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I use Windows 7 SP1 x64 Ultimate. I see on Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Windows Update:

enter image description here

How can I see the list of Windows updates that will be installed at restart?

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    Any pending update that has been installed will finish installing when you reboot. As for a list, requires you to look at the list, and simply know which updates even require a reboot
    – Ramhound
    Commented Sep 30, 2017 at 0:27
  • @Ramhound Thanks, I had missed that. ( I used to be empty but it is now accessible after changing a few registry keys to remove "some settings are managed by your system administrator" ). I'll remove the question soon once you read my comment.
    – Franck Dernoncourt
    Commented Sep 30, 2017 at 0:35
  • Franck, your question and Ramhound's comment might be useful to others (you probably aren't the only person with that question). Think about not deleting it, even posting an answer.
    – fixer1234
    Commented Sep 30, 2017 at 2:48
  • @fixer1234 sure thing, done!
    – Franck Dernoncourt
    Commented Sep 30, 2017 at 5:03

1 Answer 1

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You can review the list of Windows updates that will be installed at restart (a.k.a. pending Windows updates -> please see comment, I am not 100% sure about it) in Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Windows Update\View update history:

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If the list is empty, e.g.:

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here are two possible causes. Cause 1: in Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Windows Update\Change settings, you have a message some settings are managed by your system administrator:

enter image description here

In that case, it is possible that one of the settings prevents you from viewing
the update history. To reset the default setting, you can run in a .reg file:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate]
[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\WindowsUpdate]
[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate]
[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\WindowsUpdate]

Cause 2: one of the answers in How To Cancel Pending Windows 7 Updates causes of the Windows update history to be empty. I suspect it is removing the file C:\windows\winsxs\pending.xml that causes it.

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    Just for clarification, are the pending items just cleanup of updates already installed, or updates that have been delayed until after reboot due to dependencies on other updates?
    – fixer1234
    Commented Sep 30, 2017 at 5:12
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    @fixer1234 I believe updates that have been delayed until after reboot due to dependencies on other updates or other reasons. I'd be very interested if someone could confirm or infirm though, I am not familiar with Windows automatic updates, just a victim of it.
    – Franck Dernoncourt
    Commented Sep 30, 2017 at 5:15

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