MS-DEFCON 4: Patching is approved

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ISSUE 18.15.1 • 2021-04-30 By Susan Bradley Proceed to update. I’m separating my patching guidance into two categories — one for consumer or home user
[See the full post at: MS-DEFCON 4: Patching is approved]

Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher

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MrToad28, STBC Mapper, ttube, Geo, abbodi86, SueW, Foothills Dave, Coldheart9020, jburk07, J9438, Alex5723

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Windows 10 Pro 20H2: Winver 19042.928

Installed KB5001330
Servicing Stack 10.0.19041.925
MSRT KB890830.

Updates installed using WUmgr.

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Coldheart9020, jburk07

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I appreciate your separating your advice for home users from business.  Thanks –

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Geo, opti1, J9438

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Small point. The MS-DEFCON graphic is still at level 2

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J9438

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Sorry I lost power last night and couldn’t do it until this morning. (It’s a manual change that has to be done)

Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher

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I’m having problems working with VHDX files after installing KB5001347 update on Windows Server 2016. A similar problem might also be happening on WS2019 and in Hyper-V Servers. It appears to be a permissions issue when accesing the volume on the VHDX drive. On Disk Management the disk appears mounted but the volume has no label and no mention of a file system. In my case I’m backing up to a VHDX file hosted on a Synology NAS.

I tried creating a VHDX drive and it works OK, but formatting it is a different story. Mounting has no volume label and formatting fails with “insufficient permissions” even as Administrator. Uninstalling KB5001347 brings VHDX handling back to normal.

You might find references to the problem on the web by googling “KB5001347 vhd”.

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“If you are still using Windows 10 Home or Pro 1909 you have only until May before that version is no longer supported”

Some people like me are stupid so I panicked when I saw Win 10 Home no longer supported. Then I realized  instead of Win 10 Home (all versions) and Pro version 1909 no longer supported you really meant Win 10 Home version 1909 and Win Pro version 1909 no longer supported. Sometimes language can be so confusing. Maybe too if Microsoft did not have so many versions it would not be as necessary to describe things down to the slightest detail. I hope this helps others that might have thought their Win 10 Home was going away.

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I am currently on Windows 10 Home 1909 Version and have paused updates until 16 May.  Is it possible (or desirable) to update now to 20H2 using Susan’s recommended route while maintaining the pause for everything else?

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You might want to update the shield graphic in the upper-left corner. (sorry)

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A tutorial for saving and restoring default programs is at

https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/8744-export-import-default-app-associations-new-users-windows.html

Does anyone have experience performing that task?

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That only affects new users (created after the restore task), not existing users.

It’s really designed for large-scale deployments via image distribution:

When building Windows 10 images, you can update the default programs associated with file name extensions or protocols.

To do this, create an app association file and import it into your images using DISM.

Deploy your Windows image to a test computer and configure the programs that are included in your image. … You can export the default app associations that you have configured to an XML file on a network share or removable media so that you can import them into the WIM or VHD file before you deploy it to your destination computers.

Export or Import Default Application Associations [Microsoft source]

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But file associations for the current user can be backed up and restored with a small, portable freeware program (Default Programs Editor), or by means of a simple registry export/import:

Get Your Default Apps Back Fast After a Windows 10 Update Resets Them

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After happily using Linux for several years after Vista reached EOL on my old system I returned to Windows 10 Pro x64 20H2 on a new system.  Windows 10 is making me old before my time.

I tried to follow the guidance in AKB 20000016.  I used group policy to set the “Select the target Feature Update version” to 20H2, and also used group policy to prohibit driver updates by Windows Update.  Group policy was also used to enable the Windows Update policy “Configure Automatic Updates” and set it to 2 – Notify for download and auto install.  It might be unnecessary, but the system is also set as using metered connections.

Initially, I had also enabled group policy settings as described in the AKB above for the “Select when Preview Builds and Feature Updates are received”.  I was a bit confused by the guidance since in the same section it seemed to indicate that this policy was not necessary if the “Select the target Feature Update version” policy was enabled.

In any event, Windows update ran today (4/30/2021) and indicated my system was up to date even though the April 13 KB5001330 Cumulative Update had not been downloaded or installed.  The update history also did not show the April 13 update.

