Microsoft to fire Windows 7 blanks

 

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By Barry Collins

Posted on 20 Feb 2009 at 08:17

Microsoft is preparing to send out a series of updates for the Windows 7 beta - with absolutely nothing new in them.

The company will be issuing the test updates from next week, to check that the Windows 7 Automatic Update procedure is working correctly.

Users of the Windows 7 Build 7000 will notice up to five updates arriving through the normal Windows Update process.

"Even if the user has Windows Update configured for automatic update these test updates will not install automatically," Microsoft warns on the Windows Blog. "Users will need to manually install the test updates through Windows Update."

"These updates do not deliver new features or bug fixes," Microsoft adds. "The test updates simply replace system files with the same version of the file currently on the system."

If you're not keen on the idea of needlessly replacing system files, you can right click on each patch in the Windows Update control panel and select the Hide Update option.

The test date suggests that it will now be at least next month before the anticipated Release Candidate of Windows 7 arrives.

Microsoft closed the Windows 7 beta last week, having soared past the 2.5 million download target it set originally.