Newsletter Archives

• I just downloaded a copy of the Win10 ISO installation file. How can I be sure it’s for version 1803?

  Posted on October 10, 2018 at 04:40 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  A very timely question just appeared in my inbox.

  I did do one thing today, that had got “timed-out” earlier this month…  downloaded the Win10-1803 ISO.  Or at least, I think it was the 1803 version, which is what I wanted to ask you about.

  The MediaTool download stated it was for 1803 – can I rely on that being 1803?  Is it possible it slipped me a copy of 1809 while pretending it was 1803?

  I’ve just filed it away for future reference, as an insurance policy (not that I think my machines are deemed to be “supported” for anything past 1511?).

  A whole lot of people are going to be asking that question over the next few days. Fortunately, the answer’s easy – if you know the dism trick.

  Check out my full explanation in the Computerworld article Grab a free copy of Win10 version 1803 and save it for a rainy day.

  If you already have an ISO file and want to know for sure if it’s 1803, start at Step 10.

  Windows News Win10 1803

• Hey, Win10 peeps: Now’s a good time to download and save a fresh, clean copy of Win10 version 1803

  Posted on September 26, 2018 at 13:29 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  It’s a fairly straightforward process, as long as you have access to a Windows 10 machine.

  Step-by-step details in Computerworld Woody on Windows.

  Thx for the nudge, @PKCano!

  Windows News download, Win10 1803, Windows Media Creation Tool

• Has Microsoft moved the cumulative update cheese?

  Posted on September 21, 2018 at 10:20 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  UPDATE: There’s another possibility. Is it possible that Microsoft has pulled KB 4458469 (and possibly the other cumulative updates released yesterday) from Windows Update? It’s still available from the Catalog, but apparently has never been in WSUS. Big problems with the patch? Is MS waiting for a Friday Night News Dump opportunity?

  I’m trying to figure out whether yesterdays Win10 patches are installed automatically by Windows Update. Could use some crowdsourced intelligence. (Or any intelligence, for that matter.)

  Many people are complaining that they don’t see the 1803 patch even if they manually invoke Windows Update. It’s possible (as @PKCano notes) that the difference lies in whether Win10 Pro users have Semi-Annual Channel or Semi-Annual Channel (Targeted) selected. Home users don’t have the option of course.

  It’s also possible that KB 4458469 is being rolled out verrrrrrrry slowly.

  There’s another possibility.

  The terminology in the KB article has changed. The Sept. 17 patch says:

  How to get this update

  ---

  This update will be downloaded and installed automatically from Windows Update. To get the stand-alone package for this update, go to the Microsoft Update Catalog website.

  Which is what you would expect. On the other hand, the Sept. 20 patch says:

  Install this update

  To download and install this update, go to Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update and select Check for updates.

  To get the standalone package for this update, go to the Microsoft Update Catalog website.

  That seems to imply that only “seekers” — people who click on Check for updates — will get the patch. But, demonstrably, not all Win10 1803 “seekers” — users who check for updates — actually get it. There’s no reference to SAC/SAC(T).

  Can anyone shed some light on the availability of any of yesterday’s patches, based on:

  • Whether you’re using Pro or Home. (Both Home and Pro users have confirmed that they’re getting the 1803 update — but both Home and Pro users have said they aren’t getting KB 4458469 .)
  • If Pro, whether you’re set for SAC or SAC(T)
  • Whether you’re a seeker — you manually click on Check for Updates, or just let the Windows Update steamroller jugger your naut.
  • Any other chicken entrails you can discern.

  FWIW, my 1803 machine is Pro, SAC(T) — I have it intentionally at the default update settings — and even when I seek I don’t see the update.

  Observations greatly appreciated.

  Windows Patches/Security KB 4458469, Win10 1803

• How to upgrade from Win10 Pro 1703 to 1709 — and not 1803

  Posted on August 28, 2018 at 07:37 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  There are some interesting discussions in the forum, kicked off by CyGuy, about the precise nature of the “feature update deferral” setting in Win10’s Updates Advanced Options.

  If you’re on 1703 (my production machines are all on 1703) and you want to move to 1803, it’s easy – just set the feature update deferral to 0 days, and run through Windows Update once. As long as you do that before 1809 is released, you’ll end up on 1803.

  But zero2dash has conducted some experiments with VMs that make me wonder if it’s possible to move from 1703 to 1709 by setting the “feature update deferral” to a number larger than 48 but less than 221 (give or take a day or two, as time marches on).

  Can any of you confirm?

  I have a copy of 1709 stuck on a USB stick and can upgrade from 1703 to 1709 that way, if worse comes to worst. But it’d be a whole lot easier to just set “feature update deferral” to 200 days and let Windows have its way.