I went back to group policy and disabled “Select when Preview Builds and Feature Updates” are received.  Then I held my breath and let Windows check for updates.  Now, instead of showing that the April 13 KB5001330 CU was available it is offering the April 28 KB5001391 Cumulative Update Preview.

So I went to the catalog site and downloaded the April 13 KB5001330 CU.  When I tried to install it the installation failed with the message that the 5001330 update was already installed but no such update shows in the update history.

I am baffled, extremely frustrated and desperately in need of guidance what steps I should now take.   Thanks in advance for any assistance!

 

 

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See #2361629 below.

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Many of the WU group policies are designed for the legacy update systems, WSUS and pre-Windows 8’s “Windows Update” aka “Microsoft Update”. Win10 uses a newer system- with the managed version, Windows Update for Business, really designed for use with MDM/EMM/RMM tools like Intune.

While the legacy policies were updated to work with WUfB, it’s been my experience that they often conflict or are ignored based on the policy and other conditions (at least in previous versions of Win10). If you’re a home user and want more control over your updates, just configure this policy with bogus addresses to completely stop updates from being installed:

Specify intranet Microsoft update service location
Disable the policy when ready to update.

Of course, this goes against MS’ philosophy of “updating by default”- requiring you to pro-actively perform updates. I completely agree with MS’ philosophy, but the implementation has been…less than great.DEFCON 4 is typically when I do this on my home PC, but I often only run them every few months or so (this PC serves a single purpose, doesn’t browse the web much, and is behind a NGFW).

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Susan Bradley wrote:

Importantly, the April updates install the new, Chromium-based Edge as the default browser and remove the old, “legacy” Edge. Be aware that this update will reset default programs, such as your PDF reader, to the new Edge; you’ll need to make manual adjustments to restore your preferences.

That did not occur with my machines.  I have the new Edge, the old Edge is gone, but not one of my preferences has changed.  Firefox is still my default browser, all html links open in Firefox, and Adobe is still the default for pdf files.

The new Edge has not opened one single time since it replaced the old Edge, which also did not open for anything.

Windows 10 Pro 20H2 (OS Build 19042.928)

Always create a fresh drive image before making system changes/Windows updates; you may need to start over!

We all have our own reasons for doing the things that we do with our systems; we don't need anyone's approval, and we don't all have to do the same things.

We were all once "Average Users".

Computer Specs

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STBC Mapper, Coldheart9020, Microfix

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FF ESR 78.10 was on the test pc prior to updating, installed April CU kb5001330, nothing changed after checks with regards to browser associations. I removed most of the ChrEdge shortcuts to avoid accidental clicking post patching..and killed off the startup tentacles and various others elsewhere using the quick and easy method of autoruns.

If debian is good enough for NASA...

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Cybertooth

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Update to post #2361599 re: KB5001330 update:

Using WMIC I got the installed updates with QFE LIST.  Oddly enough, KB5001330 is shown as having been installed on 4/18/2021.  I don’t know how this happened, but it seems to be a moot point now even though it doesn’t show up in the WU update history.

So I think the next step is for me to download wushowhide to hide the kb5001391 preview.  Does this make sense?

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If you set Group Policy settings per the instructions in AKB2000016, you will not see “Preview” CUs in Windows Update, and the updates will sit in the WU queue until you click the “Download” button, giving you time to hide and clear the queue of the ones you don’t want. See #2275043 in AKB2000016. I would recommend using TRV in step #2, so set the deferral as recommended in the instructions.

1. Under Windows Update:
Set Configure Automatic Updates to Enabled
Set Configure automatic updating to “2” (Notify for download and auto install)
2. **NOTE: When delaying version updates, you should choose either Feature Deferrals OR TargetReleaseVersion settings. You should not use both to achieve update control. If you use TargetReleaseVersion, you should also ***set deferrals to 0 0r 1 instead of 365 as shown in the second screenshot in #2275043. They are going to be ignored anyway.
3. “Select when Preview Builds and Feature Updates are received” should be Enabled. Selecting Semi Annual Channel – **set deferrals to 0 0r 1, do not use any Pause settings here.
4. “Select when Quality Updates are received” if Enabled, I recommend using a deferral = o or 1

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taftbaby

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Thank you so much for your response.

