Windows Update Rant

David Bailey

Banned
Messages
10,485
Location
Harrisonburg, Va.
Today I updated Opera.
It just took a few minutes to download & install.
It was a big file-

screenshot_304.jpg

I went to Windows Update & tried to download 19 updates.
My computer froze up.

So I tried to download & install them 1 by 1.
{I'm still trying to complete the process, by the way.}

One update really has upset me.
It was 111 KBs.
It took about 20 minutes to download & another 10 to install.

What's up with this Microsoft ?
I really hope someone at Microsoft will join this forum & answer my question.

If the biggest software company in the world can't do better, then something is very wrong. :(

Rant's over. :)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1.1 Pro with Media Center
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Gateway
    CPU
    AMD K140 Cores 2 Threads 2 Name AMD K140 Package Socket FT1 BGA Technology 40nm
    Motherboard
    Manufacturer Gateway Model SX2110G (P0)
    Memory
    Type DDR3 Size 8192 MBytes DRAM Frequency 532.3 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI AMD Radeon HD 7310 Graphics
    Sound Card
    AMD High Definition Audio Device Realtek High Definition Audio USB Audio Device
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Name 1950W on AMD Radeon HD 7310 Graphics Current Resolution 1366x768 pixels Work Resolution 1366x76
    Screen Resolution
    Current Resolution 1366x768 pixels Work Resolution 1366x768 pixels
    Hard Drives
    AMD K140
    Cores 2
    Threads 2
    Name AMD K140
    Package Socket FT1 BGA
    Technology 40nm
    Specification AMD E1-1200 APU with Radeon HD Graphics
    Family F
    Extended Family 14
    Model 2
    Extended Model 2
    Stepping 0
    Revision ON-C0
    Instruction
    Browser
    Opera 24.0
    Antivirus
    Avast Internet Security
Not automatic in W8.1

I've had so much time wasted by flaky and in some cases totally screwed up updates that I'm considering a new regime and that is to install them on the last day of the month, that gives time for any duds to be pulled.

Maybe I'm an odd case, but I like to keep my system clean which means once updates are installed and I've rebooted a couple of times, and they have been left to do their thing for a while, then I run a full clean up and defrag routine. And its a real pain to have to keep installing updates that appear in dribs and drabs over the following days. I can guarantee that installing these will take a chunk of space, probably around 1Gb... yes it comes back over a few days... but things run soooo much smoother without all the constant maintenance that has to be done.

Now I've added to the rant ;)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    W10 x64 pro and W8.1 x86
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Vostro 3750/Acer 9301
    CPU
    Intel i5/AMD Turion 64
    Memory
    4Gb/2Gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel i5 internal/NVidia GEFORCE GO 6100
    Sound Card
    Realtek
    Hard Drives
    250Gb SSD and 120Gb
    Mouse
    HP Z4000
    Internet Speed
    76 down, 20 up
    Browser
    MS Edge
    Antivirus
    Defender
Thanks for the rep David... only way I can thank you here (pms turned off ? :))
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    W10 x64 pro and W8.1 x86
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Vostro 3750/Acer 9301
    CPU
    Intel i5/AMD Turion 64
    Memory
    4Gb/2Gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel i5 internal/NVidia GEFORCE GO 6100
    Sound Card
    Realtek
    Hard Drives
    250Gb SSD and 120Gb
    Mouse
    HP Z4000
    Internet Speed
    76 down, 20 up
    Browser
    MS Edge
    Antivirus
    Defender
ONLY true with Windows 10. With earlier versions, you can still refuse updates indefinitely.

The vast majority of Windows users, 10 and older, don't modify their systems' behavior. Windows 10 and, minimally, Windows 8-ish automatically install updates "now". As such, the OP's problem easily could be uSoft server overload for any set of updates that are available.

Those of us who DO modify Windows behavior are WAY down in the noise level...

======

A typical message about updates that we get now is Update is not allowed to download due to service regulation or download size limitation. meaning that uSoft's servers are busy.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1, 10, various Linux
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    homebuilt
From my recent experiences, users are lucky if they can undo the damage that these updates are causing. I work fixing computers on the side, and have never had any trouble before....before these Win 8 (and 8.1) updates.

A common thread seems to be hard drive corruption. If you can boot into windows after the updates, it calls for a chkdsk. But once started, chkdsk never finishes, and then Windows never boots again. Ever.

If and when you can get into advanced boot options, the "Refresh" feature does not work. The only successful fix I have found it to pull the hard drive to back up the data, then run a chkdsk remotely (which finds a multitude of errors). Then use the recovery options to do a clean install ("Reset") from a recovery disk.

But another Win 8.1 machine I was working on did some automatic updates, and then crashed. Everything just froze, like a Win 98 computer. Only difference is that cold booting did not fix it. This was not such an easy fix (like reinstalling Windows is easy...). It's a gimmicky touch screen with no external access to the hard drive. (or battery, or RAM). Thank God I had backed up her files prior to the updates.

Now the only option seems to be disabling updates altogether. Some might say that this is a security risk. But I'd much rather take my 10% chances with malware, than the 100% certainty of being ravaged by Microsoft.

What on earth is going on over there in Redmond? Are they trying to go Chapter 11? (...I used to work at Circuit City... ;-)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    7,8,10
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