If you are against of installing Windows updates automatically and disable Windows Update service (wuauserv) completely, then you have to download and install the latest security updates manually once a month. You can also think about manually installing Windows updates in segments of the network isolated from the Internet when testing updates on computers (if you are not using a WSUS server, where you can manage approving of Windows updates manually) and in some other cases. In this post we’ll show you how to manually find, download and install a latest cumulative security update for your Windows 10 build.
Microsoft releases new updates for all supported Windows versions every month. New updates are released every second Tuesday of the month. Also note that about 2 years ago Microsoft switched to a cumulative model of Windows updates. It means that to update your operation system it is enough to install a single cumulative Windows update package, the latest one.
Getting the Last Update Installation Date, Windows Build and Version
You can check the date of the last updates installation on your computer using the following PowerShell command:
gwmi win32_quickfixengineering |sort installedon -desc
Source Description HotFixID InstalledBy InstalledOn ------ ----------- -------- ----------- ----------- compname-PF9 Security Update KB4541338 NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM 3/25/2020 12:00:00 AM
This screenshot shows that the last security update was installed on this computer on March 25, 2020.You can also display the Windows Update installation history using the Get-WUHistory cmdlet from PSWindowsUpdate module:
Get-WUHistory|Where-Object {$_.Title -like "KB*"} |Sort-Object date -desc
Now you can get the current Windows build and version on your computer. Use the following PowerShell command:
Get-ComputerInfo | select WindowsProductName, WindowsVersion, OsHardwareAbstractionLayer, OsArchitecture
WindowsProductName WindowsVersion OsHardwareAbstractionLayer OsArchitecture Windows 10 Pro 1909 10.0.18362.628 64-bit
In my case, I need to find the latest security updates for Windows 10 1909 x64.
How to Find and Download the Latest Security Updates for Windows 10?
You can download the latest updates for Microsoft products from the Microsoft Update Catalog — https://www.catalog.update.microsoft.com/Home.aspx. You can find almost any update for all supported Windows versions (the direct import of updates through the WSUS console is also supported). The main problem is that there is no effective search system in the update catalog, so if you do not know the number of the KB you need to install, it is quite difficult to find and download the right update msu package.
Let’s look at how to make a correct search query to find updates for your Windows version and build in Microsoft Update Catalog. In our case, to search for the security updates for Windows 10 1909 x64 as of October 2020, copy the following search query and paste it into the search field in the right upper corner:
windows 10 1909 x64 10/%/2020
Microsoft Update Catalog has returned the list of 4 updates.
How can you decide, which of these updates you need to download and install? Of course, you can download and install all of them, but you can also save your time. Since Microsoft started using cumulative updates, just download and install the latest cumulative update for your OS version.
There are two large (over 300MB) cumulative updates for Windows 10:
- 2020-04 Cumulative Update for Windows 10 Version 1909 for x64-based Systems (KB4550945) 4/20/2020 — 361.0 MB
- 2020-04 Cumulative Update for Windows 10 Version 1909 for x64-based Systems (KB4549951) 4/10/2020— 358.0 MB
Click on the name of the security update KB4549951. In the next window with update info, go to the Package Details tab. In this tab, you can see, which updates are replaced by this one (This update replaces the following updates:) and which update it replaces in turn (This update has been replaced by the following updates:). The screenshot shows that update KB4549951 is replaced by KB4550945.
Then open the KB4550945 update properties. As you can see, it has no replacement: This update has been replaced by the following updates: n/a. It means that it is the latest cumulative security update for your Windows 10 build.
Click Download, and a direct link to download the MSU update file will appear in the next window. Download the file and save it on your local drive.
You can also find the KB number of the latest cumulative update for your Windows 10 version on this page: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4498140/windows-10-update-history.
Select your Windows 10 version (in my example, it is Windows 10 1909) from the list on the left, then look at the list called In this release. The first entry refers to a knowledge base (KB) article with the latest cumulative update for the selected Windows version. In our example, it is April 21, 2020—KB4550945 (OS Builds 18362.815 and 18363.815). It is the update we have downloaded using the first method. 
Manually Install Cumulative Security Updates on Windows 10
After you have downloaded the MSU file with the latest security update for your Windows 10 version, you can install it. To do it, double click the MSU file and follow the prompts of the Windows Update Standalone Installer.
If the message “The update is not applicable to your computer” appears when installing the MSU update, it is likely that you have downloaded an update package for a different Windows version/build or the update has already been installed.
If the Windows 10 build is correct, but the error still exists, most likely you need to install the latest Windows 10 Servicing Stack Update. Search for it in the Microsoft Update Catalog using the query: servicing stack windows 10 1909 x64.
After the security update has been installed, restart your computer.
You can also install Windows update from the command prompt in the quiet mode using the built-in wusa.exe tool (Windows Update Standalone Installer). The following command will install the specified update in the silent mode and postpone the automatic reboot of the computer after the installation is completed:
wusa C:\updates\windows10.0-kb4550945-x64_8bc93fe5c681ddf741120602899a730c65c155d6 /quiet /norestart
You can extract the MSU file and install the Windows update package as a CAB file using the command:
start /wait DISM.exe /Online /Add-Package /PackagePath: c:\updates\kb4056887\Windows10.0-KB4512509-x64.cab /Quiet /NoRestart
Or use this CAB file to slipstream update into your Windows 10 setup media.