I went back through my group policy settings and made some changes as indicated above.  I hope I understood the instructions and made the proper changes.  Following are the settings that are currently in effect in group policy –

Configure Automatic Updates –

Select when Preview Builds and Feature Updates are received –

Select when Quality Updates are received –

Select the target Feature Update version –

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That looks good

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EricB

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Is my understanding correct that even with the group policy settings above I need to use wushowhide for preview updates?

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Is my understanding correct that even with the group policy settings above I need to use wushowhide for preview updates?

No, with the settings you have above, you won’t see ANY preview updates for most anything, including the .NET updates that appear occasionally! 🙂

You will still be offered all normal monthly security updates/monthly quality updates for Windows, Office that’s not a click-to-run installation, and .NET updates.

I have nearly the same settings as you (I set one day for Feature Update deferral, but 0 (zero) days for Quality Update deferral), and since having those settings, I haven’t been offered any preview updates at all. I think it’s great not having to worry about hiding them!

What you will need wushowhide for is to hide the monthly updates that are released every Patch Tuesday (2nd Tuesday of every month) and then to subsequently unhide them when you’re ready to install them or when the MS-DEFCON is raised to 3 or higher here on AskWoody.

Wushowhide will also be handy for hiding KB4023057 when it appears. KB4023057 has been known to “adjust” some folks’ Group Policy or registry settings to Microsoft’s liking rather than the PC owner’s liking. However, that behavior doesn’t happen for everyone!

The main purpose of KB4023057 is to “grease the skids” for you to receive the next Feature Update coming down the pipe from Microsoft, and it uses “optimized” settings to do so, including adjusting registry entries if necessary. It also scans for adequate free hard drive space to install the update and creates enough space if it needs to.

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EricB

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Thanks for your comments.  I decided to do nothing and wait until Windows Update ran again.  Upon checking the following day the KB5001391 preview was no longer offered and WU indicated that it was up to date.

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PKCano wrote:

… 4. “Select when Quality Updates are received” if Enabled, I recommend using a deferral = o or 1

But, is there any good reason to enable it?

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Yes, there is a reason.
See the discussion around #2309326 – it starts quite a bit above this point and all the comments are relative.

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PKCano wrote:

Yes, there is a reason.
See the discussion around #2309326 – it starts quite a bit above this point and all the comments are relative.

I am sorry but I have tried on two occasions now to track down the information that you are referring to, but I have failed. To simplify matters, can we consider the following scenario please?

Assume we have Win 10 Pro 2004/20H2.

Assume GP=2 and TRV is set to 2004/20H2. The effect of setting these is clear and well understood.

Assume “Select when Preview Builds and Feature Updates are received” is Enabled with Semi Annual Channel selected and deferral set to 0 (or 1) days. The rationale for this setting is in #2348102. In summary, it prevents preview CUs from being offered by Windows Update.

The key question now is, assuming all of the above, what is the difference in the behaviour of Windows Update between, on the one hand, “Select when Quality Updates are received” NOT being Enabled and, on the other hand, being Enabled with deferral set to 0 (or 1) days?

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TonyC wrote:

… The key question now is, assuming all of the above, what is the difference in the behaviour of Windows Update between, on the one hand, “Select when Quality Updates are received” NOT being Enabled and, on the other hand, being Enabled with deferral set to 0 (or 1) days?

Well, nobody has offered to answer the key question. In the absence of an answer, I shall continue to leave “Select when Quality Updates are received” as “Not configured”, as recommended in #2275043 in AKB2000016.

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I use the TRV=20H2 and GP=2

I enable the Quality Update deferral and set the number of days to 30.

Then I use the registry Editor to make a backup of
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate
to a WU-CU30.reg file.

I make copies of this file to give me WU-CU3.reg and edit the file to set the deferral days to 3.

Now when I want to check for updates, I first check Settings>Updates to me sure there are no pending updates.
Then I run the WU-CU3.reg file. Next I open WUMGR (or wushowhide.diagcab) and check for updates there. If there is an update I don’t want, I hide it. If the remainder of the updates are acceptable, I go back to Settings>Updates and click on Check for Updates, and away they go.

When done I run WU-30.reg again and I am good for another 30 days.

This has worked for me for quite a while and I have not had any update that I have not wanted.

