Help with updates 1903 & 1909 - major issues

Bree said:

Yes, they are. See the 'Our Sites' list at the bottom of every page. Many members are registered on both, this would seem to be you: Zorbitron's Seven Forums Profile (Last Activity: 13 Jan 2010)

Wow that is so nice of you to have found my old profile.... will go check it out. Thanks

Bree said:

1903 and 1909 share a common set of system files, the only difference between the two is that the new features are turned on by a small enablement package. So if 1903 gave you trouble, so would 1909.

Yes 1903 (back in November) did give me a lot of trouble, some of it was my issues with some of the changes (re. Wifi icons - see previous comment as to reason why) but most of the issues were related to connectivity (besides my Atheros card update not avail at that time) and as Internet is already very slow here.. having my signal strength reduced significantly and not being able to connect at all to a type of router (common here) was the point at which I said.... get this off my computer!!
So, luckily, at that time it was possible to uninstall the 1903 update and revert back to 1809.... but that is no longer the case now from what I understand....
so I have to decide IF I want to do the "upgrade" to 1909 and live with the consequences (and the changes I dislike!!)

In regards to the Enablement Package, In the same document Microsoft also said:
If a device is updating from Windows 10, version 1809 (That's me....) or an earlier version, this feature update enablement package cannot be manually installed. Instead, it is bundled and automatically included with the feature update to Windows 10, version 1909

Bree said:

Personally, in your situation I would first make a system image with Macrium Reflect Free then, when I'm confident I could restore the system as it stands now, I'd try a clean install of 1909.

Yes and you are not the only one to recommend I do a system image not only as a solution in the event 1909 really does not work well on my pc (drivers/signal/etc) in order to restore my system BUT also as "something that I should have done before as a safety precaution in the event of hard drive failure, malware, etc etc etc ...

You guys have convinced me that it is worth it for me to do a system image !!! Thanks
I am already downloading Macrium Reflect as we speak ;-)

Now I have to find both of my external hard drives and empty one of them as the system has to be done on an empty usb drive.... is that correct ??

Also, regarding the issues with the 1909 update I had yesterday and how I temporarily resolved it by using the command prompt to stop Windows Update Service.... do I need to revert that and if so how ?? (by doing the same procedure and only changing command text?).

And.... I had deleted the content of C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download
I just checked on one of those folders (still in Recycle bin) and the content is 9.2 GB .. which is probably update 1909 as I had the prompt "ready to install" restart computer...
Due to the internet speeds here and how long it would take if I do a "check for update" and let re-download, is it possible to simply restore them from the recycle bin (after I reactive the update service of course) and restart my computer to see if the prompt to restart to install is back ??
Or is that too risky and should not even be attempted??

Thank you very much for ll your help. Now I will go start working on cleaning my ext drive and installing Macrium.

Would you consider clean installing 1909 instead of upgrading to it? You don't have to check for updates. Just download the ISO file directly from Microsoft.

Zorbitron said:

In regards to the Enablement Package, In the same document Microsoft also said:
If a device is updating from Windows 10, version 1809 (That's me....) or an earlier version, this feature update enablement package cannot be manually installed. Instead, it is bundled and automatically included with the feature update to Windows 10, version 1909

That is true, the enablement package turns 1903 into 1909. You'd need the full upgrade to go from 1809 to 1909. You'd still have the default 10 days in which you could go back to your previous Windows though, provided you don't delete the Windows.old folder.

Go Back to the Previous Version of Windows in Windows 10

And that default can be changed and set to anything up to 60 days.

Set Number of Days can Go Back to Previous Version of Windows

Yes and you are not the only one to recommend I do a system image not only as a solution in the event 1909 really does not work well on my pc (drivers/signal/etc) in order to restore my system BUT also as "something that I should have done before as a safety precaution in the event of hard drive failure, malware, etc etc etc ...
You guys have convinced me that it is worth it for me to do a system image !!! Thanks

My reasons were slightly different from the others, I'd like to see how a clean install of 1909 behaves. The same test could be done without the aid of Macrium if you had a spare blank HDD you could swap in as a temporary replacement for your current drive.

Now I have to find both of my external hard drives and empty one of them as the system has to be done on an empty usb drive.... is that correct ??.

