Microsoft Crippling Windows Updates on Windows 7

If the telemetry updates/ forced Windows 10 Upgrade related Windows Updates weren't enough to make you despite this company, now they have started a new trick.

On 3 different occasions / 3 different clean install of Windows 7, after the initial updates scan which took ages to complete this time, I initially thought this was due to the fact that there were 200 updates available......

Anyway, I don't install all updates together, but rather, I follow a certain pattern which you will see in my soon to be completed NBR Windows 7 Clean Install Guide.

I start with IE 9 update then reboot

Then I perform all security updates then reboot

Then I install the Windows 7 SP1 update (1 update) then reboot

Then I do all the remaining Windows updates then reboot.

Now this time, when I checked the IE 9 update alone, the Downloading progress bar was at 0% for about 20 minutes or more then it started.....I thought it was a temporary server overload or something....

Then I started doing the other updates, be it 1 or multiple updates that I select, it would always take 20+ minutes to even start the download progress. It would just hand there at Downloading 0% for ages.....

I still thought it was just a temporary glitch with Windows Updates.

Then it happened again on the 2 other clean install I performed....

Then I read this and can now safely say that Micro$h4ft may be doing this on purpose to force people to upgrade to Windows 10.....Enough already.....seriously......I'm sick of this.......

No I do not want to skip the updates, I need the security updates and some updates are actually good........ (some)

Reformatted PC Win7 will not update

Windows Update - long time to check for updates

Just tried to check for updates and it's been checking for updates for 20 minutes now even though I have all updates installed already.

 

Windows 7 has always taken forever to install updates... That is insane though.

 

Yeah I've noticed this too. I have Windows 7 on all my PCs and ever since Windows 10 was released, it'll just sit on checking for updates for 20-30 min straight, no CPU/hard drive activity or nothing.

 

Well, its happening on my 8.1 system right now so its not just Windows 7. I can't even get it to refresh updates... its been on that screen for an hour...

 

OK on 8.1.

Very slow on 7, but after 15 minutes it worked. Maybe some chastisement from Great White Father in Redmond, for hiding updates and rejecting the offer for a resetllement in a Winspy10 reservate :O)

 

6730b, I had the 8.1 update run fine, but the .NET updates broke MSI SCM, so I had to uninstall and reinstall SCM.

I downloaded a newer version of SCM from the Windows 10 update on the MSI site, from the newest MSI laptop release (old trick to find latest drivers), just in case.

It took 1 uninstall / 2 installs / 3 reboots for both items in the SCM install / update app to show green checks instead of red X's.

But the Windows updates took no time at all.

And, the reason I mention all of this is I have done the 127.0.0.1 blocking to the Windows hosts file to block everything found so far for Windows 7/8.x/10, and have loaded PeerBlock with a nice set of blocks specific to Windows 7/8.x/10 + others.

If anyone at Redmond is watching, they are only seeing a brief call home during boot up.

So, hopefully it is just some bad MS update programming, update checks, or their site responses are to blame.

I would just ignore it and check again in a day or two.

 

I had also blocked all telemetry using the hosts file and deleted every task scheduler entry which deals with the Microsoft Customer Improvement Program (AKA Customer pwning program) but still........the updates would not start downloading until 20 mins ++ have went by. On Windows 10, updates are super snappy, so it's not the Micro$h4ft servers.

 

This morning I W7 updated my P79, theer were like 38 of them. It took forever to find them but there were quite a few. As far as the DL ti was right away. Then again nothing is blocked or hidden with that machine.

 

Yeah if you already had most the updates installed, then the download is fine afterwards. Try now on a clean install and see how long it would take to just download 1 update

Interesting post from an MDL Forum member and very true IMHO:

 

I'll be doing exactly this on one system at some point over the weekend and will report back...it's a spare so if I have to nuke the install a couple of times who cares....

If I observe the same nonsense that you're referring to I'll just install SP1 and lock the machine down.

