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Youtube video here If you are still running Windows 10 1909 I’m recommending that you move onto 2004 or 20H2. I’ve been running both platforms both a
[See the full post at: Tasks for the Weekend – January 30, 2021]
Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher
Thanks, @SB.
I’m still on 1909 and want to set TRV to 2004 in order to update.
However, we’re still on DEFCON 2, so what about ‘KB4598242 – 2021-01 Cumulative Update for Windows 10 Version 2004’? It will probably be included when updating to Version 2004.
I was about to post exactly the same question.
Chris
Win 10 Pro x64 Group A
Given we’ve not seen any major impacts, we’re very close to update time and you have a backup, go for it and let 2004 update.
cheers, Paul
Given that some of our fellow loungers seem to have troubles https://www.askwoody.com/forums/search/4598242/ with this particular update, I rather wait for a go ahead from Susan or PKCano and save myself the time of having to restore from backup.
MS Catalog shows 4598242 has not been updated/altered since January 11.
2004 or 20H2? Is there any particular reason, given that 20H2 is a relatively small change from 2004, not to go straight to 20H2 from 1909 and save yourself a further upgrade hassle?
Opinions on this from our MVP’s would be welcome.
(KB4598242 is also for 20H2, by the way)
I’d imagine for the majority of this site’s audience (those not participating in Enterprise, Education, and IoT Enterprise licensing) Windows 10 1909 will reach EOL in a few months (05/11/21).
With the move only a few months away it doesn’t seem unreasonable to look into the 1909 to 2004/20H2 migration process.
I’ve had 20H2 installed on my development workstation for just over a month now. This is a big desktop computer system I use professionally and very heavily, from software development to graphics work to product testing to virtualization to video conferencing to instant messaging and eMail to business management and more.
I’d say in general I agree with the advice to just move to 20H2. It’s been out a while and it’s pretty stable.
That’s not to say it’s been perfect. I had a glitch just after installing the latest nVidia display driver that ended up in the first unplanned crash/reboot I’ve had with Windows 10 in about a year. I can attribute that to testing alternate driver antialiasing settings trying to eke out more performance. Returning to the default antialiasing setting resulted in perfectly stable operation afterward.
The only other failures I’ve had are with software under test – i.e., product failures or crashes due to problems in the product itself (one of my hats is Automation Quality Engineer).
My only other comment is that Windows 10 20H2 is pretty much the most bloated version Microsoft has ever released, running an unprecedented number of processes just to support an empty desktop, and soaking up virtually all the extra power this modern dual Xeon workstation has as compared to my older ones from the last generation running e.g., Windows 8.1.
But I’m not sorry I upgraded to 20H2. If you have good computer power, I’d say go for it!
-Noel
I only install drivers I’ve downloaded directly from nVidia.com, and I have a Quadro card, so the question doesn’t directly apply. However, in my case (Quadro driver installer) yes, one can choose to just install the driver itself, and none of the several “fluff” components.
On the subject of nVidia… Are others seeing this option? IMO enabling it seems to make Windows a tiny bit smoother to use.
-Noel
Irene, the whole point is that you don’t have to get into the registry! I shouldn’t have wanted to go and play in the registry, either. The reg. file does that for you; installing it is easier than installing a standalone update, so neither of us has to risk a typo in the registry. Everything is pre-set and all I had to do was to click “Yes” and O.K.” If you change your mind afterwards, there is another little reg. file which will remove the settings and reset everything to where it was before. I have been absolutely delighted with these panic-resolving gizmos
Hi Susan, this is really helpful. Are you saying that I can just download the reg. file for 2004 from the link you have so kindly provided, install it on my Windows 10 Home laptop (which recently upgraded to 2004 without my permission!) and that way remain on 2004 until I’m ready to move to 20H2? That would be too cool!
Oh, don’t worry, I’d download the next one before 2004 gets to EOL! But in that case these reg. files Susan has provided have really sorted the problem for me. I don’t even need to risk a senior moment whilst editing the registry! Thanks so much.
