Quick and Easy Way to List All the Windows Updates Installed on Your System

Source 1 : Quick and Easy Way to List All the Windows Updates Installed on Your System


Every month there is another bunch of updates (also called hotfixes) for Windows. After a few months, they pile up to quite a collection. If you have to reinstall Windows or for some other reason you would like know which ones have been previously installed on your computer, a list of the hotfixes on your PC might be handy.

Some programs, such as Belarc Advisor, will include a list of updates in an overall analysis of what is on your computer. This type of comprehensive survey of your computer’s contents is worthwhile but there is also an easier way to get a list of Windows updates. This method takes advantage of the command line and requires no installation of additional software. Open the command prompt  and enter this command:

wmic qfe list brief /format:htable > "%USERPROFILE%\hotfix.html"

This produces a nicely formatted list in an HTML file named hotfix.html that gets placed in the User folder. You can, of course, change the destination to some other convenient location. If there are any spaces in the name of a folder that you choose, don’t forget to wrap the destination name in quotes, as is done in the commands given in this tip.

If you would rather have a text file, the command would be:

wmic qfe list brief /format:texttablewsys > "%USERPROFILE%\hotfix.txt"

If you prefer not to copy and paste a command into a command prompt, there is a little batch file available at this link.  It will produce the HTML file mentioned above.

And there it is. Now you have an easy way to keep track of those constant updates.