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I am still on 2004.  I am planning now to move to 20H2.  Just wondering, since Edge (which I do not use, I use Chrome) is changing would it be better to do the normal updates first, then change to 20H2 or just do the 20H2 update which I assume would automatically give me the new updates anyway?

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J9438, CADesertRat

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You don’t need to do it twice. Just do the upgrade. It will take care of everything.

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The Surfing Pensioner, J9438, CADesertRat, Foothills Dave

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Good question. I’m in the same boat.

Don't take yourself so seriously, no one else does 🙂
All W10 Pro at 22H2,(2 Desktops, 1 Laptop).

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I just updated this computer to 20H2 But to get there I had to run WU and get the MSRT, Cum. Update for 2004 KB 5001330, and the old KB 4023057. Then I had to check for updates again and it offered 20H2 which I installed. Now at 19042.928

2 more computers to go.

Don't take yourself so seriously, no one else does 🙂
All W10 Pro at 22H2,(2 Desktops, 1 Laptop).

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Repeated the same process on my other desktop ( which has a DYMO LabelWriter 400 ) and on my HP ProBook 450 laptop.

So far all seems well. The DYMO LabelWriter printed a label ok and it could be because I am using the old software with it ( 7.xxx ). I never liked the newer 8.xxx software so never updated the software. Before starting the WU I did download the newer software for DYMO just in case though but looks like I didn’t need it.

Don't take yourself so seriously, no one else does 🙂
All W10 Pro at 22H2,(2 Desktops, 1 Laptop).

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In which Forum should I post questions about 1)Windows Update and 2) system recovery using one or all of the following – Macrium Reflect, Dell SupportAssist OS recovery, Windows Recovery, Media Creation Tool?

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1) In a Main Blog Post like this one if it’s current. Create a new Topic in the Forum for your version if it’s a special question that needs answering.

2) Questions Maintenance and Backups for backups

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I am having problems updating from 1909 to 20H2. It gets stuck at 61%. I have searched for solutions but with no luck. Any help would be appreciated.

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https://www.askwoody.com/newsletter/free-edition-end-of-the-road-for-old-edge/

Scroll down to that section Conexant and see if that helps?

 

”

Conexant folks are still stuck

Well, I have good news and bad news. The good news is that resident AskWoody subscriber and Windows 10 guinea pig Howard, whose 1909 Windows 10 machine suffered from the Conexant audio driver bug, was finally offered the 20H2 release. He had purposely held back to see whether Microsoft would automatically fix the issue with the audio driver. The bad news is that the Microsoft updating experience was less than ideal. From his notes:

• During the last stage of the update process, *before* the first reboot (from Windows into the upgrade environment), the progress stalled out at 61%.
• After waiting for more than an hour, he went into Event Viewer and saw an error message that the upgrade to 20H2 had failed. However, no such warning was presented within the WU interface, neither as a notification nor in any other way! Had he not scanned Event Viewer (most people would not), he would not have known the process had failed!
• He rebooted (as per MS advice that some systems may fail, and rebooting can resolve), went back to WU; again, process stalled at 61%.
• He did some research: the stall at 61% seems to be a common issue with systems having Conexant drivers during the insider phase of the 20H2 release, and for some during the general release.
• He rebooted again, disabled the driver (but did NOT delete or change to a generic), rebooted, launched WU — which was still stuck at 61%. He then rebooted once again, deleted the driver and its files (from within device manager), did not reboot, and then ran WU again.
• This time, 1909 was successfully upgraded to 20H2 (and pretty quickly, too).
• After logging into Windows post-update, he saw that the same Conexant driver had been downloaded and installed by Windows (which is something others have also reported).

As Howard noted: “Had I been an average user, I would probably have been stuck at 61% indefinitely. In my quick research, some reported being stuck at 61% for days and never completing the upgrade.”

As he put it best: “So the good news is I am on 20H2 and all seems well. The very bad news: MS ‘offered’ the update via Windows Update, which, one would assume, means they lifted the block and resolved the issue.”

Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher

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BRF125

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I removed the Conexant Audio Driver and installed 20H2 without any problems!

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The “Update Now” link from MS only provided a tool to Upgrade to Win10.

