Author Archives: Scott

BatchPatch Host Status “LED” Indicator Image Icons

By Scott | Published: October 7, 2019

GREEN: online BLUE: online after reboot (BatchPatch does its best to determine if a host was rebooted by counting the number of ping timeouts that are tracked immediately before a ping success. You can modify this setting in ‘Tools > Settings > Ping Failure Threshold‘) ORANGE: host doesn’t exist / not found RED: host offline […]

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How to Automate Monthly Windows Patching and Updates for Numerous Computers

By Scott | Published: September 25, 2019

While it’s true that our favorite way to use BatchPatch is for real-time control of the Windows Update process, it also works great for automating Windows updates and everything that goes along with Windows updates like reboots etc. In fact, BatchPatch is arguably one of the most powerful tools available when it comes to automation […]

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How to Convert HRESULT Decimal (DEC) Values to Hexadecimal (HEX)

By Scott | Published: September 18, 2019

How to convert HRESULT decimal values to hexadecimal In the Windows operating system, when an exception is generated it is delivered with an HRESULT value. The HRESULT value is essentially a “reason code” that describes the underlying cause of the exception. In BatchPatch the HRESULT values are generally included in the text of any error, […]

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Clarifying the Confusion Surrounding Optional Updates for “Seekers”

By Scott | Published: September 5, 2019

Beginning with Windows 10 and Windows 2019 build 1809, Microsoft began pre-releasing some updates in advance of their formal release date. This has created a fair amount of confusion both for our users as well as for Windows users around the globe, so today I wanted to take a few minutes to try to clarify […]

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Remote .MSI (or .MSU / .MSP) Package Deployment to Multiple Target Computers

By Scott | Published: August 26, 2019

If you have a .MSI package that you need to deploy to numerous computers, it’s very easy to accomplish this with BatchPatch. The great thing is that not only does it only take a moment to create the deployment, when you are ready to execute the process you can do it for as many target […]

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Windows Update: Error 1611/1620: -1073741502. Failure

By Scott | Published: August 14, 2019

A BatchPatch user recently reported a new error that we had never encountered before. It comes in two flavors, depending on whether the action was executed with integrated security or alternate logon credentials: Windows Update: Error 1611: -1073741502. Failure Windows Update: Error 1620: -1073741502. Failure You may also see something like this screenshot, likely with […]

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Applying Windows Security Updates to Air-Gapped Systems

By Scott | Published: July 31, 2019

BatchPatch provides two basic methods for applying updates to so-called “air-gapped” systems that are isolated from the rest of the world. Patching systems in isolated networks has always been both a challenge and a pain because you can’t simply follow your normal/typical procedures to get updates applied to these systems. Air-gapped systems virtually always have […]

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Single-Click Update Plus Reboot of All Virtual Machine Guests and the VM Host They Reside On

By Scott | Published: July 22, 2019

It seems that everyone always wants to automate everything these days. Sometimes it almost feels like sysadmins think that their credibility hinges on their ability to automate something. However, in reality I think there are times when more automation makes sense, but there are also times where automating something isn’t the best idea or isn’t […]

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The Best Windows Patching Software

By Scott | Published: July 16, 2019

When it comes to patching and updating the Windows operating system in a business environment, there are a lot of options to choose from. Regardless of whether you have a smaller business with fewer computers to manage or larger business with hundreds or thousands of machines, you still need a good solution to help keep […]

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Using BatchPatch to Deploy Software to Multiple Remote Computers

By Scott | Published: July 2, 2019

In addition to being a great tool for initiating Windows update processes on remote computers, BatchPatch can also simplify the task of deploying / installing third-party software on numerous target computers. The process is generally very simple with three basic steps: Identify the silent / quiet parameter for the installer package that you plan to […]

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