Help with updates 1903 & 1909 - major issues

Zorbitron · 26 Mar 2020

Hello,

I tried to read before posting this but it seems either I waited to long before asking or not many of you have had the same issues.... so hopefully I will get an answer here....

Back in November I was "forced" to "upgrade" to 1903 (was running 1809 build 17763.1098... and still am !!)
After 2 days of download, install, crash, reinstall, etc etc.... I ended with a laptop (HP Envy 17) that had MAJOR issues such as Internet connectivity issues (drivers incompatible), battery charging issues (plugged in not charging), WiFi icon changed and horribly confusing, and the list goes on... I forget all the other issues I had but suffice it to say that I hated my computer and it became extremely slow.....
So I uninstalled the "update/upgrade" and went back to 1809..... all was good.... until yesterday.... when my computer started being very very slow again, couldn't open Chrome, Facebook, etc.... all timing out.... because the 1909 update was downloading in the background........ and then prompted me to restart to finish the install...... NO WAY !!!
After a long time to fix that issue (delete download & install files, etc)... I was able t remove that prompt, download and install..... but..... it started again a few minutes ago.... I stopped the Windows Update Service.... and came here for your advice..... (BTW the plugged in not charging problem is back too !!!)

So here are the questions.....
- Is 1909 better than 1903 was ??? And will all the issues I had with 1903 be the same with 1909??
- If it is the same as 1903 and has same forced "upgrades" (which I hate and dont want) how can I prevent my laptop from downloading and installing 1909 ??

I fully understand that means I would not have any more updates from Windows (my version no longer supported) but I dont care... my laptop WAS working fine before Microsoft decided to force an update I dont want, dont need and only causes issues on my computer.

Thanks for your help and let me know if you have any questions or if I forgot any info.
Z.

Jacee · 26 Mar 2020

Hi Zorbitron 1909 is good. When installing updates, disable your Antivirus and disconnect any peripherals that may be plugged in.

Zorbitron · 26 Mar 2020

UPDATE:
- I stopped the windows update service (it was downloading, was at 13%)
- I deleted the battery/charge drivers from device manager
- powered down my laptop, removed the battery, replaced it and restarted.....

My laptop restarted faster than it did since yesterday afternoon but I have the mention "update failed" Retry in the Windows Update page.
Battery charging again... at 96% and climbing

Looking forward to get your input, advice & recommendations.
Thanks, Z.

- - - Updated - - -

Jacee said:

Hi Zorbitron 1909 is good. When installing updates, disable your Antivirus and disconnect any peripherals that may be plugged in.

Hi Jacee, I don't have any peripherals plugged in (only my wireless mouse.. should i unplug the usb adaptor ??) and I would disable my antivirus (Avast Pro) before installing the update.... IF I decide to do so.....

You say 1909 is "good"..... in what aspects ?? Have the issues I had with 1903 resolved ??
(are we forced to have the ridiculous wifi new icons?, are battery/charging issues fixed ?? and more importantly.... Are the connectivity problems resolved ??? (I kept being disconnected for no reason and wifi signal was much lower than prior to 1903 update)

Thanks for your help, Z.

sygnus21 · 26 Mar 2020

Zorbitron said:

You say 1909 is "good"..... in what aspects ?? Have the issues I had with 1903 resolved ??
(are we forced to have the ridiculous wifi new icons?, are battery/charging issues fixed ?? and more importantly.... Are the connectivity problems resolved ??? (I kept being disconnected for no reason and wifi signal was much lower than prior to 1903 update)

No one, not even Microsoft, can tell you 1909 is "good" because not everyone runs the same hardware and software. And no one knows what pre-existing issues others are having. All "I" can say is 1909 works for me. Someone else may say it didn't work for them. In the end totals will speak.

There's always going to be the sensationalist claiming the sky is falling but upon closer review only reveals a slight drizzle easily cleaned up. At the end of the day the choice is yours to make. Not ours.

Oh, and BTW, I've never found an icon's aesthetics to impact performance on my system

Good luck.

Zorbitron · 26 Mar 2020

sygnus21 said:

No one, not even Microsoft, can tell you 1909 is "good" because not everyone runs the same hardware and software. And no one knows what pre-existing issues others are having. All "I" can say is 1909 works for me. Someone else may say it didn't work for them. In the end totals will speak.

There's always going to be the sensationalist claiming the sky is falling but upon closer review only reveals a slight drizzle easily cleaned up. At the end of the day the choice is yours to make. Not ours.

Oh, and BTW, I've never found an icon's aesthetics to impact performance on my system

Good luck.

