# Why do all Windows XP updates now show up in the control panel? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 13, 2007, 10:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-all-windows-xp-updates-now-show-up-in-the-control-panel/411626 "2007-07-13T10:30:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Gymnopithys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@Gymnopithys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gymnopithys)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2007, 10:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-all-windows-xp-updates-now-show-up-in-the-control-panel/411626/1 "2007-07-13T10:30:45Z")
They didn’t show up in there before… Should I leave them there ? Seems like a long list. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2007, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-all-windows-xp-updates-now-show-up-in-the-control-panel/411626/2 "2007-07-13T10:37:30Z")
There’s a little checkbox at the top of the widow that says “show updates.” Clear it and they will not be displayed. I find it useful when tracking down a problem – some updates cause additional problems, and knowing if you have them installed can save some time. Other than that, I leave them hidden. ETA: I’m assuming that you meant that they were showing up in Control Panel\>Add/Remove Programs. If they’re piling on all higgledy-piggledy in the control panel menu, I don’t know what’s going on. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2007, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-all-windows-xp-updates-now-show-up-in-the-control-panel/411626/3 "2007-07-13T10:39:08Z")
That’s peculiar. I don’t have that on mine. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2007, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-all-windows-xp-updates-now-show-up-in-the-control-panel/411626/4 "2007-07-13T10:52:37Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] That’s peculiar. I don’t have that on mine. [/QUOTE] I wrote my reply on an XP Pro SP2 box. I went and turned on a Dell Inspiron running XP Home SP2 (the same box you helped with [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=427574), and it’s now working fine thankyouverymuch!). Both show the same thing: at the top of the Add or Remove Programs window, with Change or Remove Programs selected, at the top it says Currently installed programs: then some space, then the Show updates checkbox, then the Sort by dropdown. I swear I’m not making this up!!! ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2007, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-all-windows-xp-updates-now-show-up-in-the-control-panel/411626/5 "2007-07-13T11:08:12Z")
Ah, the Add/Remove dialog. I thought we were talking about the Control Panel itself. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2007, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-all-windows-xp-updates-now-show-up-in-the-control-panel/411626/6 "2007-07-13T11:18:51Z")
Funny… half of me was thinking that without the edit, it might appear that way. The other half was thinking I was just looking for any old excuse to use higgledy-piggledy in a sentence. (The third half was wondering who taught me to count.) ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2007, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-all-windows-xp-updates-now-show-up-in-the-control-panel/411626/7 "2007-07-13T15:57:07Z")
I wonder if MS decided to change the behavior of this on some Patch Tuesday a while ago and didn’t tell us. My work PC (XP Pro with SP2) has the “Show updates” checkbox, but a PC (XP Home, no SP2) I was working on yesterday did not have that checkbox, so all of the updates were listed. ---
**Author:** ![Gymnopithys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@Gymnopithys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gymnopithys)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2007, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-all-windows-xp-updates-now-show-up-in-the-control-panel/411626/8 "2007-07-13T16:11:47Z")
Thank you **Rhythmdvl**! I hadn’t even noticed that little checkbox. Got to open my eyes. What’s strange is that these updates didn’t show before (nobody sneaked in my apartment to check that box ). 🙂 But sometimes computers do unexpected things. Like today, for example, while working on a .doc, all the .tmp files icons showed on the start screen. They disappeared when I closed the file.