Stay tuned...

 

Well if you can wait for another 48 hours, the NBR Windows 7 Clean Install Guide would be complete

It has a screenshot of every phase of the Windows Updates to save you the hassle of hunting down where are the bad updates located as it is very tedious and eye tiring with over 200 updates to install.

 

Oh, I can believe that. There are many issues with it as well. Those are relatively few and far between updates requested prior to W10. Also now since there are so many updates there are just so many prerequisites. I am sure between the system and servers it can become a nightmare to say the least.

Now for the added issue, that is now how many that upgraded are reverting back with a fail and have to reinstall? This added demand I am sure is a killer for the process. So it may not be M$ killing the update but unexpected demand of the services.

 

I had to wait over 30-40 minutes after clean install of Home Basic just for looking for a list of updates. It was sooo long that I even called Microsoft and guess what? After 15 minutes of waiting for an operator at the very second I got connected to her I saw that finally Windows found all updates needed.

I am rarely in such situation because I usually use custom builds with updates (all but recommended) and tweaks. Tweaks include PageFile size as 2GB instead of 2xRAM, quicker mouse hover time and others. It's just that guy doesn't mess with Home Basic.
I would happily shared links but that guy doesn't make English distributives. You have to find other trusted source of iso with updates.

 

Wanna bet its one of those latest updates that was released a few months ago. Windows update never took that long to find updates even on my old laptop after a reformat. It wouldnt be a surprise Microsoft would do something like that because Windows 7 still dominates the marketplace and are trying to force everyone to upgrade to 10

 

This is exactly what I did last week. Got sick of all the updates...

 

Patience my friend, I am creating something you will like

 

All eyes are on you...

 

Looking great so far

 

Keeping fingers crossed here since I've just finished putting together another machine that is in need of a fresh OS install...so yeah, very much looking forward to that guide...

 

Take a sneak peak at it if you wish, 71 screenshots left to edit then upload, I've been working on this for 5 hours straight overnight now.....

 

You, my good man, must be in need of some serious rest after all the tweaking guides that you've lately come up with. I wouldn't want to come near a PC for three weeks at least if I were in your shoes...

Good luck. Seriously.

 

All I can say is my neck is about to break into two halves from the pain. But it's all worth it to help our great community.....one man's hard work could mean heaven/ease of future installations for the rest of us.......

 

Yeah I have a notebook with Windows 7 that I haven't booted for months and its taken an age to try and find new updates (which failed in the end because I already waited 2 hours and had enough).

I probably have to arrange a free afternoon and make a tedious list of all the updates that are required (obviously blacklisting those W10 adware updates) and slipstream it to the stock Windows 7 SP1 image. Hard work now makes life a little bit easier later I guess!

 

WARNING! First reaction ahead without using morale filter.

Spoiler

Just add 4MB at the end! +2MB per partition!

Spoiler: Yeah, sure

Yes, you need a quick sleep. Have a rest.

 

I found with the old install that 248GB was best for the c:\ drive. Even with that my mature install with no hibernation or restoer points built will give 128GB free.

 

Pretty dreadful on MS part to put you at the end of the line and discourage you. I waited over an hour and finally gave up on a clean install. It downloaded 723MB of cached updates and sat there until I gave up.

 

This still hasn't changed until now. Microsoft dropped support for Windows 7 even though we didn't reach 2020, they simply don't want anyone to use it so they can spy on the whole world.

 

Thanks Matrix Leader for pointing me to this old thread. Been busy this holiday season and forgot all about this thread.

 

I don't even bother with windows update anymore. Turn off updates and use wsusoffline.

 

I did just that. As I can't have MS telemetry junk or their automatic updates disrupting workflow and taking on air PC systems off the air. Until these shenanigans go away, SP1 is where we stay. If not, Linux here we come.

 

Actually I discovered a work around that someone posted a solution which requires to download a KB patch to the W7 updater and viola, updates were no longer a problem.

OK, I found it and here's the link:

http://superuser.com/questions/951960/windows-7-sp1-windows-update-stuck-checking-for-updates

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3102810

I'm eagerly anticipation Mint 18 which is supposed to be a major overhaul from the upcoming Linux kernal.

 

As am I. Mint has turned into a great OS. And gets better each time out.

 

Interesting. that KB is listed on @Phoenix's updates to hide list.

 

Really I just got the latest update and had no problems downloading the updates and installing them on Windows 7x64.

 

Well of course Microsoft is going to try to fix update slowness while sneaking in Windows 10 update prep. lol.

 

That is in the distant minority Ubuntu is the more common Linux version so far. Unfortunately Mint is not getting advanced faster then Windows can kill it's competitors. So until all Linux become ONE Linux Mint will not dislodge Windows.

 

Do you ever do any research on the things that you post?



http://distrowatch.com/

Mint is everything Ubuntu isn't and those numbers are going to keep going up when Sarah releases with KDE Pulse.

 

Folks, there's nothing to see here - nothing new, at least. Part of my day job requires me to set up new Windows VMs on a regular basis, so I can guarantee that what you're experiencing is simply a snowball effect that's been slowly building up over the past 4+ years. There have been no drastic changes over the past year in terms of speed - I used to be able to do the first check for Windows Updates over a bathroom break, which gradually started taking up an entire coffee break before becoming a lunch break thing and is now an overnight task.

With the way CBS works, Windows Update naturally gets slower and slower over time as the number of updates (and thus the number of potential interlinked dependencies) that need to be checked for continues to increase. And if you think Windows 7 is bad, try doing a clean install of Vista sometime.

With past OSes, Microsoft would resolve the issue (temporarily) by releasing a new service pack, which effectively wipes the slate clean. So if anything, Microsoft's real crime is that they refuse to release a Windows 7 SP2. Which people have been calling for pretty much ever since Windows 8 came out.

To sum it up, there's no exciting new conspiracy at work here, just a boring, widely known annoyance that Microsoft has refused to address for years now. If there ever was a conspiracy, then it happened way back in the 2012-2013 timeframe.

 

While this is interesting, and distrowatch is a valid site for data gathering, the actual usage of Linux on web servers plays out differently:


http://w3techs.com/technologies/details/os-linux/all/all

Where that distrowatch Market share comes in useful, perhaps, is splitting up the 1.6% of the desktop market for Linux:

https://www.netmarketshare.com/operating-system-market-share.aspx?qprid=8&qpcustomd=0

If Linux supported PC gaming as well as Windows does, those numbers would be much different

 

I will have to respond to that after I get some sleep but I will say that I was talking about personal usage, not professional usage. Also, Mint is an Ubuntu and Debian fork that focuses on usability and the user experience. Out of all the distributions I have ever used (and I've used Linux since 1996 with Slackware, Red Hat, and SuSE when configuration was pretty much worse than setting up Windows 3.1 up through now), Mint is the biggest candidate for a replacement for Windows for home users. Ubuntu and Kubuntu have gone down the tube big time over the years (heck, Ubuntu STILL hasn't fixed their broken Ubiquity installer - I tried Kubuntu 15.10 the other night and Ubiquity kept crashing on me). If Mint 18 can properly implement KDE Pulse 5, its going to be a huge deal.

 

That's very nice, I wish Mint great success.

When one of my clients is ready for Mint, I will be there for them

That will likely be a long time as Ubuntu/Debian are still preferred for servers, although I know some Ubuntu LTS based Mint releases might qualify.

I implemented Ubuntu Desktop images configured for Server roles early on, so I know it could be done for Mint releases based on Ubuntu LTS releases.

I just don't know the reason why we would want Mint in a Server Role. The advantages of Mint I am aware of are enhancements to Ubuntu in the Desktop Role.

It might be that the rest of the company run's Mint in a Desktop Role, and that would allow supporting both from the same internal Master Mint repositories - duplicated / sync'd to the behind the bastion(s) production servers. Instead of supporting both Ubuntu and Mint internal repositories.

 

Which is why I didn't take credit for the discovery. Also I can't dig thru pages and threads of what others have posted here on NBR trying to find certain answers. I prefer Google search vs a forum search and it's not a knock on NBR. Pretty much most websites don't give you the results unless you frame your search a certain way. Google seems to be more forgiving. Also, this isn't meant to be a sarcastic response to what you wrote, more of an explanation as to why I bypassed another users information or discovery on NBR unless it's pretty glaring in the topic page or a first hit comment.

That's what i've been saying since 2010 when I began using Mint. It's only gotten better and more stable.

I don't use Ubuntu much because I prefer the Windows like feature rich and ease of use OS such as Mint but here's why Ubuntu is so important. Mark Shuttleworth decided at one point that Linux was not going to cater to the techno geek crowd and instead would be an OS grandma or grandpa would have no trouble using. While I personally don't like Unity, it served it's purpose well and made Ubuntu the premier distro where pretty much everything is based from at least the major distros like Mint. It's also not a coincidence that the reinvention of Ubuntu allowed Dell to begin selling Alienware PC's bundled with Ubuntu and it's no coincidence that Valve began to transition their PC gaming to Linux/Ubuntu. They have also stated that their mission is to feature Linux first and Windows 2nd for gaming releases in the future.

And really, that's pretty important because that's exactly how PC's and Windows became mainstream by people using them to play games.

 

The "Updates to hide to prevent Windows 10 Upgrade / Disable Telemetry" thread is a good one to know about, keep up with, and to check the 1st post for new details over time.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...-windows-10-upgrade-disable-telemetry.780476/

It's good to fact check as much as possible before posting, or wait before posting until you have been able to follow through on verifying the facts.

 

Again, I don't have time to do that. Also you're linking a Windows 10 thread and here we are in a Windows 7 thread discussing MS crippling system updates, which validates my point. Which is a thread can get pretty messy the longer it goes on.

OTOH, lesson learned because I may hesitate in the future of posting any findings whether or not it's already been posted. And if it hasn't already been mentioned, oh well.

 

That's not a Windows 10 thread, that's a Windows 7, 8, 8.1 thread on how to stop MS Windows 10 Upgrade's, and stop MS Windows Telemetry on 7, 8, 8.1, 10.

If you run Windows 7 or above, you want to read and keep current with that thread.

Updates to hide to prevent Windows 10 Upgrade / Disable Telemetry
http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...-windows-10-upgrade-disable-telemetry.780476/

 

I have clean installed Windows 7 about 6 times on various machines over the last month, and every one of them took hours and hours to download and install updates. I downloaded windows update manager, and NLite, now I can just customize an ISO to my liking with updates already integrated.

 

The update check on Windows 7 takes ~20 minutes for me. It's getting pretty annoying for sure. Which is most likely M$'s goal.

 

Same here. Wsusoffline is the way to go. I've already been using Linux distros off and on for years and after W7 has run its course, I will move permanently to Linux.

 

Tried that already in the past and IE and some updates failed to install and the O/S failed to work. Doing update by update was the only way I kept it update properly even if I do a complete ground up I do it bit by bit. Alot of work but then again when I finish it works.

One should note that not all windows software will work with Wine on Linux either. So if the programs one runs are written for Windows O/S installed environment then going to Linux isn't a good alternative either. So for better or worse Windows does what it does even if we hate it. That is the irony here we like to hate Windows but then again the alternative aren't a unified O/S to begin to give MS a run for their money. Until All Linux version become ONE Linux isn't going to be a alternative for many users. Commands in Windows are not the same in Linux so that will become a sore spot and step learning curve.

 

Its happening on Windows 8/8.1 too now. Its been stuck on 0% for almost a hour now and theres barely any activity of downloading anything on my WIFI.