7 ms·

I've never been as frustrated with a windows update as this one. First, I've a small machine with SSD that I use as media center running windows 7, this humongo

by halite 11y ago

I've never been as frustrated with a windows update as this one. First, I've a small machine with SSD that I use as media center running windows 7, this humongous download (which happened overnight without any consent) killed that machine. Since then I've it switched to linux and things are much better. Second I know an elderly couple who doesn't know much about computers. When they got the prompt for upgrade, they didn't even think it was an operating system upgrade. They thought it was another windows update. Next morning they couldn't do anything as the start button wouldn't work, printers were gone, email settings were gone, critical error message when they click edge etc. Now for a tech savvy person, it wouldn't be a problem and you can easily fix these but they live far from city, like about a good 2 hour drive. Since I'm closest to them, this weekend I'll be making a trip there and fixing it wasting around 6-7 hours of my life just because of windows 10. Thanks Microsoft!

eckza 11y ago
> 6-7 hours of my life If it makes you feel any better: I went through this EXACT scenario yesterday. My grandfather accidentally installed Windows 10. Fortunately, there's a button in Settings that lets you revert: http://www.howtogeek.com/220723/how-to-uninstall-windows-10-and-downgrade-to-windows-7-or-8.1/ http://www.howtogeek.com/220723/how-to-uninstall-windows-10-... It worked perfectly and only took about 30 minutes. And the man uses his computer for a lot of stuff - personal bookkeeping, Word, Excel, Publisher, electronic document management, etc etc etc - and it's all 100% back to normal.
- acqq 11y ago
  > It worked perfectly Have you checked the task scheduler? https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/80e4f83d-1529-4405-b8e3-d1d636f8b71c/task-scheduler-is-broken-after-windows-10-downgrade?forum=win10itprogeneral https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/80e4f83d-1... Didn't work on my computer. See also http://au.pcmag.com/windows-10/39165/news/oops-update-glitch-results-in-accidental-windows-1#comment-2312386490 http://au.pcmag.com/windows-10/39165/news/oops-update-glitch... "These showed up on a plethora of my client's systems a few days ago after I had already removed them, unchecked them and hid them weeks earlier. This is totally unethical, namely re-releasing KB3035583 after hundreds of thousands of people paid technicians to have these removed."
  - cma 11y ago
    Plus the install attempts to steal away the user's default browser.
- 7952 11y ago
  >> personal bookkeeping, Word, Excel, Publisher, electronic document management, etc etc etc - and it's all 100% back to normal. Microsoft are turning their back on a group of people who used to pay money upfront for premium products. How many of these users want a subscription service? Maybe they want a finished OS with high quality software pre-installed instead of some crappy app store.
newjersey 11y ago
> I've never been as frustrated with a windows update as this one. First, I've a small machine with SSD that I use as media center running windows 7, this humongous download (which happened overnight without any consent) killed that machine. Since then I've it switched to linux and things are much better. Opposite problem with a notebook computer that my friend put Windows 8 on had a small ssd C drive and a big hard disk D drive. The prompt saying get ready for Windows 10 never showed up because the SSD didn't have enough space in it. Losing settings shouldn't happen. Honestly, I'd have pushed harder requiring people to start fresh for those who want Windows 10. I'd put (time-triggered?) big warning signs saying that Windows 7 ended mainstream support on January 14, 2020 and Windows 8 will end mainstream support on January 10, 2023 and that you should not use these products after this date unless you really know what you are doing. We are still more than four years away from that date though. It would make a lot more sense to me for Microsoft to offer Windows 10 for free for a short time to everyone and say that regular prices will resume after this amnesty period. The way they are putting Window 10 in Windows Update, it makes it seem like Windows 10 is a regular update to Windows. I don't understand this. I wanted to upgrade to Windows 10. The first thing I did when I got Windows 10 was to reset my computer. I am very happy to be able to say that I was able to reset my computer without an external drive. The process took less than two hours and didn't require me to enter a product key. (ymmv of course) Maybe it is I who has changed and gotten busy/careless but this is the first time that I have gone to just using the computer and not really caring about Windows Update. Google's Chromebooks did a lot to change my attitude towards computers. I still obsess a little over some details like what is so important that is Onedrive writing constantly to C:\Users\[redacted]\AppData\Local\Microsoft\OneDrive\logs\Personal\TraceCurrent.6201.1019.etl at about 30000 Bps or why OneDrive seems to be constantly uploading things to a-0011.a-smedge.net at about 7 million bytes per second while reporting not nearly enough corresponding disk activity. There is not much literature about this and the best I could find with a five second Google search was "TraceArchive.ETL and TraceCurrent.ETL are logging files which appear to contain the remnants of the smart folder feature in Windows 8.1." http://www.champlain.edu/Documents/LCDI/Windows%2010%20Forensics.pdf http://www.champlain.edu/Documents/LCDI/Windows%2010%20Foren... I guess I will attribute it to incompetence until I see some evidence of malevolence. I guess tl;dr I agree with you. Upgrade to Windows 10 should not happen automatically. It should be a choice that the user (or device administrator) seeks. http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/lifecycle http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/lifecycle
mintplant 11y ago
On a related note: with Linux as my daily driver, I don't understand how the average Windows user deals with Microsoft's implementation of automatic updates. Say I just woke up, and I'm in a rush to boot up my computer, print out a paper, and get out the door. But--surprise! Windows Update ran in the background the night before, and now system startup is delayed half an hour or more to configure a new batch of patches. On the one hand, from a security standpoint, I appreciate that the default is to keep users' systems up-to-date. On the other, it seems that Microsoft pushes this with little regard for their users' time or comfort.
- Nadya 11y ago
  Unless you get up for work on Wednesday (Tuesday?) night at 3am you're fine. >now system startup is delayed half an hour or more to configure a new batch of patches. The default is that there is no configuration. The OS downloads the patches by default, installs them, then waits for the user to restart the computer to finalize things. The user can simply not restart the computer if they are in a hurry.
  - mintplant 11y ago
    I'm talking about a cold boot here. As in: (1) the OS downloads and installs patches (2) at some point I turn off my computer for the night (3) I turn it on again in the morning and have to wait for this finalization before I can use my system.
    - Nadya 11y ago
      This can occasionally be an issue for people unaware of the update schedule - I agree. A small learning curve of "reset before turning off for the night on Tuesdays" alleviates that problem and I feel Microsoft made that trade off for user security with their general user (read: non-tech savvy people) as the primary users. Personally I have automatic updates turned off and vet which patches get installed. But I'm more involved than the typical Windows users. I'd use a Linux distro if I could find suitable replacements for certain programs I rely on for my workflow.
Soulsbane 11y ago
I got tired of these 30 minute updates on my mom's computer and installed Linux along side windows. I changed the theme to somewhat look like Windows and she loves it. No more annoying updates. It's hilarious because when my stepdad has a problem with his windows computer my mom tells him maybe he should install Linux. Not that Linux is some magic OS that fixes every problem but I do think it has come a long was is now much more user friendly than Windows is now.

