I first documented the command-line switches for Update.exe in tip 1981
Since then, the program has changed.
Hotfixes and Service Packs for Windows 2000 SP4, and greater, and for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 support the
new functionality.
The following tables list the command-line switches for theUpdate.exe program:
NOTE: You should convert to the new switches, as support for the old switches may be dropped.
| Standard switch | Previous switch |
Description of the switch |
Version support for this switch |
| | | | |
| /help | /? | Displays command-line help. |
Version 5.3.24.3 and later support the /help switch. |
| | | | |
| /passive | /u | Unattended Setup mode. No user interaction is required,
but installation status is displayed. |
Version 5.3.24.3 and later support the /passive switch. |
| | | | |
| /forcerestart | /f | Restart the computer after installation and
force other applications to close at shutdown, without saving open files. | Version 5.3.24.3 and later support the /forcerestart switch. |
| | | | |
| /n | /n | Do not back up files for uninstall. | All versions support the /n switch. |
| | | | |
| /o | /o | Overwrite OEM files without prompting. | All versions support the /o switch. |
| | | | |
| /norestart | /z | Do not restart the computer when the installation is complete. |
Version 5.3.24.3 and later support the /norestart switch. |
| | | | |
| /quiet | /q | Quiet mode - same as unattended mode, but no status or error messages are displayed. |
Version 5.3.24.3 and later support the /quiet switch. |
| | | | |
| /l | /l | List installed software updates. | All versions support the /l switch. |
| | | | |
| /uninstall | NA | Uninstalls the software update. | Version 5.3.24.3 and later support the
/uninstall switch. |
| | | | |
| /integrate:path | NA | Integrates (slipstreams)
the software updates into the Windows installation
source files located at the path specified, where path is the folder that contains
the i386 sub-folder. | Version 5.4.15.0 and later support the /integrate:path switch. |
| | | | |
| /extract\[:path] | /x\[:path] |
Extracts files without starting Setup. If ":path" is not included,
you are prompted for the path of a destination folder to extract the files. If ":path" is used, the files are extracted
to the specified destination folder. |
Version 5.3.24.3 and later support the /extract switch. |