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

mart44

agarnett wrote: »

mart44, you say you "carried out" the Windows 10 Anniversary Update. Did you do it manually at a time to suit you? If it was an automatic upgrade that you did not touch in preparation for the upgrade and all went well, might be useful if you could indicate a bit more. What antivirus/internet security you use, and what sort of hardware, and anything you might offer about non-standard challenges the automatic upgrade would have encountered which you were pleasantly surprised by if it took them in its stride.

Incidentally, mart44, you mention making a clean installation disk, but that's not something we can assume most Home Edition users are capable of anymore. My Asus came with W8.1 pre-loaded, and hey, you guessed it - no external drive capability other than USB or network. Principally, no DVD drive! (and no tape player of course )

I knew when the Anniversary Update was due, so began to look out for it. Just accepted it when it became available (checked for updates). I uninstalled Avira Pro and HitmanPro.Alert on both computers before continuing. Possibly not necessary but done anyway. Many people upgrade successfully without doing this kind of thing.

The Media Creation Tool can write files to a USB drive as well as a DVD and then boot from a USB drive. So a probable answer for those with no DVD drive.

I think some of the trouble these days is that computers are now a household item, classed in the same category as a toaster, refrigerator or an electric iron. Like these other items, people expect to turn them on and they ought to just work. Well, we know that behind the interface, a pretty technical bit of kit is running. OK for everyone until something doesn't work. When I bought a computer, I always expected to have to learn how to look after it but a lot of people don't. That's OK but I feel that, for those people, it would be best to just place the computer in the hands of a local computer shop and let them sort it out.

After all, when other major household items go wrong, people call in a repairer to fix them, yet when the computer goes wrong, people with no technical abilities expect to fix it themselves. The best advice sometimes might be to head for the nearest reputable computer repair shop. It could be an option for some if the update does not go well.

wongataa

agarnett wrote: »

Incidentally, mart44, you mention making a clean installation disk, but that's not something we can assume most Home Edition users are capable of anymore. My Asus came with W8.1 pre-loaded, and hey, you guessed it - no external drive capability other than USB or network. Principally, no DVD drive! (and no tape player of course )

Windows USB installation media has been supported from at least Windows 7. With the introduction of Windows 10 Microsoft released a very simple tool to create installation media on DVD or USB that anyone can use. You go to the Windows 10 website, choose to download Windows 10 and you will be asked if you want to install on this computer or a different one. Choose a different one and the installation media creation tool is started.

Of course someone with good technical know how who would most certainly keep up to date with such things as new Windows versions and what that entails would know all about this.

RumRat

poppellerant

There are tools which reduce the amount of data Windows collects and leaks - I use several religiously when installing 10 with no ill repercussions. In principle, I agree you should never have to use these tools in the first place - but Windows is what I know and use, so I suppose this is a case of better the devil you know for me.

I think rather than enter into detailed discussions and possibly even rants, you should concisely tell us any problems you have with Windows and how they affect your usage. This way, rather than entering into lengthy debates, people can help you.

onomatopoeia99

agarnett wrote: »

True, but there's a funny thing - if I want a new PC, I don't get offered much choice as yet out of the box, do I? The manufacturers of new PCs have to make them reliable straight out of the box, and the only operating system that they can rely upon for the standardisation they hope will sustain their own sales without an uneconomic level of technical support problems is Microsoft.

Plenty of independents will supply new PC with no operating system. You may have more difficulty getting a no-OS desktop machine or laptop from a big name like Dell or HP, though I haven't looked in ages.

AndyPix

S0litaire

onomatopoeia99 wrote: »

Plenty of independents will supply new PC with no operating system. You may have more difficulty getting a no-OS desktop machine or laptop from a big name like Dell or HP, though I haven't looked in ages.

If you go through Dell business or warehouse deals you can get boxes with no OS (or even Linux installed)

agarnett

Lambyr wrote: »

That will be why you can make bootable USB media to install Windows with now.

