Windows 10 April 2018 Update to be released April 30th

[superFoolish]

I have stuck with Windows 7 for my 'workhorse' PCs, simply because I don't want to faff around with upgrades and re-learning.

I have nothing against Windows 10 (I use it occasionally), but it's very important to me that my main PC 'just works'. It's not a tinkering machine, and I need it to work for my livelihood, every day.

I started supporting hardware and developing software for PCs back in the days of DOS and, up until about 5 years ago, I was always on the bleeding edge of technology updates, but my circumstances have changed, and I have found Windows 7 to be extremely reliable for my requirements, which is more along the lines of 'doing stuff', rather than 'fixing stuff'. I genuinely can't remember the last time I saw a BSOD or had an OS crash on my Windows 7 PCs.

My upgrade to Windows 10 will be when the sooner occurs of:

1) A motherboard fails on a PC
2) End of 2019 occurs (Windows 7 extended support ends Jan 2010).

[JMN2]

"There were problems installing some updates, but we'll try again later. If you keep seeing this and want to search the web or contact support for information, this may help:

Feature update to Windows 10, version 1803 - Error 0x80070002"

[bruncher]

You like Windows 7

3.10 was my favourite, beautiful simple file manager.

[Midsmartin]

You can have that - Microsoft have release the Windows 3 File Manager for all to use. Download link on this page:
https://github.com/Microsoft/winfile

It even works on 64 bit Windows now.

[jackdaww]

Previously no new features were added by any updates, for that you had to wait (a long time, in the case of Win7) for Microsoft to release a new version of Windows.

That has changed with Windows 10. Microsoft's 'Windows as a Service' philosophy means that new features will be added as required. No longer will there be a massive culture shock as there was when 8 replaced 7. Instead there will be a gradual evolution, small easily digestible Features changes every six months or so. That's Microsoft's reason for these regular Features Updates.

===================================

No longer will there be a massive culture shock as there was when 8 replaced 7


hope you are right , but i wouldnt bet on it !!

[ReformedCharacter]

Perhaps I'm just getting old and grumpy but I dislike modern Windows for all this seemingly perpetual update malarkey. I support a Win8.1 machine and a few with Win10. Win7 works fine for me personally. An OS used to be for running software on. Heaven only knows why it needs constant upgrading...

You like Windows 7, that's obvious. It works fine and is in support until 2020. But... don't you ever wish that a feature that came in with 8, 8.1 or 10 could be used in 7?

Honestly, no. But that may well be because I'm too ignorant to know what I'm missing! I have a history of being a late adopter of new versions of Windows, held on to the last version of '98 (not ME!) and the same with XP.

The thing is, each new version takes more resources, runs slower, takes more space and adds complexification. Win8 looks ghastly to me and I can't fathom what the UI designers had in mind but I don't like it. Win10 may be better in that respect. I have never tried it but something like DeepFreeze:

http://www.faronics.com/en-uk/products/deep-freeze

would probably suit me well because once I have a PC set up the way I like it then I don't want it changed unless I really need to. I also tend to hang on to my PC hardware for a fairly long time so I'm rarely cutting edge in that respect. Current PC is about 5 yrs old but works fine and seems good with a SSD. I'm not sure about Win10, I understand the logic behind the 'Windows as a service' model and it certainly make sense for MS, but there's so much there that I don't want, like Cortana, and doubtless many other things. Less is more (sometimes)! A few months ago I decided to give another OS a try and am currently running Debian and VirtualBox. I can get some idea of how hard my PC is working by listening to the speed of my CPU's fan and it's noticeable how a browsing session consumes less resources in Debian than Windows, which tends to reinforce my belief that Windows is put together with the coder's equivalent of glue and tape. Anyway, I'm about to start Win7 on VirtualBox and get on with some programming (with any luck!).

ATB

RC

[Breelander]

... Win8 looks ghastly to me and I can't fathom what the UI designers had in mind but I don't like it. Win10 may be better in that respect. I have never tried it...

...Current PC is about 5 yrs old but works fine and seems good with a SSD...

Agree about the look/feel of Win8 - I avoided it like the plague, going straight from Win7 to Win10. That wasn't a steep learning curve, took a couple of weeks to feel at home.

Your PC is younger than any of mine . In my experience Windows 10 runs faster, is more responsive and more stable than the OEM Windows 7 they came with. I still have their original Win7 on spare HDDs that I can put back in so that's not just my impression, I can test it.

[Slarti]

Win8 looks ghastly to me and I can't fathom what the UI designers had in mind but I don't like it.

Win 8 is ghastly!

Win 8.1 with classic shell is usable and is almost the same as Win7.


Slarti

[stewamax]

One problem for those without high-speed broadband is the size of the twice-yearly update. I have two rural clients with around 1.3Mb/s (and sometimes 0Mb/s) download sync: one serious error followed by a rollback in the update appears to mean starting a download again; one would think that all the updates were still downloaded, but....