  Windows News Win10 1703, Win10 1709, Win10 1803

• Microsoft releases weird “Critical Update” that apparently fixes the TLS 1.2 problem in Win10 version 1803

  Posted on August 17, 2018 at 09:48 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  An anonymous poster just pointed me to two new entries in the Microsoft Update Catalog that apparently — apparently — solve the TLS 1.2 bug.

  The TLS 1.2 bug caused Microsoft to stop upgrading 1709 machines to 1803, if they were running .NET applications that rely on TLS 1.2 — notably including QuickBooks Desktop.

  32-bit patch is here

  64-bit patch is here

  Computerworld Woody on Windows.

  UPDATE: The KB article has been modified (finally) to say:

  Microsoft has now resolved this issue for some devices. An update is available on Microsoft’s Update Catalog as of August 16, 2018 for those customers who have Intuit QuickBooks installed.

  These customers may also check for updates on Windows Update by going to Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update and selecting Check for updates.

  For devices that do not have Intuit QuickBooks installed and who are experiencing this issue:  Microsoft is working on a resolution and will provide an update in an upcoming release.

  Windows Patches/Security TLS 1.2, Win10 1803

• Win10 1803 boot failure loop: bootres.dll is corrupt

  Posted on August 16, 2018 at 10:43 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  This appears to be a general 1803 bug, not associated with any specific cumulative update.

  From @Dougcuk:

  There is recurring issue reported online where Win10 gets stuck in a repair loop. The Win10 Recovery Environment (RE) option Startup Repair fails to correct the problem. The Startup Repair log c:\windows\system32\logfiles\srt\SrtTrail.txt reports a fault:

  Root cause found:
  —————————
  Boot critical file c:\efi\microsoft\boot\resources\custom\bootres.dll is corrupt.

  Repair action: File repair
  Result: Failed. Error code = 0x57

  The odd part of this error is the “Custom” folder location – this is not part of the normal folder structure. The bootres.dll file normally resides in the “Resources” folder with the BCD file in the folder above (Boot).

  What the error is reporting is that the bootres.dll file is missing (rather than corrupted) On the systems I have checked the “Custom” folder does NOT even exist – thus the bootres.dll cannot be present at this location and is declared “corrupt” by the Startup Repair utility.

  The bigger mystery is why the System thinks the file should be located in a “Custom” sub-folder in the first place. (Also I think the c: drive letter shown is an artifact – most likely it refers to the first partition – not the actual main C: drive – but that is a whole different can of worms)

  I am currently working on two HP laptops with this exact problem – both went down within an hour of each other. At first I though it must be a virus or malware attack gone wrong – but could find no evidence to support this idea.

  Having read multiple postings and responses across many different online forums: The evidence suggests this is a Microsoft bug that affects a limited number of Win10 systems. The problem appears to affect systems recently upgraded to version 1803 (only one case listed 1709 on a Surface device) – but only occurs after further updates (as yet unidentified) and then a full restart.

  I am exploring BCD repair and rebuild options with some success – but have no clean fix as yet (the standard RE repair options get lost)

  Anyone have any experience of this problem or ideas as to what causes this error?

  Other bootres.dll, Win10 1803

• Microsoft is no longer pushing version 1803 onto machines that have TLS 1.2-dependent apps installed

  Posted on August 15, 2018 at 11:00 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  Microsoft is no longer pushing the Win10 1803 update to systems that have TLS 1.2-dependent apps installed, including those with Intuit QuickBooks Desktop.

  Per @Abbodi86:

  New .NET side issue 😀
  https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4458166/applications-that-rely-on-tls-1-2-strong-encryption-experience-connect

  We have temporarily suspended offering the Windows 10, version 1803 update to customer systems that run applications for which this is known to be an active problem.

  It affect all .NET versions upto 4.7.2

  Windows Patches/Security Win10 1803

• Eight new entries in the Update Catalog – appear to be metadata changes

  Posted on July 18, 2018 at 06:24 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  On the 17th, Microsoft re-released eight patches in the Update Catalog.

  They cover Win10 1803, 1709, and Server 2016.

  As best I can tell, there have been no changes to the patches themselves, so it’s likely these are “metadata” changes — adjustments to the installation logic for the patches.

  The KB articles now have correct build numbers listed, by the way. But only at the top of each KB article. The slider on the left still has the incorrect build numbers. For example, the latest Win10 1803 patch is listed at the top as build 17134.167, while on the left index it’s shown as 17134.166.

  A foolish inconsistency.

  Windows Patches/Security Server 2016, Win10 1709, Win10 1803

• The Big Bug rollup: Many problems, few solutions, with bugs in the July Patch Tuesday crop

  Posted on July 12, 2018 at 07:46 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  I can’t believe how many bugs we’re seeing in this month’s patches.

  Oh. Wait a sec. Yeah, I can believe it.

  If you’re applying Windows/Office updates as soon as they come out, you clearly don’t understand the situation.