by halite 11y ago

eckza 11y ago

> 6-7 hours of my life If it makes you feel any better: I went through this EXACT scenario yesterday. My grandfather accidentally installed Windows 10. Fortunately, there's a button in Settings that lets you revert: http://www.howtogeek.com/220723/how-to-uninstall-windows-10-and-downgrade-to-windows-7-or-8.1/ http://www.howtogeek.com/220723/how-to-uninstall-windows-10-... It worked perfectly and only took about 30 minutes. And the man uses his computer for a lot of stuff - personal bookkeeping, Word, Excel, Publisher, electronic document management, etc etc etc - and it's all 100% back to normal.

acqq 11y ago
> It worked perfectly Have you checked the task scheduler? https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/80e4f83d-1529-4405-b8e3-d1d636f8b71c/task-scheduler-is-broken-after-windows-10-downgrade?forum=win10itprogeneral https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/80e4f83d-1... Didn't work on my computer. See also http://au.pcmag.com/windows-10/39165/news/oops-update-glitch-results-in-accidental-windows-1#comment-2312386490 http://au.pcmag.com/windows-10/39165/news/oops-update-glitch... "These showed up on a plethora of my client's systems a few days ago after I had already removed them, unchecked them and hid them weeks earlier. This is totally unethical, namely re-releasing KB3035583 after hundreds of thousands of people paid technicians to have these removed."
- cma 11y ago
  Plus the install attempts to steal away the user's default browser.
7952 11y ago
>> personal bookkeeping, Word, Excel, Publisher, electronic document management, etc etc etc - and it's all 100% back to normal. Microsoft are turning their back on a group of people who used to pay money upfront for premium products. How many of these users want a subscription service? Maybe they want a finished OS with high quality software pre-installed instead of some crappy app store.

