Windows Update Problems

If you have not been through all of them, these are the ‘standard’ things to explore. Some of the information can at least be instructive as to what is re-awakening the computer.

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_10-power/desktop-computer-wont-go-to-sleep-after-recent/1353c298-0fc5-47ac-a803-a96102c78a4e

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The best update for Windows is Linux Mint!

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If a Windows update causes issues, it can be uninstalled. This just rolls it back to the previous version and will be prevented from reinstalling until another version of that update is available.

Open up Windows Update, click on View Update History, click Uninstall Updates, select the updates that correspond to the date the problem started from the right hand column and click Uninstall Updates.

You will have to do this individually for each one. If you have read of a particular update that may be the issue, you can just delete that one then try putting it to sleep. If you haven’t time to muck about, scroll right through the list and delete everything with that date. Restarting may be necessary.

I have had to this numerous times when updates have screwed with something. On the occasion it didn’t work my problem turned out to be other software I had coincidentally installed or updated as Windows updated.

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It appears that Windows 10 build 1809 (September 2018) is now out for the average user. My machine updated two nights ago.

I turned sleep off entirely several years ago. When using multiple monitors with differing connections, it gets confused on wake-up and moves everything around on me!

…within ten days, after which Windows 10 reclaims the space on your behalf. This is under Settings/Storage/Change how we free up space automatically - at the very bottom of the page. (Turning Storage Sense off at the previous level may prevent this deletion.) Note: if you have Windows Home, or another restricted version, you may not be able to see/change some of this stuff.

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I’m running Win10 Pro so I’m not sure if the way updates work on other versions are different, but it just let me uninstall updates from nine months ago. I was under the impression it was only the downloaded upgrade files that were deleted in ten days unless the settings were changed otherwise.

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You are probably correct then - I’m on Pro, but was focused only on the ‘storage space’ part of settings. Rolling back old updates can cause stability issues, although Microsoft has been improving in this area.

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Not a Windows update problems, so much as an issue with a Windows update:


A problem, if you sign in to your PC with a Microsoft account.

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Not a problem if you sign onto your PC and it’s a MAC, or runs Linux or …? :wink:

I’d love to suggest solutions such as ”users should vote with their feet” and shop around for the cheapest petrol! But PC’s don’t use petrol and are more responsive to digital stimulus than pedestrian movements. :thinking:

The good news is that the next evolution of the MS operating system will not be an upgrade for Windows 10. It appears it will only come on new devices once released? :upside_down_face:

That article looks like what we were reading back when Microsoft was planning for Windows 8! They’ve been working on a ‘unified architecture’ for at least a decade, and I think Windows 8 was the first showing of what MS intended.

It will be ‘interesting’ to see what they come up with second time around.

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I suspect one of the problems is that their unified software will always have ‘include DOS 1.1’ hidden somewhere (even if only in a comment field as an Easter egg for posterity) :smiley:

Redmond’s real problem getting it done is most likely that there are too many managers and way too many programmers involved. I reflect on Thomas Watson’s comment when Control Data Corporation announced the CDC 6600, and Seymour Cray’s response.

The 6600 product announcement, in August of 1963, gave Big Blue fits. Thomas Watson, Jr, IBM’s CEO, noted in a famous memo to IBM employees: “Last week, Control Data … announced the 6600 system. I understand that in the laboratory developing the system there are only 34 people including the janitor. Of these, 14 are engineers and 4 are programmers… Contrasting this modest effort with our vast development activities, I fail to understand why we have lost our industry leadership position by letting someone else offer the world’s most powerful computer.” To which Cray replied: “It seems like Mr. Watson has answered his own question.” (namely, IBM was too large).

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MS-DOS didn’t really get going until 3.3. 5.x was when it really gained legs, while you still had to fiddle with memory via config.sys and autoexec.bat until 6.0 came with MemMaker to automagically optimise your boot and let you load stuff above 640Kb limit that Bill Gates said nobody would ever need.

I remember we had an Apple II+ at home, and I had to re-learn commands. “Catalog” became “dir”, for instance - much easier to type. There was no equivalent to “PR#6”, though.

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If you’re running Windows 7, beware:
https://www.askwoody.com/2019/january-patches-for-win7-kb-4480970-and-kb-4480960-break-networking/

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hmm, I think I’ll leave that pesky update reminder that keeps popping up on my win7 weather and solar data logging laptop alone for a while longer…

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Just when you thought it was safe to install some updates (chuckle), Microsoft to the rescue. (/sarcasm)

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If I recall correctly, Microsoft was (rightly) miffed that AV makers were inserting hooks into Windows where no hooks were actually available. It had notified all AV companies of proposed changes and how to better integrate their software with Windows without opening new back doors for black hats, and from the PC World article it appears that some of those companies failed to do what was needed.

I had to ignore a warning from one of my ad-blockers to access that PC World article, and the poor reportage it shows reminds me why I added the site to my block list. A company that claims to have a clue about the IT world should know the background for their own ‘story’.

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I thought it was rather funny when I did the update . I had appointments all morning so I decided to shutdown the computer . It advised me I had updates and not to turn off the computer . That was 9.00 am in the morning . I returned home at 1.00 pm . Still on the same blue screen advising me " Windows was preparing to install updates etc , etc , "

What really rocked me was when the screen flashed and advised me " Windows was unable to install when does at this time and was undoing the update ". I’m thinking how many hours will this take ?

To cut it short I went to my other computer and found out how to restart the other one in debug mode with all the heavy artillery that could be ticked on the trouble shoot page . I must admit it was fascinating watching that little wheel go round and round in blue screen or is it a case of " small things amuse small minds ?.

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Be that the case or whatever, being collateral damage is being collateral damage. FWIW in the 1980’s my job was to add hooks to an operating system to support functions it did not have to support the space shuttle program so I might have perverse attitude. Microsoft’s missive seems more than slightly arrogant, noting their products conform and apparently superior ones do not, so ‘buy Microsoft’. :roll_eyes:

You didn’t happen to come across Julian Assange’s early work, did you?

Back on topic, modifying you OS was fine in the 1980s, but the threat environment has changed significantly since then. AV software can create new attack surfaces for your system, and Microsoft got annoyed enough that it gave them ways to play nice and said if you don’t you can’t play at all. It appears that some AV vendors failed to get the memo.

I never would have guessed that. Thank’s for pointing it out.

Ignoring the snark for a moment, did you regularly update the OS upon which you were developing Space Shuttle software? If you did, you would also have to modified your development on every update, because operating systems change!

Windows has its updates in pre-release programs for several months before they go live. The fact that some AV companies either failed to identify problems or remediate them is not Microsoft’s fault. Microsoft and Windows have plenty of faults (including the legacy of 8.3 file names and a 16 bit architecture), but in this case those affected knew about the change as they know about every Windows update. If Windows breaks a third-party virus, you don’t blame Microsoft for that do you? The black hats need to develop new exploits, the white hats need to make sure their software works on the new version.