Macrium can save the system image to any external usb HDD. it doesn't have to be blank, it just needs sufficient free space to hold the system image file. This image will be about 60% to 70% of the total used size of the partitions being imaged.

You'd also need to make bootable Macrium recovery usb in order to restore an image. for that almost any usb stick would do, it only occupies less than 1GB. A blank usb stick would be best for that. Alternatively, you could make a bootable DVD if your PC has an optical drive.

Matthew Wai said:

Would you consider clean installing 1909 instead of upgrading to it? You don't have to check for updates. Just download the ISO file directly from Microsoft.

YES I would consider it.... but.... due to the connection speeds here (2Mb on a good day) it would take me a long long time to download it.
Last November (and I was using a reliable 4MB at the time) It took almost 6 hours to download it.

That is why I was asking if restoring from recycle bin the folders I deleted yesterday (9.2gb) was a possible option ??

- - - Updated - - -

Here is what I have done so far....

External HDD - Realized I had done a backup a month ago, so I just transferred to my 2nd one a few things as, according to previous comment/info I do not need to empty it to use it with Macrium (great news!!). I just created a folder called "backup 2020" and put all files in there and I still have 489 GB free on it ...

I installed Macrium Reflect & registered it, once done I was prompted to restart my computer, which I did.... that is where my problems started... I thought it was slow to shut down/restarting due to the new install but that was not the case.... my computer is very slow to start compared to a few days ago (before my 1st issues with 1909 download, blocking, deleting, etc) AND Avast Premium said it couldn't start the service... and my computer was extremely slow during that time (with action warning too).. so slow I could barely do a search .... anyways.... I closed the Avast window and let things be for a couple minutes... and guess what.. Avast opened and after that my computer was back to "normal".....

So now I am wondering if I should not resolve these issues before creating an image or attempting any kind of Windows update.... what do you think ?

I looked at my restore points and I have one from 5 days ago (auto restore point), should I attempt a system restore to before all these issues ? and what would that mean in regards to what I did yesterday ?

Thanks again for all your help....

- - - Updated - - -

That's it... for today.
Will continue in the morning (after reading your useful comments, with coffee in hand and a fresh set of eyes)... lol.

Thanks again,
Z

Zorbitron said:

I looked at my restore points and I have one from 5 days ago (auto restore point), should I attempt a system restore to before all these issues ? and what would that mean in regards to what I did yesterday ?

I suggest restoring your system to a point when the issues did not exist. Then, disable the Windows Update service immediately.

Jacee said:

Avast may be the problem with your computer!

Would you suggest uninstalling & reinstalling Avast Premium AND Avast Clean-up ... or just attempt a system restore to a point before all this happened?? (I have one from the 22nd - Auto restore point)....

Thanks

- - - Updated - - -

Matthew Wai said:

I suggest restoring your system to a point when the issues did not exist. Then, disable the Windows Update service immediately.

Ok sounds like a plan.... one question before I start this process (and will be offline for a while as a system restore takes about 20-25 min).... should I turn off wifi and disable the Windows Update service ??....
ANd if all goes well from that point.... (after a second restart to be sure..lol) then I would proceed with the install of Macrium and do a "clean" image?

Thanks

Your may disable the WU service if you intend to clean install 1909, but I don't know why Wi-Fi has to be off.
If everything is fine after the restoration, you may proceed with what other members have suggested.
I know nothing about Macrium, which I have never used.

Matthew Wai said:

Your may disable the WU service if you intend to clean install 1909, but I don't know why Wi-Fi has to be off.
If everything is fine after the restoration, you may proceed with what other members have suggested.
I know nothing about Macrium, which I have never used.

Thanks... I just thought if I turn off the wifi there is less risk of Windows trying to update before I turn off the WU...
I am almost ready to begin the restore... Fingers crossed that will resolve my current issues and will allow me to do a clean image....
Lets try it first and see if it works before I ask questions about the next steps.....

Zorbitron said:

Thanks... I just thought if I turn off the wifi there is less risk of Windows trying to update before I turn off the WU...

If Windows Update is so fast, turn off your Wi-Fi first. I don't know how fast it can be.
That said, after clean installing Windows 10, I disabled auto-updates before setting up a connection.