Accessing/ monitoring Windows "Automatic Updates" controls.

Normally I don't care so much about this because the XP patches come out fairly infrequently. In the past couple weeks, however, there have been a lot of patches and so this is more annoying/notable.

Basically, what I want to know is, is there any guaranteed way of accessing the controls or status of Windows Automatic Updates?

From my experience, Windows decides at very specific times to pop up the taskbar icon which allows you to access the controls/status. But it also tends to make those controls/displays go POOF! and disappear. Once the operation has begun there does not seem to be any way to bring the controls back up or get the status to display. Nor is there any outward sign that the computer is doing anything. How can I force Windows to tell me what its status is with regards to downloading and installing updates?

 

Thanks, but I think I should rephrase my question.

I'm not talking about using IE to download updates. I'm talking about using the built-in Windows functionality and how to access it once it is operating.

Basically, the icon appears... Do you want to download updates? You click it, initiate the download, and then POOF. Something is happening. An icon may appear showing a % progress on the taskbar, but just as often it will disappear and leave you wondering what the hell it is doing. Since there is often no outward indication of what is going on, frequently it is unclear whether the thing has finished its download or its install procedure.

What I am hoping for is a way to access the status window and controls OF THE CURRENTLY OPERATING WINDOWS UPDATE PROGRAM, while it is downloading and/or installing patches. There does not seem to be any handle on its interface that I can find. Basically you only get to see it when it decides to pop its icon onto the taskbar, enabling you to click on it and bring up the status.

 

Thank you for your answers, but when I do the things you describe, I am taken either a) to the control panel in which I can configure the settings and timing of automatic updates, or b) to the Windows Update website on Microsoft.com.

Neither of them shows me the status of the download/install process.. I'm not trying to be a gadfly but is there any way to force this window to pop up instead of having to wait for the taskbar icon to appear (assuming it ever will) ?

 

I am seeing the same thing only worse. I come down to 1 of 1 updates installing and it hangs for hours exclaiming (Do not turn off your computer...it will turn off automatically). Well the reason I turned it off was that during some update the wireless card was boogered and it can't talk to the net to "whomever" the update was coming from...and naturally the programmer didn't flesh out the software to abort after a time out with no comm.

Sheesh....