Microsoft to issue fake Windows 7 updates
The fake updates will test the automatic patching system in the Windows 7 release candidate.


Microsoft will send out a set of fake updates to test the process in the release candidate of its Windows 7 operating system.
Starting tomorrow, it will release a series of as many as 10 fake updates to test the system. Microsoft ran a similar test for the Windows 7 beta.
"We need to verify the update infrastructure to ensure that when we need to release real updates, the process will run smoothly. There will be at most 10 updates, and as before, they will not deliver any new features or fixes," the Microsoft update team wrote on its blog.
Some of the updates will automatically run, but at least one will require a manual installation. "Windows 7 RC users will be prompted to install this update and provided more information about this feature it will not install automatically," Microsoft claimed.
Anyone not wishing to take part in the test can avoid the fake updates by disabling automatic updates in the operating system.
Click here to read about the latest feature additions to Windows 7 and our review of the beta.
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Freelance journalist Nicole Kobie first started writing for ITPro in 2007, with bylines in New Scientist, Wired, PC Pro and many more.
Nicole the author of a book about the history of technology, The Long History of the Future.
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