  Computerworld Woody on Windows.

  Windows Patches/Security 0x80092004, delta update, July 2018 Black Tuesday, KB 2952664, KB 2976978, KB 4023057, KB 4132216, KB 4338419, KB 4338814, KB 4339420, KB 4340558, KB 4343669, Win10 1803

• What, exactly, does the switch in Win10 1803 from “Semi-Annual Channel (Targeted)” to “Semi-Annual Channel NOT (Targeted)” really mean?

  Posted on July 11, 2018 at 10:13 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  I’m struggling with this one. I see how the Windows 10 Release Information page has been changed, dropping the old footnote about “reflect existing deferral policies” (which I never understood in the first place).

  Now that it’s “Semi-Annual Channel NOT (Targeted),” what does that mean? Really.

  Susan Bradley tackled the topic last week. I don’t see any definitive conclusions — or even a hint as to what yesterday’s change really means.

  Hold the hand waving. I want to know what the typical Win10 user or admin will see.

  Here’s what I have so far:

  Win10 April 2018 update — good ol’ version 1803 — now appears in the Windows 10 release information list as “Semi-Annual Channel.” What’s more the bizarre blurb that appeared as a footnote in that post on Tuesday morning is now gone:

  (1) Windows 10, version 1803 designation has been updated to reflect the servicing option available in the operating system and to reflect existing deferral policies. We recommend organizations broadly deploy the latest version of Windows 10 when they are ready, and not wait until the “Targeted” designation has been removed.

  … surely one of the worst cases of Microsoft bafflegab ever.

  On June 14, Microsoft declared:

  Based on the update quality and reliability we are seeing through our AI approach, we are now expanding the release broadly to make the April 2018 Update (version 1803) fully available for all compatible devices running Windows 10 worldwide. Full availability is the final phase of our rollout process.

  Now, it seems, version 1803 has been kicked up from “(Targeted)” to, uh, Not (Targeted) — without fanfare, and with no explanation. How Not (Targeted) differs from “fully available” remains a mystery.

  It appears as if this change in the footnote is a warning that version 1803 is headed out to 1703 or 1709 machines that are set to defer upgrades awaiting “Current Branch for Business” (1703) or “Semi-Annual Channel” (1709) and with the feature update deferral set to 0.

  Windows Patches/Security Win10 1803

• Patch Lady – Is 1803 really Semi-Annual?

  Posted on July 5, 2018 at 14:44 CDT by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  So back on June 14, Microsoft said that 1803 was available to all and others (ZDnet/Mary Jo Foley for one) said that 1803 moved to the semi-annual channel.  Yet this page (which to be fair hasn’t been the most up to date and accurate about the release info) still says 1803 is Semi-annual targeted and has this cryptic footnote:

  (1) Windows 10, version 1803 designation has been updated to reflect the servicing option available in the operating system and to reflect existing deferral policies. We recommend organizations broadly deploy the latest version of Windows 10 when they are ready, and not wait until the “Targeted” designation has been removed.

  Several folks on the patchmanagement.org list have indicated that they too haven’t seen 1803 come down on a computer that has (remember it still has the old wording) Current branch for Business(*) and 0 day deferral.

  Historically the declaration of CB/the new Semi Annual would mean that it could be offered up not that it suddenly got shoved out to all machines.  Also in the past I’ve often been told that Microsoft still “throttles” updates during this period and dials it up more as the success rate goes up.  Often you’ll see a feature release suddenly get offered up right after a compat/dynamic update got released as they fixed some blocking “thing” in the background.  Which would be nice to know ahead of time that your system was or was not ready for the upgrade.

  In this day and age where my Doctor, my Dentist, and even Comcast texts me ahead of time when an appointment is coming up, it would be nice if there was some more positive process that let you know how well your machine was ready for feature releases.  It still feels too arbitrary and not intelligent enough.  My last 1709 experience, I had a small hard drive machine say to me that it would have no problem upgrading and then it barfed EVERY time until I attached an external USB hard drive.  Which reminds me I need to do that again as it’s still on 1709 and hasn’t gotten it’s 1803 update.

  So are you seeing 1803 on a Current Branch for Business(*) deferral machine?

  (*) I did it again, I called Current Branch for Business, Current Branch, sorry about that!

  Windows Patches/Security Patch Lady Posts, Semi-Annual Channel, Win10 1803

• Win10 version 1803 declared “fully available,” throwing Update for Business under the bus

  Posted on June 15, 2018 at 06:55 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  Microsoft just announced that Win10 1803 is “fully available” thus overriding at least one of your settings for blocking the inevitable upgrade. This, in spite of the fact that 1803 has multiple, known, acknowledged, hard bugs.

  Why?

  Computerworld Woody on Windows.

  Windows Patches/Security Win10 1803
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