Microsoft should be totally ashamed - W10 uninvited massive 2 hour update is CR#P

agarnett

I can see that there are other threads started here but haven't even bothered to read them, because none has the hard hitting headline title this subject deserves.

I am not asking for help at this stage - I am issuing this as a warning to anyone who may be lucky enough to be able to change their Windows Update settings to prevent an automatic update, and prevent its download too - my guess is it may be 4GB.

If you haven't suffered this update yet, *STOP IT NOW!

I have lost three hours this morning, and yesterday I noticed I had lost around 4GB or more from my 40GB mobile data allowance this month with the month only just started.

My Asus laptop is only one year old, and I am usually careful not to allow automatic updates but this seems to have evaded me.

It is only because I am a very seasoned PC user that I have not yet started to tear out my hair over this. 99/100 users would have done so with what I have already experienced this morning with this pile of cr¤p.

So again, if you have W10 and have not yet suffered this massive update (and you would know it if you had!), do go into *Windows Update and stop all automatic updates and even the download of updates until you have half a day to spare to fix the damage it so easily can do to your system.

Whilst the update is in progress the messages it gives are awfully uninspiring and confidence damaging. The machine appears to freeze at several points and on my £500 1 year old Asus laptop the update took a full 90 minutes.

Then the problems began.

So far I have system files missing such as mscvr100.dll which Windows Live Mail needs - so currently I have no normal access to my emails, and no access to personal storage email folders which reside on my hard disk.

I get similar warnings simply by visiting MSE about Adobe Acrobat files which I expect this website uses as standard.

I got a Microsoft message that my Kaspersky antivirus wasn't switched on (Kaspersky itself says it was). Another message said Windows defender was "Snoozed".

Googness knows what else I will find doesn't work properly and I will have to Google cleverly to find answers in order to fix myself.

I really feel for ordinary MSE'ers who are lost with these types of problem.

I am the sort of user whom family and friends turns to when their PC starts playing up.

Yet I am seriously interrupted today with enormous time being stolen from me by Microsoft - what chance to ordinary users have?

I can imagine many might be in tears over this - especially if they have something urgent they needed to do with their computer today, and now they can't until a friend can come round and help them ...

THIS IS AN ABSOLUTE DISGRACE MICROSOFT


*Edit: I have read in another thread that perhaps most versions of W10 never allowed us to selectively turn off Automatic Updates in the first place. I bought mine as an Asus Laptop on W8.1 in July 2015 with the deal splashed all over with the message "automatic free upgrade to W10 as soon as it is issued" or similar. And by the time I opened the box to start using it, which wasn't for some weeks, because I knew I would need to find some hours of time to safely move from my previous W7 laptop, W10 was immediately available so I upgraded the new laptop to W10 straight out of its box. I can tell you it didn't take 90 minutes to install and get to the desktop!

Now I have been given no choice in the matter and am stuffed currently for a reliable PC!

I say again:

THIS IS AN ABSOLUTE DISGRACE MICROSOFT

Blackbeard_of_Perranporth

Who actually has a capped limit for their main broadband connection! Never mind!

JJ_Egan

It was about a quarter of an hour for me to download .

agarnett

@Blackbeard
As you say never mind - if you haven't a clue about that which you write - why write it?

I am using a 40GB capped 4G tethered connection which costs me £12 a month including a mobile line with 360 minutes.

Why would I need more - only for unannounced, unwelcome Microsoft updates which steal my allowance at the beginning of the month?

This is a moneysaving site. I save money - big time - on stuff most people unfortunately have to shell out for - I feel sorry for you.

@JJ Egan
What's your point?

Jivesinger

Microsoft doesn't know you're on a capped allowance unless you tell them by changing the Network Settings to 'set connection as metered'. This is easy if you use WiFi, and there's a Registry setting you can change if not.

I_have_spoken

I am a very seasoned PC user

Linux Mint is just the ticket for you, OP!

agarnett

Thanks Jivesinger. The "set connection as metered connection" option is there alright in Network Settings, and I have seen it before and I thought I was using it. However I've found it now as "Off", so I have put it On now (for what good it might do me after the event!), but thanks for the reminder.

Meantime, touchwood, a number of hours now since switching on my computer this morning, I think I have it back to a reasonably stable reliable condition.

Apart from the enormous time loss having to wait a full 90 minutes for the update to install itself uninvited when I switched on, there was another 30 minutes approximately of delays after I had given my Windows password and logged in - that's where the fun began - first with the Antivirus, then with the email not working (strange that Windows Live Mail actually opened immediately after the update but that the reading pane was invisible and I could not open any emails. I rebooted and thats when I first noticed the error messages along the lines of "MSVCR100.DLL missing - Reinstall Program."

That error applied also to iCloudDrive.exe (for my iPhone/iCloud) and for Adobe Acrobat, neither of which would open, both pleading that MSVCR100.DLL was missing.