Apart from Noel’s findings on version 20H2, I see a mixed bag of success stories and problems online. I will go for 2004 for now.
So, what about Susan’s advice to upgrade to 2004/20H2 and subsequently January Cumulative Update KB4598242 despite being on DEFCON 2?
Does it have a conexant audio by any chance?
Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher
I would go to the HP web site and ensure all drivers and bios are up to date.
Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher
Looks like a good plan to me. It’s really just a shorter version of what Susan recommended in today’s newsletter:
If you are in this boat, I’d recommend proactively removing the Conexant audio driver and attempting the upgrade once the driver is removed. To do this, follow the instructions here.
The consensus seems to be that you just need to replace the Conexant driver with a Microsoft driver in order to clear the hurdle, but only during the feature update process.
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/release-information/status-windows-10-2004#377msgdesc
Keep an eye on that but for now their workaround is to let it fail and try again.
”
Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher
All computers at the office, at home, at co-workers homes, all patched fine. Not seeing issues in the enterprises in their patching. Every month will have corner cases. If you are still on 1809 you aren’t protected anymore. I honestly don’t anticipate issues for the majority of patchers.
Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher
I discuss this in the Plus newsletter coming out. You either need to attempt to install it, it will roll back and then you try it a second time, or you remove the audio drivers which are blocking it.
Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher
IF you make a full disk image and a data backup first, you can try this (it has worked for some others).
Suggest you hide KB4535680 and KB4023057.
In Device Manager, uninstall the driver (don’t delete it).
Run Windows Update and allow the update.
After it completes, if things don’t work right, reinstall the driver.
MS’s workaround seems to be to let it update and fail, which apparently uninstalls the driver, then retry the update. Same difference as above, but you may lose the driver.
Ooops, answering the same time as Susan.
Still not being offered 2004 or 20H2 due to the Conexant sound drivers block. I cannot believe that we are approaching EOL for 1909 and this has not been resolved. Does anyone have any idea what would cause this? I am getting closer to forcing the update, but if a fix is actually right around the corner. Dell has washed their hands of this. They don’t believe it’s their problem.
If Howard — has Images made — and wants to pursue 20H2, can he not use the Update Now button on the 20H2 page below – AS I Did?
Howard, in DevMgr I UN-installed the Conexant Driver (Don’t Chk Delete Software Box in Dev Mgr) and the 20H2 process apparently Replaced the Same Driver For Me. [Some posted of “Installing the MS Driver” after Conexant Uninstall, and though Not stated, I presumed it was via Update Driver choice in Driver Tab. And, IF you install 20H2 RE-Chk your Settings Allowing MS to Install Drivers and make it a NO if it was changed by the Upgrade. After 20H2, MS Re-installed the Conexant and he had to repeat the Uninstall and Update Driver again. IF your 20H2 driver shows as the Same Driver as mine did, that’s it.]
Clk’d the — Update Now — button in below link and it was 1,2,3. Took 1.5 hrs – Vs – 50 min to 1909. I tested Audio and Printed a Word doc. I’d go for it IF IMAGES MADE.
W10 Pro 22H2 / Hm-Stdnt Ofce '16 C2R / Macrium Pd vX / GP=2 + FtrU=Semi-Annual + Feature Defer = 1 + QU = 0
The reports here suggest you don’t need to uninstall AV or re-install drivers and that 2004 works well.
If you have a different experience please tell us the details.
cheers, Paul
May of 2021 Windows 10 pro stops getting updates for security. Yes, it’s EXTREMELY important to keep yourself patched.
Microsoft has not done a bang up job “selling” to us why these are needed. As Paul indicates, if you have to uninstall your antivirus for it to handle feature releases, you need a new antivirus. I understand if you have lousy internet speeds that it may take some time, but if you have normal Internet and a decent computer, it honestly not a horrendous issue.
