Media Creation Tool ISO build question

swarfega said:

It'l unlikely be those sub-builds you mentioned as they are usually Cumulative Updates which come out later.

The MCT will currently make the ISO for build 18362.239.

sportsfan148 said:

Every time Ive clean installed with the Media Creation Tool Ive never once been asked the question whether to let it check for updates during the install process ...

Your right for a clean install.

An in-place upgrade however will by default check for and include updates as part of the install. There is an option to turn off the check.

Pejole2165 said:

Just to clear something up, when we had the .295 CU and people were having issues with it, I downloaded the ISO and switched internet off while I ran it as an upgrade thinking there was a problem with my install causing the CU to fail.
That is when I discovered the ISO actually had the CU already rolled in. When I re-connected to the internet and ran Windows update to check there were no updates available, so the CU that took Windows to the .295 build had indeed been applied to the ISO.
However this was within 2 days of the CU release and lots of people were still having issues with it, so it is entirely possible MS pulled that ISO (makes sense) while they sorted the issues out.

Yeah..thats probably what happened.
After reading what Bree said, it looks like the best way is to download the Media Creation Tool ISO just once, as soon as a new version is released (i.e the upcoming version 1909) and store it safely for future use, such as clean installs, if and when required. Then you have it available if needed throughout the lifetime of version 1909. It seems as if its totally unnecessary to download again if or when newly released Cumulative Updates are added to the ISO as they sometimes are. The next time a Media Creation Tool ISO download might be a good idea would be when version 2003 Feature Update or whatever it might be called is released next year.
Does this seem like a good plan?

sportsfan148 said:

After reading what Bree said, it looks like the best way is to download the Media Creation Tool ISO just once, as soon as a new version is released.... Then you have it available if needed throughout the lifetime of version 1909...
Does this seem like a good plan?

Yes and no.


Yes, in theory. You should not need an updated ISO as a single CU is all it takes to be fully up to date.

But no in practice, at least for 1903. The original 18362.30 ISO had a Setup bug that would not let you do an in-place upgrade while any usb was attached. This was a bit of a pain if the usb happened to be the install media! For every version since 1511 MS have routinely issued an updated ISO some months after the initial release, that would be the one to keep.

Bree said:

Yes and no.


Yes, in theory. You should not need an updated ISO as a single CU is all it takes to be fully up to date.

But no in practice, at least for 1903. The original 18362.30 ISO had a Setup bug that would not let you do an in-place upgrade while any usb was attached. This was a bit of a pain if the usb happened to be the install media! For every version since 1511 MS have routinely issued an updated ISO some months after the initial release, that would be the one to keep.

Hi Bree. I'll bear that in mind. Don't download the first release of a new version ...wait for the second one to be released and download and store that one!
Yeah..I remember reading about that particular bug. Ive never tried an in-place repair/upgrade, although I have seen many people on here mention an in-place repair.
Out of curiosity, regarding in-place repairs. Lets say your Windows 10 PC was currently running version 1903 18362.356 and you wanted to try an in-place repair on it because the PC had an issue. For example, my Media Creation Tool ISO has version 1903 Build 18362.239. Ive read that in order to perform an in-place repair you must use the same ISO build. Does that mean any ISO build as long as it is version 1903? Or...does that mean for an in-place repair to version 1903 18362.356 that Build 18362.239 would be no good because it isn't the exact same Build?

sportsfan148 said:

...Out of curiosity, regarding in-place repairs. Lets say your Windows 10 PC was currently running version 1903 18362.356 and you wanted to try an in-place repair on it because the PC had an issue.... Does that mean any ISO build as long as it is version 1903? Or...does that mean for an in-place repair to version 1903 18362.356 that Build 18362.239 would be no good?

It's the major build number (18362) that's important. Any ISO build of 1903 can be use for an in-place repair upgrade of a 1903 machine, whatever minor build number it is on. Or you could use a 1909 ISO (when it comes out) and get an upgrade as well as a repair. What you can't do is use an ISO from any earlier version (1809 or earlier).

Bree said:

It's the major build number (18362) that's important. Any ISO build of 1903 can be use for an in-place repair upgrade of a 1903 machine, whatever minor build number it is on. Or you could use a 1909 ISO (when it comes out) and get an upgrade as well as a repair. What you can't do is use an ISO from any earlier version (1809 or earlier).

Thanks mate for clarifying that for me. Like I said I've never tried an in-place repair or upgrade but its something I might consider at some point in the future