An Adobe error was also evident when I opened the MSE Home Page in Chrome - it warned that something like acro..._sl ... would not run but it allowed me to discard the error message in order to come here and start this thread.

I Googled selectively for hits about the error from the last month only and downloaded MSVCR100.DLL in a zip file from what seems to be a trusted website, but I won't mention it because I actually am not convinced it will help anyone directly. However, having downloaded it and attempting to copy it into my Windows/System32 folder showed me that actually my MSVCR100.DLL was NOT missing afterall!

Microsoft lied!

I rebooted a number of times today so I could get a sense of what might be going on - restarts were extremely slow.

I ran Task Manager StartUp and pruned (Disabled) a few services that I don't use.

However, my first successes came after I had downloaded Apple's iCloud software setup file afresh. Actually I think it offered me a Repair option and after another reboot that got iCloudDrive.exe working again, and low and behold it got Adbobe Acrobat working again too!

But no luck with Windows Live Mail 2012 (which is part of Windows Live Essentials 2012).

So I downloaded the Windows Live Essentials 2012 web setup file from Microsoft and installed the lot over the top of my existing Windows Live Mail 2012 only installation.

Rebooted again.

No Dice

I went into my Windows / System32 Folder and renamed msvcr100.dll as msvcr.dll.old and then copied across the one I had found earlier on a trusted site. I restarted.

Again, No Dice (that's why I say - I don't think getting a new copy off the web will necessarily help anyone).

I went into Settings/System&Devices/Apps & Features hoping to see a Repair Option for Windows Essentials (the best programs offer Uninstall or Repair). But no, it just offered Uninstall.

Finally in desperation I decided I would Uninstall the bloody thing (my Windows Mail Storage File location is known to me and safe)

So I gave it the big hammer - Uninstall, Did I really mean to Remove All files for that Program which would be deleted?? Yes I bloody did so I clicked Yes or OK, and guess what? That's when it offered me a Repair option :rotfl:

And a further guess what? Yes the Repair worked, without even a need for a restart!

I think Microsoft are playing a very silly game with those of us still using Windows Live Mail.

First they stopped all Hotmail accounts working with it during the last month ... after issuing warnings, they just stopped it dead.

Now they seem to have deliberately crippled it for all email types with this W10 Anniversary Update, so its only a few diehards like me that'll still be using it by the end of September 2016.

And in January 2017 when they turn off all support for Windows Live Essentials as promised (which you can nevertheless still install afresh direct from their website today after you have read their Jan 2017 warning) they'll probably claim that hardly any users actually use it anymore ... and they'll be right ... because they have stuffed them all using the Hotmail ban and now the W10 Anniversary Update :mad:

The crazy thing is that I can still service my Hotmail accounts completely unaffected using my iPhone4 running iOS 7.1 - a non-MS operating system and email client that hasn't been updated for over a year!

smudger1964

I_have_spoken wrote: »

Linux Mint is just the ticket for you, OP!

A second for Linux Mint then goodbye to microsoft..
I did it when they stopped support for XP bit of a learning curve but I dont regret it at all

agarnett

smudger1964 wrote: »

A second for Linux Mint then goodbye to microsoft..
I did it when they stopped support for XP bit of a learning curve but I dont regret it at all

I have dabbled with Linux a number of times - has been very useful for all sorts of experiments. Courtesy of Linux I still have a multiple boot machine somewhere, that was built by a firm who called themselves "Gigabyte" which is still going strong after I think 12 years! It started off as an XP machine but I think I upgraded it to W7 (I must give it an outing!).

There is a reason why big corporates continued using XP for many years longer than they ever thought they would, and why even now, some (;))security services are still using XP.

But like you, I think it is time to look at Linux Mint when I get a spare weekend - sadly this one is gone :mad:

dipsomaniac

agarnett wrote: »

@Blackbeard
As you say never mind - if you haven't a clue about that which you write - why write it?

I am using a 40GB capped 4G tethered connection which costs me £12 a month including a mobile line with 360 minutes.

Why would I need more - only for unannounced, unwelcome Microsoft updates which steal my allowance at the beginning of the month?

This is a moneysaving site. I save money - big time - on stuff most people unfortunately have to shell out for - I feel sorry for you.

@JJ Egan


What's your point?

it goes without saying but you need unlimited at home

agarnett

dipsomaniac wrote:

it goes without saying but you need unlimited at home

You might. Many of us do not. Us older members of society are not constantly downloading pirate movies, and even if we were ... you can watch several a month on a 40GB allowance if you are canny

I rarely use more than a GB a day on average. Actually I use a screen busted HTC One as my Hotspot! Gets a bit warm sometimes, but works great for all my WiFi needs. My laptop, Chromecast plugged in to whichever telly I want it (living room or bedroom) - visiting friends and rellies - who else pays only £12pm for their home broadband?