Since the Win 10 Fall update (V1709) has a number of problems - particularly for ASUS* motherboard users - each has taken the April update (V1803) on to a new HDD from a DVD burned with a fresh full Win 10 ISO and trusted to luck that the 'preserve user data and apps' option worked (with the old disk in a caddy to copy over - where possible - anything missed). After calling home, Win10 and O365 were happy not to want licence keys, passport or driving licence. And each now has a spare HDD ready for installing the Fall 2018 update ISO.

* their AISuite3 that contained most of the hardware utilities still remains withdrawn apart from Power Management and Performance

[production100]

Just in case anybody has installed it and has not noticed!

When I carried out the update it removed my on board raid software for Intel raid. Not necessarily immediately recognised as faulty as the pc started perfectly well and as the raid software had been removed it did not warn me that it was not working... I only noticed when startup failed first time this morning, so I started the pc again and closely watched the startup sequence and saw that one set of the raid drives needed to be repaired (the boot drives). When I logged on I found that it was not repairing. Investigation showed that the Intel raid software needed to be reinstalled. Everything then started to work normally. An unexpected consequence of the update.

It also removed the windows 7 games yet again - but that was expected.

Chris

[Infrasonic]

https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/05/1 ... atibility/

The Windows 10 April 2018 Update is not proving to be the smoothest of installations for PCs containing certain Intel SSDs.

Systems with Intel 600p and Pro 6000p SSDs are experiencing crashes and users are finding themselves staring at a UEFI screen after rebooting. Microsoft has recommended afflicted users reinstall the previous version of Windows 10, 1709 (aka the Fall Creators Update). Redmond is also attempting to block the devices trying the update again.

Cont.

[Breelander]

https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/05/10/windows_10_intel_ssd_incompatibility/

The Windows 10 April 2018 Update is not proving to be the smoothest of installations for PCs containing certain Intel SSDs.

Systems with Intel 600p and Pro 6000p SSDs are experiencing crashes and users are finding themselves staring at a UEFI screen after rebooting. … Redmond is also attempting to block the devices trying the update again.

Not just trying, it has always been the case that certain PCs with known hardware issues have been blocked from seeing a new Features Update in Windows Update until a fix was in place. As I said in post #1...

Waiting for windows update is the safest way to get a Features Update ... those with known issues will not get the update until a fix is in place...

Unfortunately, seems the problem with these SSDs wasn't discovered until after the rollout had started, or it could be that their owners had manually updated and so didn't benefit from the 'blocks' that windows update uses. Again, in post #1 I paraphrased Microsoft's standard advice from previous rollouts...

...updating manually will bypass windows update's 'pause' for machines with known issues, so do so at your own risk.

[Infrasonic]

NVMe in general is still a bit hit and miss, RAID 0 boot especially is sticky across many MB platforms/OS's.

Think I'll be sticking with SATA SSD's for a while yet...

[k333]

Well I finally got the 1803 upgrade last night. The modem light was blinking like crazy, and after closing all the tabs one by one to find what was causing it, it continued to do it and the penny dropped what was going on. Going into settings, the download was 90% complete. The download didn't stress the machine much, but the installation (which must have taken about an hour) had the CPU at over 90% at times (I can't remember seeing it at over 50% before) and the disk was over 95% for significant periods.

Thankfully it all still seems to work

- K

[Breelander]

... the installation (which must have taken about an hour) had the CPU at over 90% at times (I can't remember seeing it at over 50% before) and the disk was over 95% for significant periods.
Thankfully it all still seems to work

Glad to hear the update went smoothly. Yes, that is typical timing when getting the 1803 update delivered automatically by Windows Update.

During the install there's a lot of work for the CPU and disk to do. Delivery by Windows Update uses differential update packages to reduce the data that has to be downloaded by up to 35%. Wherever possible, these contain just the changes to the system files. Only where a system file is substantially different will the download contain the complete new file. The rest of the new system files are created by combining the changes with the original files.

If you had downloaded the ISO and applied the update manually it would have taken less time to install (but not by much). However the download would have been larger and taken longer because it contains full copies of all the files. Swings and roundabouts.

[k333]

Glad to hear the update went smoothly. Yes, that is typical timing when getting the 1803 update delivered automatically by Windows Update.

During the install there's a lot of work for the CPU and disk to do. Delivery by Windows Update uses differential update packages to reduce the data that has to be downloaded by up to 35%. Wherever possible, these contain just the changes to the system files. Only where a system file is substantially different will the download contain the complete new file. The rest of the new system files are created by combining the changes with the original files.

If you had downloaded the ISO and applied the update manually it would have taken less time to install (but not by much). However the download would have been larger and taken longer because it contains full copies of all the files. Swings and roundabouts.

