Microsoft Automatically Updating Files on your System , Even when you Opt Out. So, who cares?
ZDnet has pounced on a recent revelation that Microsoft is automatically updating files on XP and Vista machines even when Automatic Updates is turned off on those systems. Check out this link to the ZDnet blog where it was first discovered.
Now I understand people being upset about this revelation -- "If they do it here, who knows if they've been doing it elsewhere!" -- but take a look at the list of files that're being auto-updated...
The updated files on Vista are:
wuapi.dll
wuapp.exe
wuauclt.exe
wuaueng.dll
wucltux.dll
wudriver.dll
wups.dll
wups2.dll
wuwebv.dll
And on XP SP2:
cdm.dll
wuapi.dll
wuauclt.exe
wuaucpl.cpl
wuaueng.dll
wucltui.dll
wups.dll
wups2.dll
wuweb.dll
Notice anything about these files? They all have to do with Automatic Updates itself! These are the files that run Automatic Updates. My suspicion is that these files need updating for Microsoft to be able to update your server should you later opt in to the service.
Now, I can see Adrian's slippery slope idea, but I'm not a Microsoft conspiracist. I suspect that there's a good reason why this is occurring. In fact, I actually know some of the guys over in the WSUS group over at Microsoft. I'll drop them a message and ask them their opinion on this...
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