Do I wish that Microsoft only made these once a year? Absolutely. But to say that there’s no good reason at all to install these? Clearly I need to make this case for you in the newsletter. Stay tuned.
Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher
Correct me if I am wrong, but as far as I understand 1909 is supported until 5/10/22 (as said: I got an enterprise key from my employer since I work from home). That’s what I meant with: give me a good reason to make the jump, this one feature I have to get right now… See also https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/products/windows-10-enterprise-and-education
And yes, of course I do understand the need for an upgrade when the end of support is nearing. But in my case, that’s over a year in the future. I assume that Microsoft will roll out security patches for every supported version likewise. Otherwise I predict some very angry customers at companies…
You are in a different boat. You get your releases on the reasonable schedule. Us schmucks in Home and Pro have a shorter support window. Ours comes due in May of this year.
Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher
TRV works a treat for Home – all I use.
cheers, Paul
Group A, 1909, Win 10 Pro. Defender antivirus. Wasn’t being offered 2004 or 20H2. Set the date from 365 to 0. Received 20H2. Since I still have DSL it took the overnight to download. No problems. Audio OK . Noticed an increase in speed after installing. Basic user, internet, email and printing. I was a W7 fan so I use Power shell Classic . All my icons and look stayed the same as before the update.
I have the Windows 10 2004 Home version which was upgraded (Feature Upgrade November) by Microsoft from 1909 on my older Toshiba Satellite and Lenovo Yoga (September 2019 build date) and I was trying to do the TRV registry change to keep 2004. When I went through the procedures that Susan said, and looking at the video, once I got to the Windows folder, there was no WindowsUpdate folder? Can somebody help me with this?
Also after the upgrade to 2004, on the Toshiba Satellite, I get this message every time I log on: Windows cannot access the specified device, path or file. You may not have the appropriate permission to access the item. C:/ProgramFiles/WindowsApps/Microsoft.549981C3F10_2.2101.15643.0_x64_8wekyb3d8bbwe. I tried to take ownership of the file in properties and delete the file but it didn’t work. In properties it shows as an Unknown File. I would appreciate any assistance concerning this as well?
Other than that, concerning the Toshiba PC, since I did the free upgrade from W7 (back when) to W10 1909 and now 2004, I have had no other issues ( since installing W 10) other than the Windows Updates are extremely slower to install than W7 was, and they initially install 100% and then they have to re-install for some reason.
On the Yoga, I have not had any issues at all. It came with the W10 1903 build and then I upgraded to 1909 and then Microsoft upgraded me to 2004.
I appreciate what ya’ll do and the help I have received in the past. Thanks!
TRV is set in the registry, not a folder. Use the REG files supplied by Susan to make the change.
I get this message every time I log
It seems you have lost an app from the MS store. Can you see what app is missing / not behaving?
cheers, Paul
I get this message every time I log on: Windows cannot access the specified device, path or file. You may not have the appropriate permission to access the item. C:/ProgramFiles/WindowsApps/Microsoft.549981C3F10_2.2101.15643.0_x64_8wekyb3d8bb
As that’s related to a Windows Store app, you could try the troubleshooter at:
Start, Settings, Update & Security, Troubleshoot, Additional troubleshooters, Windows Store Apps (at bottom of list).
TRV is set in the registry, not a folder. Use the REG files supplied by Susan to make the change.
I get this message every time I log
It seems you have lost an app from the MS store. Can you see what app is missing / not behaving?
cheers, Paul
Paul, I did a registry search and I found the WindowsUpdate under [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\ Microsoft/ Windows/Current User/WindowsUpdate. Any idea why that would be as I have not made any changes to either registry of my two PC’s?
Thanks b and Paul. I found the misbehaving App. It was Cortana. I never have used Cortana and had everything concerning it turned off when I was on 1909. As I had mentioned this had only occurred since the upgrade to 2004. Since Cortana was in the Unknown folder, I decided to look at my settings for it. I found all settings were off with the exception of Cortana was in the startup menu. After I turned that off, I don’t have the message, ” Windows cannot access the specified device, path or file. You may not have the appropriate permission to access the item” when Windows starts up. Weird I haven’t had this issue with the Lenovo Yoga, but what is normal in life now? So why shouldn’t I have weird stuff happening concerning my computer experiences.