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If you put the tool on your desktop and run it, It will ask you if it’s for that computer or another one.
You choose your computer.
It will ask you what you want to save: your apps and data, your data only, or nothing.
Choose “your apps and data” and it will download the installer and upgrade your computer.

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Are you clicking on it from a Windows 7 machine?  Because from a Windows 10 it should look like this:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q79IT1ffwMA

Look at 1:35 in. You click on the “update now” and it will launch a tiny download.

Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher

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I was running the updates today and I saw a notification about a protected file being blocked. Something called LiveUpdateTool_20210325.exe was blocked from a protected folder. Any idea what this is?

LABS - a family friendly webcomic about scientists, robots and Wisconsin

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Is that on an Asus computer? As that was/is the name of their updating tool

Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher

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Cartoonist Aaron

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Ahh. Ok, yeah. It’s an Asus. Thanks!

LABS - a family friendly webcomic about scientists, robots and Wisconsin

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Hi Susan,

After updating I will run chkdsk and sfc /scannow. What is a good practice regarding Cleanmgr? Should I wait a few weeks to see how the update takes and click all the options or can I use Cleanmgr now but just avoid the System Files Cleanup? Or is it better to wait and start Cleanmgr and click all the options immediately before the next update?

Thanks.

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How big is your hard drive? I normally wait unless I’m tight on space.

Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher

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SSD is 475 GB with 370 GB available   Ram is 16 GB, however Firefox sometimes takes up 1500 MB.  Internet access seems to slow down once it goes above that.  Does Cleanmgr enhance performance?

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I have Chrome with 17 tabs open using 1.9GB. In a 16GB system that is a negligible amount and should not affect performance.
Check the CPU and disk use as well.

To be sure you have correctly calculated memory use, run this:
Open a PowerShell window.
Enter this command:

get-process | Group-Object -Property ProcessName | Format-Table Name, @{n='Mem (KB)';e={'{0:N0}' -f (($_.Group|Measure-Object WorkingSet64 -Sum).Sum / 1KB)};a='right'} -AutoSize

cheers, Paul

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Cybertooth

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Windows 10 Home 20H2 here, I successfully installed the following April patches without any apparent issues:
– KB5001330 – 2021-04 CU (took me to OS build 19042.928);
– KB890830 – MSMRT v5.88;
– KB3178639, KB3178643, KB4504735, KB4504727, KB4504726, KB4504733 and KB4493208 – Security updates for Office 2013.

Interestingly, I did not have file associations (i.e. PDF) changed to (Chr)Edge.

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Hi Susan, and all.

I’m running Win10 Home 21H02 and MS Office365 Click to Run Current Channel, and normally update Win10 via Windows Update (after un-pausing), and update Office365 in-app from Office Account, by re-enabling updates.  I do not allow receiving of other MS products when updating Windows (which in my experience doesn’t work anyway for Office365 – you have to update it separately now?).

So … I’m all ready to update my paused (‘disabled’) Office 365 Current Channel v2102 to the latest v2103 (now 13901.20462 04/23) per your Master Patch List recommendation, but according to MS that has already(!) been superseded by the first NON-preview v2104 (13929.20296 04/29), for which I guess you would be saying “defer”?

Please would you help me to understand how I can update to that last Office v2103, when I’m almost certain that if I let Office update rip (by re-enabling Office updates) it will give me Office v2104 which is exactly what I was trying to avoid by disabling updates.  I didn’t expect that to appear until the first Tuesday of the month, per previous experience.  Maybe I’m worrying unduly but would welcome your thoughts/knowledge.  v2104 is what we would expect to go for towards the end of May before v2105 comes along, surely?

Thanks so much in advance for any tips you can give.

 

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The “04” in “v2104” means April.  It was released in early April.  Now that we are into May, I am expecting v2105 to be released shortly.

With MSDEFCON now at 4, I installed MS 365 v2104 yesterday with no problems (so far), followed later in the day by the April Win 10 20H2 updates (no problems there either, so far).

Following the installation of each MS 365 monthly update, I disable updates until the next time MSDEFCON goes to 3 or above.  Then I re-enable updates and select Update Now.

Dell Precision 3630 w/32 GB RAM, 500 GB (C:), 1 TB (D:)
Window 10 Pro x64
Internet: FTTC (Fibre to the Kerb)

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Thanks for your helpful reply, LH.

