A day after Microsoft Corp. shut down a free alternative to Windows Update, the program’s 20-year-old developer said he is talking with the company about what it would take to resurrect his project.

Reinstalling Windows is never a fun process, especially the part just after the installation when you have a seemingly endless list of critical and optional software updates to download and install.

Version 1.05 is ready for download: AutoPatcher now works by downloading the updates straight from MS instead of distributing the updates packages themselves. The only problem it seems to have is that ...