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\ Microsoft/ Windows/Current User/WindowsUpdate
Paul, I was incorrect on the pathway. It’s [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate . Then it shows only
Default REG_SZ Date
TraylconStatus REG_DWORD 0x00000001 (1)
My bad. Sorry for so much confusion. I should have called it a day, and pursued this tomorrow.
They have moved registry keys around during the versions, but they will respect other locations in the registry. If you use the reg key download that should install it in a place that works.
Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher
I think you are looking in the wrong place in the Registry.
This is the location of the TRV settings.
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate
See the second screenshot in #2286499.
The full path is shown by the top red arrow in the address bar in the screenshot.
The details are designated by the other red arrows.
Kaspersky (or rather their helpdesk…) keeps informing me that I MUST uninstall their AV-suite before upgrading.
I use Kaspersky and didn’t uninstall only ‘paused until next restart’ when upgrading from 1809 – 1903 – 1909 – 2004 – 20H2 as Kaspersky uses 20-30% of CPU during the upgrades.
HKLM = HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
You are looking in the wrong place in the Registry. That’s why you can’t find what you are looking for.
Don’t use Search in the Registry. It has a tree structure like Explorer.
See the PICTURE – the second screenshot in #2286499.
PK, I did exactly what Susan said in the video, from the beginning, but I can’t navigate to HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate because WindowsUpdate does not exist in that location. All the other Windows entries show (WcmSvc and WorkplaceJoin, etc.), as indicated on the video, but WindowsUpdate does not.
I don’t know if this happened after the 2004 upgrade by Microsoft, or if it had occurred earlier, or if I even ever had this option on my Windows’ Home Versions . I had no need to go into the Registry, for this purpose, until now so I don’t know what happened or when it occurred. All I know is that WindowsUpdates does not exist in the specified location.
I know how to add to the Registry, but I don’t know if all the values, etc. would work in this case? I’m not sure either if downloading a registry batch file would work, and would add WindowsUpdates, since I don’t have WindowsUpdates in that location now? I think it would, but I’m not familiar with Registry batch files, or making new additions to the Registry. I have only changed some values in the past, but have never added too.
Thanks again for your assistance.
On the front Blog page here.
There are links to the .reg files for 2004 and 20H2.
Click on the version of your choice (not both, just one) and download the file.
Put it on you desktop and double click on it.
That’s all there is to it.
Did you click on the registry key? The value of Windowsupdate isn’t there on a pristine machine. But the reg key will install it where it needs to go.
Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher
Isn’t it actually ridiculous that people must do so much to either block or receive a Windows upgrade…
People using Windows are not suppose to manage Windows updates/upgrades. Microsoft takes care of everything. According to Windows EULA everything Microsoft does is legal.
No, it restricts a feature update to “not beyond version XXXX” (unless near EOL):
… you can tell Microsoft’s patching process that you expressly want a specific feature release and any other later version is to be ignored.
Silly question, maybe, but here goes.
Do Susan’s .reg files work for 1909 Pro as well as 1909 Home?
If yes, and I want to proceed with one of her .reg files, should I make any other changes first, like to the GUI deferral settings?
After updating to 2004 or 20H2 should I blank out or remove these new registry entries?
Thanks!
They work on both. I use them to keep my system on a certain version. If I want to stay on 2004 then I put that in. If I want to make sure I stay on 20H2 – and I’ll use this when the NEXT version of Windows 10 comes out – I use that one.
Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher
I’d say in general I agree with the advice to just move to 20H2. It’s been out a while and it’s pretty stable.
That said, installing updates depends on repair skill and comfort level after patch failure or system errors. It’s best to be prepared to recover a computer system.
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