Those of you who are still using Windows 7 computers and have been contemplating an update to Windows 10, you have still some time left before you make the big move. Microsoft has released a big cumulative update KB3125574 for Windows SP1. This is not really a service pack update, but it contains all the latest updates and fixes released for Windows 7 SP1 so far. What’s more, the behemoth software company has released the direct download links for the update for both the 64-bit and 32-bit versions of Windows 7 so that users can conveniently download and install these updates at leisure.
According to the Microsoft’s blog about this update, this update is not going to be installed via the regular automatic updates – in fact, the users won’t even be notified about the update. The only way to get and install this update is via the Windows Update catalog.
You can visit http://catalog.update.microsoft.com/v7/site/Search.aspx?q=3125574 in Microsoft Internet Explorer to find and download this update available for your system (this link works only when visited through Internet Explorer). The download is only a 360 MB update file that can be launched to install the updates. It includes both the security as well as non-security based updates.
You cannot use this cumulative update file to update Windows 7 SP1 immediately after a fresh install. You must install the KB3020369 cumulative update before applying the KB3125574 update. After you install the KB3125574, it will install all the updates released until April 2016. After this you will need to update Windows 7 normally through the Automatic Updates.
If you want to integrate this cumulative update in the Windows 7 SP1 installation disk, then you can use the good old nLite tool that can easily integrate updates and service packs into the installation media so that you do not have to manually install it each time you install Windows 7. But make sure that you include the KB3020369 update along with the KB3125574 update as one cannot work without the another.