Simplifying updates for Windows 7 and 8.1

townsbg · 19 May 2016

Any idea why they broke up 7 x64 and 2008r2 x64? Is it to avoid confusion or are there differences? If I d-load one for 7 will it also work on 08r2?

Lady Fitzgerald · 19 May 2016

So much for simplify. I'm totally confused by all of this.

ThrashZone · 19 May 2016

Yea these 2 Optional updates showed up yesterday

I typically would not manually check for updates
If windows doesn't find them shortly after startup then oh well :)

Simplifying updates for Windows 7 and 8.1-new-optional-update.jpg

TheCase · 19 May 2016

Brds7t7 said:

TheCase said:

I tried this and run the updates after and it found 600mb worth of updates.

Then after I ran it again and found a further 100mb of updates, then gave up.

Still got many updates. Some dated back to 2014.

I thought this was all updates so why was it downloading so much

That doesn't sound right at all. There should not be so many updates still to download, there was nowhere near that on mine. Sounds like that didn't install correctly?

I know. I just injected the update, followed the instructions from the TechNet article.
Not sure how it's so wrong.

Callender · 19 May 2016

Brds7t7 said:

As an additional heads up... if anybody is expecting this to solve the slow Windows Update problem, it doesn't.
Ran updates again today in that same VM and still taking hours to check.
Which is why I'm still convinced that this is an issue at Microsoft's end and not with anybody's particular PC and why the workarounds posted only seem to work temporarily.

Please post a screenshot of RAM usage by datastore.edb during a Windows Update check.

Here's mine - just checked:

Simplifying updates for Windows 7 and 8.1-update-check.jpg

If you see a huge figure for RAM usage against datastore.edb it means that the problem is with your machine and nothing to do with Microsoft servers.

EDIT:

Note: You need to launch RAMmap then WU check - then refresh RAMMap to get the true reading.

Brds7t7 · 19 May 2016

Callender, this is an issue on all my systems. Doesn't matter whether I'm on the main system, using a VM with or without Windows updates installed. Fresh install or old install it makes zero difference.
I do not agree that this is a problem with people PC's.
If it is then why is it affecting all my systems? Why is it affecting both new installs and installs I've had for years? It makes no difference.

Callender · 19 May 2016

Fresh installs have the same problem since they rely on:

KB 2990214 - Apr 2015 - WUC: enables ability to upgrade to Win10

(The one that installs with SP1) - and it's broken.

Brds7t7 · 19 May 2016

Callender said:

Fresh installs have the same problem since they rely on:

KB 2990214 - Apr 2015 - WUC: enables ability to upgrade to Win10

(The one that installs with SP1) - and it's broken.

How does that install with SP1 when it's from April 2015? Am I missing something here? I haven't had that installed on any new installation.

Also this was removed from my main systems when subsequent WU client updates were released. So it isn't on any of mine.

ThrashZone · 19 May 2016

Yep pretty odd stuff
I'm shocked all three of my systems pulled up 2 Optional updates yesterday shortly after startup
Doubt it will last long
Just a matter of which one fails to next month :)

Callender · 19 May 2016

Okay you must be correct. It's whatever the original WUC client (the one in the ISO) that won't work. Installing SP1 and a few other WUC messes things up completely.

Here's my list of problem WUC's. Note: Simply uninstalling them does not fix the problem.

KB 2990214 - Apr 2015 - WUC: enables ability to upgrade to Win10

KB 3065987 - Jul 2015 - WUC: unspecified "improvements" (replaces 3050265) adds telemetry

KB 3075851 - Aug 2015 - WUC: fixes mess due to KB3065987 [cuts down WUC memory usage, but hides Update notifications if GWX app is active] (replaces 3065987)

KB 3083324 - Sep 2015 - WUC: unspecified "improvements" (replaces 3075851) adds telemetry

KB 3083710 - Oct 2015 - WUC: unspecified "improvements" (replaces 3083324) adds telemetry

Reported fix:

If you are having such problems with a brand new Windows 7 installation or a computer that has not been updated for more than 6 months, make sure you install Service Pack 1 first (if it has not been installed already), then download and apply the following two patches manually: KB3083710 and KB3102810. Make sure that you download the correct version: x86 for 32-bit Windows 7 and x64 for 64-bit Windows 7. The first update might take 30 minutes or more to install, this is normal.

Second "strange" reported fix:

Start an upgrade from Windows 7 to Windows 10 with the Get Windows 10 app in your device's Taskbar notification area or by downloading the upgrade app from the Get Windows 10 web page. Let it get to the License Agreement page, click Disagree and wait until the app cleans its traces. After this, Windows Update starts working properly again.

Personally I think a full removal and clean install of windows updates always does the trick.

EDIT: KB3083710 might get things working but it should be uninstalled once it's replacement has installed.