I like your approach or method for determining when to do MS365 (aka Ofiice365) monthly updates and will start to do something similar.

However, although as you say, v2104 does mean April, according to MS Update Catalog it was first released in non-preview form on 29 April, not in early April, and in preview form on 19 April, it is the new “Feature Release”.

i.e. I believe each new monthly “Feature Release” tends to come out near the end of the month it relates to, not near the beginning of it?

Thus, as I understand it, the AskWoody Master Patch List’s most recent recommendation (29 April) is to update to the most recent release of v2103 (which was first released in non-preview form on 30 March and has had several revisions “Resolving Issues” not rolling out new features, leading up to the apparently final one on 23 April – which is the one I would have hoped to be able to update to now).  v2105 will probably be released at the end of May as I see it.

Trouble is, final v2103 (stable, issues resolved, widely used & tested) was superseded more-or-less immediately by v2104 (new untested features) so there was no time to catch the last v2103 and defere v2104! – hence my question, is it possible somehow easily to update to v2103 not V2104, which I feel the AskWoody Master Patch List, if it were to be revised as of now, would advise “defer”?

Hope I’m making sense, please let me know if you think I have still got it wrong.

Thanks.

 

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If you’re that wary of “new untested features” you really should do what Susan Bradley recommends and switch from the Current (Monthly) channel to the Semi-Annual (Enterprise) channel:

Youtube here

Office Click to run normally installs on the monthly version. This means features can be installed every month. I find it changes too much too fast. So I recommend that if you want more stability that you choose the semi-annual version. Note ANY VERSION of Click to run can be done to made to do this flip to what I call the fuddy duddy versions that don’t change as much as the monthly version.

You can follow this blog post to do this.

To change to the semi-annual channel, from an administrative command prompt:
cd C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\ClickToRun
OfficeC2RClient.exe /changesetting Channel=Deferred
OfficeC2RClient.exe /update user

It will take some time and then there you are, on the “fuddy duddy” version that I think works better.

Tasks for the weekend – April 10, 2021 – change your Office

You would still get necessary security updates each month.

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MikeSTech

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Thank you, b AskWoody MVP, I must have missed seeing that valuable 10 April post from Susan at the time.

Another thought – are there any reasons for not simply downloading any particular MS365 app update you want from the MS Update Catalog site (providing it’s the relevant ‘channel’ of course), or would that conflict in some way with MS365’s own updating mechansims?

(BTW – I’m a relatively new subscriber to AskWoody, what does your status as an AW MVP mean and what does it stand for?).

 

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MikeSTech wrote:

what does your status as an AW MVP mean

Most Valued(able) Person, or some such.
It’s meant to signify someone with a high level of knowledge, so you can usually rely on what they say.

cheers, Paul

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I have completed all patches to the end of April. Since that final patch was installed I can no longer get “BRAVE” to function at all. Is this a common problem or is there a workaround. I have been unable to contact brave.com. I really liked using brave, but I have no problem with the new edge either.

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Pure speculation: Like many, I assume, I dumped the old Edge quite a while ago and installed the newest version . . . which I never use except when I occasionally check for an update to install. After the latest update, none of my defaults (Opera, PDF-Xchange) changed. I’m guessing that having the new version already installed avoided the default changes reported and/or anticipated. Any comments?

 

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I installed the latest update to 20H2 yesterday.  I also use PDF-XCHANGE as my default application for PDFs.  After the update, it is still the default.  I use Firefox as my default browser, with Chrome on hand should something not render properly in Firefox.  After the update, Firefox is still the default.  I did not use the old Edge, and I am not planning to use the new version.

It’s early days yet, but so far all the files that I have opened have used my default programs.

 

Dell Precision 3630 w/32 GB RAM, 500 GB (C:), 1 TB (D:)
Window 10 Pro x64
Internet: FTTC (Fibre to the Kerb)

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Wayne, Cybertooth

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Just installed updates here on 20H1, have Adobe Acrobat DC installed, the new chr(edge) did not change that nor any of my file types.  Never dumped or did anything with the old edge in the past.  All is well.

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Updated 2 win 8.1 Pro x64 computers last night. The latest SSU (KB5001403) first followed by a restart (even though a restart was not required) followed by the April Rollup (KB5001382) with the required restart.

