22H2 Win endpoint has multiple cumulative updates of previous versions of Win installed

Question

Hi team,
Apologies in advance as I am not a sysadmin by training and I did a lot of googling and was unable to find an accurate answer.

Machine - 22H2 Win with May cumulative update for 22H2 installed (observed on SCCM)

My question - this machine also has 21H2 May cumulative update, and other previous versions of Win's May cumulative updates installed by SCCM (1607, 20H2 etc.), and I am just wondering whether this is normal.

My understanding is (maybe incorrect), hypothetically, even if the machine is upgraded from previous versions of Win to 22H2, shouldnt the 22H2 cumulative update alone suffice?

If there is an official article about this it would be great (as I searched through a lot but unable to find one in this regard).
(PS. did ask both GPT and Bard and they came back as not normal, but again just for reference)

Thanks very much in advance!

James

Answer 1

Hi, @fei du

Thank you for posting in Microsoft Q&A forum.

It is not uncommon for a Windows endpoint to have cumulative updates of previous versions of Windows installed, along with the latest cumulative update for the current version. These cumulative updates are intended to provide additional fixes and improvements to the existing Windows feature area.

In the case of the 22H2 Win endpoint you described, it is normal for it to have the May cumulative update for both 22H2 and 21H2 versions of Win installed, as well as other previous versions of Windows May cumulative updates. However, it is worth noting that the latest cumulative update for the current version of Windows should be prioritized if there are any conflicts.

While it is generally recommended to install the latest cumulative update for the current version of Windows, there may be cases where previous cumulative updates are required to address specific issues and ensure the endpoint is secure and compliant. Therefore, it is not unusual to see multiple cumulative updates installed.

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