updates

Tue
09
Apr
John Lister's picture

Microsoft Makes Windows 10 Updates Optional

Microsoft is going back to its old policy of letting users choose what Windows updates they get and when they get them, albeit with some restrictions. It's also going to put updates through more testing before rolling them out. One of the biggest ... change (and perhaps most controversial) with Windows 10 was the abandonment of the old policy by which users could take a case-by-case approach to downloading updates . The default in Windows 10 for home users has been that everything downloads and installs automatically, though exactly when this happens varies from device to device. That's partly ... (view more)

Wed
14
Nov
John Lister's picture

MS: Win10 Bugs Fixed; October Update Rolls Out Again

Microsoft has begun rolling out the October 2018 update for Windows 10 for a second time. It doesn't take a much of a look at the calendar to reveal that things went very badly . The release is one of the twice-yearly updates that replace the old ... model of having small updates every month and then a completely new edition of Windows every few years. The October update had a variety of problems including: Key document folders being irretrievable deleted in some cases if they weren't stored in the default disk location. Some computers being completely silenced after the update rolled out an ... (view more)

Mon
22
Oct
John Lister's picture

Windows 10 Hit By Second File Deletion Bug

Another file deletion bug appears to have hit Windows 10's latest update. It's raised questions about Microsoft's review process. This is a separate issue to the recent bug that deleted user documents . The new problem - which is also related to the ... October Update - affects .ZIP files. ZIP files are used to store multiple files (and sometimes backups) into a single, archived file. Archives usually offer a high compression ratio, which means files inside the archive are shrunk. This makes .ZIP files especially useful for downloading files from websites because it takes less time. Duplicate ... (view more)

Thu
27
Sep
John Lister's picture

Microsoft: Office 2019 Is Coming, But Get 365 Instead

Microsoft has released Office 2019, but effectively told would-be buyers it's not as good as Office 365. It's a clear attempt to push people towards the subscription model. In one of the more bizarre publicity drives for a new product, Microsoft ... gives very little attention to Office 2019 itself. It's the latest (and very possibly last) installment of MS Office as a standalone program to install and run on a computer, something Microsoft now calls the "on-premises" version. (Source: theregister.co.uk ) The package includes the core programs of Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint and Word on both ... (view more)

Wed
22
Aug
John Lister's picture

Microsoft Phasing Out Windows 8

Microsoft has announced several measures to slowly kill off Windows 8. It's targeting apps to try to persuade holdouts to upgrade to Windows 10. From October 31st, 2018, new apps designed for either Windows 8 or 8.1 on desktop or Windows Phone 8 on ... mobile devices can no longer be added to the Microsoft Store. From July 1st, 2019, Microsoft will stop sending app updates to Windows Phone 8 devices. The theory seems to be that developers will no longer have any reason to work on the platform and in turn it will become less and less attractive to users. Updates for existing Windows 8 and 8.1 ... (view more)

Fri
06
Apr
Dennis Faas's picture

How to Fix: Windows 10 1709 Won't Install

Infopackets Reader Jose B. writes: " Dear Dennis, For the past few months, my PC has tried to upgrade to Windows 10 version 1709, but each time it fails to install. Whenever I use my computer I receive a pop up message on my desktop stating that ' ... Your device needs the latest security updates . Microsoft can't install important security updates on your PC until you install the most current version of Windows 10.' When I look at my Windows Update history, it says the upgrade to version 1709 failed (repeatedly) . When I manually check for updates, it says: ' Your device is at risk because it's ... (view more)

Fri
09
Feb
Dennis Faas's picture

How to Fix: KB4056892, KB4058258 Won't Install; Other Updates Stuck

Infopackets Reader Jeff W. writes: " Dear Dennis, I am having a problem with Windows 10 not updating - it keeps telling me that KB4058258 and KB4074595 won't install. It will attempt to install the updates, then when I check Windows Update again ... those two updates are there again. KB4058258 is a cumulative update for Windows 10 whereas KB4074595 is a security update for Adobe Flash update. Can you help? " My response: I asked Jeff if he would like me to connect to his system using my remote desktop support service , and he agreed. I have been receiving a lot of inquiries about this lately and ... (view more)

Mon
30
Oct
Dennis Faas's picture

How to Fix: Stop Win10 Update Restart / Reboot (Updated)

Infopackets Reader Steve P. writes: " Dear Dennis, I have a question regarding the Microsoft policy to have Windows 10 reboot after an update automatically. Oftentimes the automatic reboots cause me to lose my work (example: open documents, open ... tabs on my browser, certain folders open, etc). I would prefer to have it so that Windows 10 doesn't reboot on updates. I understand the policy to reboot on update is forced Windows 10 users but can this be prevented? " Update 20200701 : The script below now works with Windows 10 1909 and Windows 10 2004 branches. My response: You can stop Windows 10 ... (view more)

Thu
21
Sep
John Lister's picture

Microsoft: Windows 10 is now 'Speedier, More Reliable'

Microsoft claims Windows 10 performance is improving while glitches are less common. It appears one explanation may be a slowdown in the update rollout process. The claims come in a blog post comparing the two most recent 'major update' versions of ... Windows 10, the twice-yearly updates that bring new features rather than just fixing performance and security bugs. It cites figures collected in telemetry reports, in which it tracks the activity on computers, something that Microsoft says helps improve the system, but raises privacy concerns among some critics. Boot Time And Log-In Speedier ... (view more)

Mon
31
Jul
Dennis Faas's picture

How to Fix: Remove SystemTask.exe / SystemTaskInfo.exe Virus (100% CPU Usage)

Infopackets Reader Michael B. writes: " Dear Dennis, Thank you so much for helping me to patch my Windows 2003 Server against the SMB attacks and for removing Windows_Update.exe virus a few weeks back . A have yet another problem that is causing ... high CPU usage! In Task Manager of Windows Server 2003, I see two processes that are eating 50% of my CPU each, namely: SystemTask.exe and SystemTaskInfo.exe . If I try and delete either process, it simply comes back and starts eating my CPU again, which makes everything else on the server painfully slow. Can you please help? " My response: I asked ... (view more)

Pages

Subscribe to RSS - updates