No issues.

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JD

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My Win8.1 Home installation downloaded and installed 3 updates and then offered me the SSU update.  Clicking on “Install” immediately told me that it could not download the file.  Everything else appears to be working well.

Ho hum.  I will wait until next month!

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I have set my gp edit settings as per guidance on this forum.  I am on 20H2 – with March updates. I clicked “Check for updates” and the dreaded KB4023057 downloaded, which I promptly uninstalled.  I’ve clicked “Check for updates” now a couple times and am only getting Defender updates.   Do I just need to be more patient and wait for April updates to show up? I don’t understand why I’m not seeing April – deferral days for Quality Updates is set to 0.

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Look in Installed Updates (NOT Update History) and verify KB5001330 is not listed there. Or run winver and see what your Build number is (19042.xxx). I have seen some reports of it showing in Installed Updates and people saying they didn’t think they had installed it. (???)

BTW, when you click “check for updates,” it ignores any other settings you may have (deferral, for example) and downloads and installs anything available. If you have the “2” set in Group Policy and deferral set to 0 or 1, just wait for them to show up. They won’t download until you click the “Download” button.

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Where is “installed updates”? Winver = 19042.928

If you have the “2” set in Group Policy and deferral set to 0 or 1, just wait for them to show up. They won’t download until you click the “Download” button.

ok thanks.

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Installed updates:
Control Panel\Programs&Features in the upper left “view installed updates”
OR
Settings App\Updates&Security\Windows Update\View Update History – at the top a link to “Uninstall updates”

Installed Build 19042.928 is the April CU. You don’t need to wait for them.

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Yeah, wow! KB5001330! There it is  in “Installed Updates” on 4/17/2021.

I had no idea! I don’t remember clicking download and install.  Makes me wonder what else I’ve missed in the past, it only goes back 10 updates.  But thanks !! It’s good for now and you showed me another way to see what’s installed.

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This was the first update in a long time that borked my system.

After the update things seemed to go smoothly for half a day or so, then I came in after my monitors had gone to sleep (they are the ONLY things I allow to sleep) and it was just locked up.

After I hard cleared/booted the system with the power button held down, it came back up with all the icons rearranged (oh, THANKS, Microsoft for allowing me to spend 10 minutes moving icons again).

But worse, after the reboot and icon extravaganza it would emit no sounds.

I had been using a workaround (provided by Dell) for a sound popping problem that involved employing the Windows HD sound driver instead of one for the RealTek chipset that Windows installs automatically. Apparently with the April 2021 updates the Microsoft sound driver suddenly became incapable of running my hardware. Ah well, so I had to undo the workaround, install the RealTek driver, and now I have – count ’em – EIGHT more processes running than before, just to have sound. Plus I had to hack the registry to stop the over-aggressive power-management of the sound output amplifier to clear up the popping problem.

So, TL;DR: After half a day’s useless effort I have my workstation back in order WITH the updates installed, but more bloat than ever before. Just to be “up to date”!

It would literally be difficult to buy a more powerful system than this one, yet it really doesn’t give any better user experience than the circa 2012 system I had before running Windows 8.1.

-Noel

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Hmmmmm, That was the CU “Preview” that got installed.
Do you usually install Previews?

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Why do you only allow monitors to go to sleep? I use sleep all the time during the day and at night, when I go to sleep, I put the laptop to sleep. What do you do?  Turn off? Leave the machine on? What is the problem with sleep? Thanks

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Noel Carboni wrote:

After the update things seemed to go smoothly for half a day or so, then I came in after my monitors had gone to sleep (they are the ONLY things I allow to sleep) and it was just locked up.

In recent days I have had Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 10 systems all become unable to wake up from sleep after the screen went blank. Very strange.

I, too, allow only monitors to go to sleep. Have had to resort to using screensavers, which is OK but a bit of a bother for systems that are sharing a monitor as I can no longer simply shake the mouse to wake up the machine I need, but instead have to manually switch inputs on the monitor.

 

Keep Running Windows 7 Safely for Years to Come  
Make Windows 10 look and work like Windows 7

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April patches installed with little problems to report on Win 8.1. 🙂 Two things I noticed with this patch. 1.) Windows normally reboots once, this time it rebooted twice. 2.) It took a LONG time to get to the desktop from the login screen. I’m talking a good 10 minutes before I got to the desktop.

