates are non-removable i.e. there are no $NtUninstallKBxxxxxxxxx folders in \Windows, and nothing listed in Add/Remove Programs. Like I said, hardly a problem. However, I can see them installed in the Registry at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Updates\Windows XP\SPnn\KBnnnnnnn\... Is there a tool that will give me a text dump of that part of the registry?
Original obsolete files are directly replaced on setup media, that's why there are no uninstall entries.