Indeed, but although many will have heard of it, how many can say they have used it, never mind with eyes closed like it was falling off a log, or like burning a CD? At least CDs came just a few standard sizes, so program publishers aimed for their installation software to fit them e.g. no more than about 700MB per CD once upon a time. Thems were the days! No I don't think USB installation media for big multi GB program installations has actually caught on very much yet, has it? There well may be an upswelling afoot. No doubt it might catch on big time other than for injecting malware into other people's laptops in the movies.

I can remember when Microsoft Office was no more than a dozen or two 1.44MB floppies :rotfl:

And buying a PC with no OS? Well I am sure there are indeed places that do sell them. But then some techie has to make the choices to get Grandma's new laptop working, don't they?

I see AndyPix is bored after waving his massive corporate credentials. I was on a call from Siemens myself early this morning - well actually it was a personal call placed by a Siemens chip built maybe 15 year ago which I bought in a device maybe 10 years ago. Like W10 Anniversary Update, slightly unexpected, but no humans involved except the one triggering the Siemens chip inadvertently - but that was an informative call and disruption was minimal.

Actually NHS and computers? Erm ... talking of bored, didn't Computerworld eventually get bored of having to put that never ending story on the front page to announce delays, cost over-runs and abandonments continuously back in the days I used to read it? Does NHS still have applications written in Visual FoxPro or did they send it all to India and ask them to start again?

Troll-sense? Is that what Spiderman does all day now and he uses a monocular - reminds me of an overdressed Jason Bourne :T ? Oh well, takes one to know, doesn't it

And speaking of unspeakable government agencies, maybe AndyPix can confirm my suspicion that some still use XP ? :rotfl:

poppellerant, thank you for reminding us of some kind of sanity based purpose. And thanks mart44 for the extra detail.

I must admit I didn't arrive here for help for myself, I just hoped others might realise that there will be some out there who need help. So if you know any vulnerable people, an older neighbour whom you've helped before with their PC for example, do check that they are still ok post W10 Anniversary Update, there's good folks

Oh a PS and apology just for AndyPIx who said quite some posts back:

Im guessing big corps will start to look at W10 mid 2017 apart from a few test deployments

I missed that useful info.

I think the 350 million will *exclude those, cos they haven't even started using W10 yet (is what AndyPix seems to be saying). But who knows how many of the existing assumed 350 million have happened been upgraded automatically to Redstone 1 yet either?

And on that basis, I guess he may be right that we Home Edition users are also the majority of that group of 350 million we may have read about? Skip my half corporate/half home use in London then. Since many days ago Andy said he did 117 W10 Anniversary Updates on one site, and soon afterwards there was the unexplained BA IT glitch I mistakenly formed an impression that some kind of corporate W10 fever was in motion. Not yet then Andy? Just a few test sites?

Would love to know the worldwide rollout schedule dates.

Lambyr

agarnett wrote: »

Indeed, but although many will have heard of it, how many can say they have used it, never mind with eyes closed like it was falling off a log, or like burning a CD? At least CDs came just a few standard sizes, so program publishers aimed for their installation software to fit them e.g. no more than about 700MB per CD once upon a time. Thems were the days! No I don't think USB installation media for big multi GB program installations has actually caught on very much yet, has it? There well may be an upswelling afoot. No doubt it might catch on big time other than for injecting malware into other people's laptops in the movies.

You only need a 4GB flash drive to create the Windows 10 boot media for a USB (at least for Windows 10 Pro which is what I have) but I suppose it could be argued, many people will never need it. A lot of what was previously solved through a fresh install can now just as easily be solved via a "Reset this PC" in Windows 10 which requires no external drives, devices or software to perform.

As for how many people have done it? I don't know. I have, a couple of times. It's actually very convenient and much faster than a disc. I haven't actually needed a disc drive for years. All my software is downloaded these days. Don't even know where my external DVD drive is come to think of it.

Fightsback

agarnett wrote: »

Indeed....

Congratulations Alf, you've won it and it's in the post: