Blog Archives

• Is Windows pushing you to upgrade to version 1903? Don’t be bullied.

  Posted on August 12th, 2019 at 07:02 woody Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

  

  I’m getting a lot of questions from people with Win10 version 1803 who wonder if they’re doomed to upgrade to Win10 1903 in the next few weeks. Microsoft’s “Download and install now” notification certainly makes it sound that way, but you have more control over the matter than you may think.

  Detailed explanation of the pros, the cons, the howtos and the wherefores, in Computerworld Woody on Windows.

  Windows 10 Releases forced upgrade, Win10 1903

• Is Win10 1903 adoption growing quickly?

  Posted on July 29th, 2019 at 06:30 woody Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

  I just saw the report on Paul Thurrott’s site (paywall), showing how Win10 version 1903 usage is increasing — now up to 11% of all Win10 usage — while version 1809 usage is staying put at around 30%. (Win10 1803 is around 54%.)

  I just wanted to toss in my usual caveat. The data from AdDuplex is very, very biased. As the company itself says, the numbers are “based on data collected from around 5,000 Windows Store apps running AdDuplex SDK v.2 (and higher).” Which means that you’re looking at numbers based on a tracking program installed on a small subset of Windows Store apps.

  Windows 10 Releases Win10 usage share

• Are you being pushed from Win10 1803 to 1903? Tell me about it.

  Posted on July 18th, 2019 at 03:41 woody Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

  Microsoft officially started pushing Win10 1803 machines onto version 1903 two days ago. Apparently the push doesn’t respect your Pro settings to “defer feature updates.” At least, that’s what’s been promised.

  I have a honeypot machine that hasn’t been pushed as yet.

  If you get the nudge, I’d be very interested in hearing how it arrived — in particular, are you given a link to “Download and install now” or do you just reboot and BAM! 1903 comes along?

  I think it’s rude of Microsoft to push 1903 on machines that don’t hit end of life until November 12, but that’s just me.

  P.S. For those of you who have asked, no, I don’t think 1903 is ready for prime time. Microsoft hasn’t given the go-ahead for broad deployment of version 1903 among paying customers — and it isn’t clear how that go-ahead will be communicated. There are many acknowledged problems, and a background noise level that’s still disconcerting to me. That said, many people are using 1903 with no problems, but the Nervous Nelly in me still thinks you’re better off with 1803 or 1809.

  Overview now available in Computerworld Woody on Windows.

  Windows 10 Releases, Windows Patches/Security Win10 1803, Win10 1903

• If you’re running Win10 Pro 1803 and you want to move to 1809 so you don’t get pushed to 1903, there’s good news

  Posted on June 19th, 2019 at 22:15 woody Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

  @PKCano has gone through the steps:

  I’m not ready for 1903 yet. I wanted to see if I could update my 1803 Pro to to 1809 through the usual channels. I was up to date through June CU KB4503268 Build 17134.829, not seeing ANY of the new settings, not offered either 1809 or 1903, even after “checking for updates.”

  My original settings: SAC, Feature deferral=365, Quality deferral=0, No pause. In Group Policy, Configure Automatic Updates=Enabled, value 2 (notify download/install). I am NOT using any third-party update blockers. The Feature deferral of 365 preventing being offered feature updates.

  Trying @zero2dash ‘s method, I set Feature deferrals to 32 days (it has not been 32 days since 1903’s release, so that should give me 1809). Checking for updates, SAC kept me from being offered the June Preview CU. Sure enough, I was offered Feature Update 1809. It installed as Build 17763.592.

  I put the Feature deferral on 1809 back to 365 days. I am NOT seeing 1903 offered nor the “download and install now” section in Windows Update. Everything seems to be working. BitDefender Free, Malwarebytes Free, Open Shell Menu

  Please NOTE: Win10 v1903 was released May 21, 2019. I used 32 days as the Feature deferral setting in my test because it had been less than 32 days since v1903 had been released.
  If you are attempting this method, the number of deferral days has to be set GREATER THAN the number of days between the current date and May 21st. Add a few days to the difference just to be safe.

  Excellent news for anyone who didn’t squirrel away a copy of 1809 while it was easily downloaded.

  Windows 10 Releases Win10 1809 upgrade

• Patch Lady – if you are running 1803 or earlier

  Posted on June 18th, 2019 at 19:02 Susan Bradley Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

  https://twitter.com/WindowsUpdate/status/1141125011115134976
  [Windows Release Health Update – New Message] We are beginning to train the machine learning based rollout process to update devices running the April 2018 Update, and earlier versions of Windows 10.

  Took my brain a bit of time to parse this one out… if you are running 1803 or earlier, expect to see the 1903 release to be pushed out to you unless you have WSUS or some other patching tool between you and Microsoft update.

  Windows 10 Releases Patch Lady Posts

• Patch Lady – 1903 breaks connector on Essentials

  Posted on June 13th, 2019 at 14:14 Susan Bradley Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

  For those of you still using the Windows Server Essentials 2012 or Windows Server Essentials 2016 platforms in your client base that provides the ability to backup the client workstation as well as provide storage, just a heads up.  Every feature release there is a constant battle with the connector software on the clients.  In the past we’ve been able to tell people to reboot the pc several times and the connector “wakes” back up again.  Peter Perry reports that this time with 1903 you’ll need to totally uninstall the connector and reinstall it to get it to hook back into the console.

  It would be nice if Microsoft would support Microsoft, but …. apparently that’s always been asking too much for the Essentials platform.  Note that every feature release the connector software gets stomped on, mangled, or some other nuance that means for those of you running that platform it’s always been a challenge.

  <sigh>

  Windows 10 Releases, Windows News Patch Lady Posts

• How to work and play in Win10’s new Sandbox

  Posted on June 10th, 2019 at 02:05 Tracey Capen Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

  First offered with the Windows 10 May 2019 Update (aka Version 1903), the new Sandbox feature provides users a safe, protected area to install and run untested programs.

  Trying out new software is great, but installing and running unknown, untested, or possibly unsafe applications could present a significant risk to your Windows environment.

  One of the better safeguards is sandboxing, which isolates apps from the rest of your system.

  See the full story in the June 10, 2019, AskWoody Plus Newsletter (Issue 16.21.0)

  Hardware, Windows 10 Releases, Windows News AskWoody Plus Newsletter, sandboxing, virtual machines, Win10 1903

• Patch Lady – when patches aren’t managed

  Posted on June 6th, 2019 at 00:40 Susan Bradley Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

  

  For me this  is a huge fail.  For one you have a digital signage that clearly isn’t managed.  Updates and Feature releases should not “pop” on internet of things or point of sale or … in this case a digital sign.  It’s a sign of an unmanaged network.  Then does one really need a full scale Windows operating system on a sign?  Seriously?

  Picture courtesy of Robert Crane.

  Windows 10 Releases Patch Lady Posts
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