Thanks Bree. Funnily enough, when I first started work, one of our department's products was an updater like this. It was called Module Amender.

Anyway it looks like I may have spoken too soon about the success of the upgrade. Excel 2003 stops working. Some people have got round this by installing an Office service pack, but for those on 64-bit Windows it may not work, and the remedy is to go back to 1709.

I only got this four months ago to run on my new system. Prior to that it was Windows XP and Office97! But I felt it really was time to get up to date, and almost all the move to Win10 has been very smooth. From the comments on this and the TMF board I was expecting lots of problems, but it all just seems to work. Except it is better in some ways ....

- K

[Breelander]

...looks like I may have spoken too soon about the success of the upgrade. Excel 2003 stops working...

LibreOffice works in 1803 and is a good alternative if you can't get your Office XP (aka 2003) to work. Some help for your Excel problem here...

I believe the solution has been found.
Turn on "update other Microsoft products" under windows update advanced settings....

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/mso ... 1ce4e9d8a7

[k333]

I believe the solution has been found.
Turn on "update other Microsoft products" under windows update advanced settings...

Thanks - that worked fine. Some said it didn't, but the problem might have been that you have to install the first ten downloads, reboot, and go in again for the next thirty. After all it is 10+ years of updates. So the £9 spent on Office 2003 is still looking like a bargain. I think it was pottager who put me onto the fact that Office 2003 worked on Win10, so thanks to him too.

- K

[Bouleversee]

Just how is Doris supposed to cope with all this when she doesn't understand this foreign language for which there is no dictionary? I had a message the other day which started by telling me updates were installed automatically and went on to invite me to install some update (no recollection what it was). I clicked to do so but have no idea whether it was successful or not. It didn't seem to take very long.

I have been having a problem with the cursor jumping back to a previous bit of the text while I am typing and inserting the new text in the wrong place which is infuriating and wastes a lot of time; also it has started to highlight some of the text in blue without my knowingly having asked for this. If I am accidentally pressing keys which cause these actions, I have no idea which keys they are. It didn't happen when I first got this HP laptop or on my previous Toshiba one. Interestingly, it hasn't happened while I have been typing this.

[Breelander]

Just how is Doris supposed to cope with all this when she doesn't understand this foreign language for which there is no dictionary?

For the most part, Microsoft's updates for Windows work silently and automatically in the background. Doris only gets to hear about it if a restart is required to complete installing an update. Even then, Windows can do the restart itself outside your Active Hours, so Doris may not even notice that it has happened.

How to tell? There are two simple ways. Click on Start or the Search box next to it, type WINVER then click on the 'Winver, Run command' search result. This will show you the version number and the OS build number of your Windows 10. You are likely to have version 1709 (the Fall Creators Update) or possibly have been updated to version 1803 (the April 2018 Update). The big number for the OS build also tells you which version you have, it's 16299 for the Fall Creators and 17134 for the April 2018 updates. The number after the decimal point tells you if you have the latest updates for your build. You have all the latest security fixes released up until today if you have build 16299.461 or 17134.48.

The other way to see if you have had a successful (or otherwise) update is to open Settings, type HISTORY in the 'Find a setting' Search box, then click on 'View your Update history'.

I had a message the other day which started by telling me updates were installed automatically and went on to invite me to install some update (no recollection what it was). I clicked to do so but have no idea whether it was successful or not. It didn't seem to take very long.

It's sad but true that there are a lot of scams out there that want to deprive Doris of her savings. You have to be very careful what you click on, even messages purporting to be from Microsoft for their Windows updates, of from browsers like Firefox that manage their own updates automatically. Knowing you, I'm sure you would have read the message carefully (with a large pinch of salt to hand) before deciding to click on it.

The 'Quality updates' are those that provide the security fixes etc. and change the minor build number, but not the version or major build number. These may need a restart to complete the install, but it doesn't take too long. Quality Updates are routinely issued on the second Tuesday of each month.

The 'Features Updates' will upgrade you to the latest version. These can take substantially longer to install (typically an hour) so you'll be prompted to restart for the install, but given options to postpone it for a more convenient time. Features Updates are expected about every six months. The current one is called 'Features Update to Windows 10, version 1803'.

I have been having a problem with the cursor jumping back to a previous bit of the text while I am typing and inserting the new text in the wrong place which is infuriating and wastes a lot of time; also it has started to highlight some of the text in blue without my knowingly having asked for this. If I am accidentally pressing keys which cause these actions, I have no idea which keys they are. It didn't happen when I first got this HP laptop or on my previous Toshiba one. Interestingly, it hasn't happened while I have been typing this.

When I have problems like that, it's usually because I've inadvertently rested my hand on part of the touchpad and it's been interpreted as a 'click'.