Installation Successful: Windows successfully installed the following update: 2021-04 Security Monthly Quality Rollup for Windows 8.1 for x64-based Systems (KB5001382)

Installation Successful: Windows successfully installed the following update: 2021-04 Servicing Stack Update for Windows 8.1 for x64-based Systems (KB5001403)

Win 10 ver. 22H2 x64

2 users thanked author for this post.

DrBonzo, maisy2

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Noticed the same delays on two Win 8.1 machines here; seemed like it took a total of about five reboots for things to return to normal after a login.

I might also note that both Microsoft and Belarc Advisor – both for the first time – seemed to think I had Office 2007  on both machines here – which I do NOT have installed. I can’t figure out what might have triggered that.   (I did not download/install those from WU.)

1 user thanked author for this post.

DrBonzo

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Thank you for the nudge, I used “Update Now” button on a vintage Toshiba laptop, i5/8gb. I had a recent image so decided to give it a go. Update took me from 1909 to 20H2, ran ~9 hours. I spent a lot of time watching for the numerous “% Complete” to go up one tick. System seems to be running OK, have done a number of restarts and the system always comes back! Had a BBQ smoker running at the same time so did back/forth between two low & slow processes.

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Thank you for the ISO link. Pro 1909 to Pro 20H2 19042.928.  No issues.

Win10 Pro

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Cybertooth wrote:

I, too, allow only monitors to go to sleep

I too allow only the laptop’s display to sleep after 10/15 min.

Laptop in on 24/365.

1 user thanked author for this post.

Cybertooth

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I installed April 13, 2021—KB5001330 on Win10 Pro x64 2004 Ed..actually it sequentially installed March & April..delayed March since it looked like a hot mess. No issues seen. On April 11 went from 1909 to 2004 without problem. If problems crop up, I’ll post update.

Wish microsoft “update roulette” was less anxiety provoking.

Thanks to all for helpful comments.

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Updated to 20H2 without incident. Susan’s little reg. files are wonderful. Nothing superfluous on my toolbar AS YET. We shall see.

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MrToad28 wrote:

I installed April 13, 2021—KB5001330 on Win10 Pro x64 2004 Ed..actually it sequentially installed March & April..delayed March since it looked like a hot mess. No issues seen. On April 11 went from 1909 to 2004 without problem. If problems crop up, I’ll post update.

Did the same on another  similar PC..again no problems.

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Win10 Pro

Went from 2004 to 20H2 without problems on May 2.

As someone who does not have an unlimited data plan, my only complaint is the file size of this ver$ion. Is it just me, or was 20H2 much larger than 2004? Having to change to newer versions so often is one of the reasons I will never be a fan of Win10.

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2004 to 20H2 update is very tiny in size. It just sets ON some “switches” via “enablement package”.
Size should be ~100MB !

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Nope. The file size for the 20H2 upgrade was 6076KB.

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It was bigger in case you haven’t updated the to latest updates so it contained missing CU…
For me it was very small and took just 2 minutes (back in November 2020).

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Windows 10 Home

Over the weekend I upgraded from 1909 to 20H2.  I hadn’t realised that this upgrade blows a hole below the water line in Windows Live Mail.  I couldn’t find any solution at askwoody.  Luckily, for any others caught by this, the problem has been dealt with at:

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windowslive/forum/all/windows-live-mail-wont-send-email-after-windows/68f7d24b-e2ee-4171-8a2d-6602994c05cf

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Odd issue.

I installed 2021-04 Cumulative Update for Windows 10 Version 2004 for x64-based Systems (KB5001330) on 5/‎1/‎2021, and it lists as successfully installed in the history.

However, now I have a notice to download and install the exact same update.

I haven’t done anything yet.  Should I allow the install to occur, or should I use wushowhide to hide this “new” update?

Many thanks,

-Mark

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When the OS doesn’t “see” that the update has properly installed, it will reoffer it.  I would try it again. If THEN it still gets offered up, then hide it.

Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher

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Susan,

Had never seen that happen before, but your advice to “reinstall” worked.

Many thanks,

-Mark

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