Client Requirements

  • Article

Automatic Updates, the Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) client software, requires only a network connection. No specific hardware configuration is required.

Automatic Updates is supported for use with the following operating systems:

  • Windows® 7

  • Windows Vista®

  • Windows Server® 2008 R2

  • Windows Server® 2008

  • Windows Server 2003

  • Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 2 (SP2) and later

  • Windows 2000 with Service Pack 4 (SP4) and later

Special considerations for client computers set up by using a Windows 2000, Windows Server 2003, or Windows XP image

If client computers are set up by using a Windows 2000 image, a Windows Server 2003 image, or a Windows XP image, and you used Sysprep or another unique SID-generating technology to create the images, the SusClientId and SusClientIDValidation registry values are not cleared if they are populated within the image before the image is deployed. If this condition exists, the client computer may not display in WSUS. The SusClientID and SusClientIDValidation registry values can be cleared using several methods:

  • Clear the SUSClientID and SusClientIDValidation registry values on the image source before deployment.

  • Manually clear or run a script to clear SUSClientID and SusClientIDValidation on deployed images.

To manually clear the SUSClientID and SusClientIDValidation registry values

  1. Click Start, click Run, type cmd in the Open box, and then click OK.

  2. At the command prompt, type net stop wuauserv, and then press ENTER.

  3. Click Start, click Run, type regedit in the Open box, and then click OK.

  4. Locate and then click the following registry subkey: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate

  5. In the details pane of Registry Editor, delete the SusClientId and SusClientIDValidation registry entries.

  6. Exit Registry Editor.

  7. At the command prompt, type net start wuauserv, and then press ENTER.

  8. At the command prompt, type wuauclt.exe /resetauthorization /detectnow, and then press ENTER.

  9. Wait 10 minutes for a detection cycle to finish.

  10. Start the WSUS console to make sure that the clients appear in the WSUS console.

The detection cycle uses a hardware validation routine to determine whether the current client hardware has changed since the SUSClientID and SusClientIDValidation values were created. (This hardware includes network adapters and hard disks.) The hardware validation routine is stored as a binary large object in the SusClientIDvalidation registry key at the same location as the SusClientID registry value. If the hardware validation routine indicates that all the hardware has changed, a new SusClientID value is generated by the client.

Important

The hardware validation routine requires that the client connect to a server that is running WSUS 3.0 or later.

For more information about clearing registry values, see Microsoft Support Article ID: 903262 (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=147910).