newjersey 11y ago

> I've never been as frustrated with a windows update as this one. First, I've a small machine with SSD that I use as media center running windows 7, this humongous download (which happened overnight without any consent) killed that machine. Since then I've it switched to linux and things are much better. Opposite problem with a notebook computer that my friend put Windows 8 on had a small ssd C drive and a big hard disk D drive. The prompt saying get ready for Windows 10 never showed up because the SSD didn't have enough space in it. Losing settings shouldn't happen. Honestly, I'd have pushed harder requiring people to start fresh for those who want Windows 10. I'd put (time-triggered?) big warning signs saying that Windows 7 ended mainstream support on January 14, 2020 and Windows 8 will end mainstream support on January 10, 2023 and that you should not use these products after this date unless you really know what you are doing. We are still more than four years away from that date though. It would make a lot more sense to me for Microsoft to offer Windows 10 for free for a short time to everyone and say that regular prices will resume after this amnesty period. The way they are putting Window 10 in Windows Update, it makes it seem like Windows 10 is a regular update to Windows. I don't understand this. I wanted to upgrade to Windows 10. The first thing I did when I got Windows 10 was to reset my computer. I am very happy to be able to say that I was able to reset my computer without an external drive. The process took less than two hours and didn't require me to enter a product key. (ymmv of course) Maybe it is I who has changed and gotten busy/careless but this is the first time that I have gone to just using the computer and not really caring about Windows Update. Google's Chromebooks did a lot to change my attitude towards computers. I still obsess a little over some details like what is so important that is Onedrive writing constantly to C:\Users\[redacted]\AppData\Local\Microsoft\OneDrive\logs\Personal\TraceCurrent.6201.1019.etl at about 30000 Bps or why OneDrive seems to be constantly uploading things to a-0011.a-smedge.net at about 7 million bytes per second while reporting not nearly enough corresponding disk activity. There is not much literature about this and the best I could find with a five second Google search was "TraceArchive.ETL and TraceCurrent.ETL are logging files which appear to contain the remnants of the smart folder feature in Windows 8.1." http://www.champlain.edu/Documents/LCDI/Windows%2010%20Forensics.pdf http://www.champlain.edu/Documents/LCDI/Windows%2010%20Foren... I guess I will attribute it to incompetence until I see some evidence of malevolence. I guess tl;dr I agree with you. Upgrade to Windows 10 should not happen automatically. It should be a choice that the user (or device administrator) seeks. http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/lifecycle http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/lifecycle

mintplant 11y ago

On a related note: with Linux as my daily driver, I don't understand how the average Windows user deals with Microsoft's implementation of automatic updates. Say I just woke up, and I'm in a rush to boot up my computer, print out a paper, and get out the door. But--surprise! Windows Update ran in the background the night before, and now system startup is delayed half an hour or more to configure a new batch of patches. On the one hand, from a security standpoint, I appreciate that the default is to keep users' systems up-to-date. On the other, it seems that Microsoft pushes this with little regard for their users' time or comfort.

Nadya 11y ago
Unless you get up for work on Wednesday (Tuesday?) night at 3am you're fine. >now system startup is delayed half an hour or more to configure a new batch of patches. The default is that there is no configuration. The OS downloads the patches by default, installs them, then waits for the user to restart the computer to finalize things. The user can simply not restart the computer if they are in a hurry.
- mintplant 11y ago
  I'm talking about a cold boot here. As in: (1) the OS downloads and installs patches (2) at some point I turn off my computer for the night (3) I turn it on again in the morning and have to wait for this finalization before I can use my system.
  - Nadya 11y ago
    This can occasionally be an issue for people unaware of the update schedule - I agree. A small learning curve of "reset before turning off for the night on Tuesdays" alleviates that problem and I feel Microsoft made that trade off for user security with their general user (read: non-tech savvy people) as the primary users. Personally I have automatic updates turned off and vet which patches get installed. But I'm more involved than the typical Windows users. I'd use a Linux distro if I could find suitable replacements for certain programs I rely on for my workflow.

Soulsbane 11y ago

I got tired of these 30 minute updates on my mom's computer and installed Linux along side windows. I changed the theme to somewhat look like Windows and she loves it. No more annoying updates. It's hilarious because when my stepdad has a problem with his windows computer my mom tells him maybe he should install Linux. Not that Linux is some magic OS that fixes every problem but I do think it has come a long was is now much more user friendly than Windows is now.