Thanks for the input !!!

Sorry I should have clarified... the wifi icon did not affect my laptop performance... it affected mine !!!
As I live in an area where internet is "average" at best (usually top speed of 3mb with avg of 1.8mb and less than 1mb during peek hours) and connection to DNS server drops often... very often.... having the visual aid of the current icons (with yellow exclamation mark) really helps me to know when I have connectivity or not.... so the "new & improved" icons are absolutely useless to me and end up creating a waste of time (because I have to check a lot more often the connection status by having to hover or click on the icon to know what is going on)
That being said... that also explains why connectivity issues and loss of signal are things I cannot view as only "minor issues" with the updates (1903 & probably 1909 too).

Combine the above issues (and the ones I forget I had back in November) with the fact that my laptop is far from new (HP Envy 17 - k011nr, with Atheros AR5B125, came with windows 8.1 64-bit and is about 5 years old (I think))...and sadly I am not able to replace it at the time being...... what would you suggest I do ??
- Disable the update ? (If so can you give me procedures or link to it) and leave my laptop "as is" knowing it is no longer supported or updated
- Let the update do its thing, (will be very very long to download and install like last time I am sure.. prob over 2 days again!) and then see what the result is ?? *** If so should I prompt the "check for update", download & install ?? (with antivirus off and mouse usb unplugged)
- If I do that and the result is same as before... can I uninstall it and revert back to my current version ??

Thanks again, Z.

Matthew Wai · 26 Mar 2020

Zorbitron said:

You say 1909 is "good"..... in what aspects ?? Have the issues I had with 1903 resolved ??

I would say that 1903 works perfectly on my low-end PC. So, even if 1909 is "good" on someone else' PC, it does not follow that it will be good on yours.

Zorbitron · 26 Mar 2020

Matthew Wai said:

I would say that 1903 works perfectly on my low-end PC. So, even if 1909 is "good" on someone else' PC, it does not follow that it will be good on yours.

That is what I am afraid of.... mostly due to the bad experience (and wasted time & effort) I had with the 1903 update back in November!!!.

Matthew Wai · 26 Mar 2020

Zorbitron said:

- Disable the update ? (If so can you give me procedures or link to it)

As usual, I would post a link to my tutorial: Using CMD script and VBScript to control Windows Update

dalchina · 26 Mar 2020

Hi, if your PC is indeed incompatible with 1903/1909 e.g. compatible drivers unavailable etc (I've not attempted to check the age of your machine or look for experience of other users with this PC - have you tried that?) then you can indeed stay with 1809.

There are very good proven free 3rd party utilities you can use to give you complete control of Windows updates.

For example see the one given in Option 7:
Enable or Disable Windows Update Automatic Updates in Windows 10

Then there are
WUmgr
Sledgehammer
etc.

These have been around a long time now, and have been referred to may times here. You may wish to make use of one rather than remaining so frustrated.

Zorbitron · 26 Mar 2020

Matthew Wai said:

As usual, I would post a link to my tutorial: Using CMD script and VBScript to control Windows Update

Am I to understand that that is your recommendation ??

Thanks for the link, will go read it now.

- - - Updated - - -

dalchina said:

Hi, if your PC is indeed incompatible with 1903/1909 e.g. compatible drivers unavailable etc (I've not attempted to check the age of your machine or look for experience of other users with this PC - have you tried that?) then you can indeed stay with 1809.

There are very good proven free 3rd party utilities you can use to give you complete control of Windows updates.

For example see the one given in Option 7:
Enable or Disable Windows Update Automatic Updates in Windows 10

Then there are
WUmgr
Sledgehammer
etc.

These have been around a long time now, and have been referred to may times here. You may wish to make use of one rather than remaining so frustrated.

Thanks for the info and being str8 fwd !!
I did lookup the incompatibility issues and chatted with a few people with this pc model back in November... at that time most were doing like I did ... uninstall the update, but that was for version 1903 so I was looking to see if same issues were still happening with 1909 update (sadly I cannot find links to that forum anymore) ....
I do have a 3rd party software already installed which I think can block windows update (Ultimate Windows Tweaker) - I haven't used it in a long time but will open it and see what option it has..... BUT.....

What about my other question..... IF I decide to let it "upgrade" and see what the result is..... will I be able to uninstall it and revert back to my current version like I did with 1903 back in November??
If so... do you suggest I try that before thinking of blocking windows update and possibly running into other issues??

Thanks, Z

- - - Updated - - -

dalchina said:

Hi, if your PC is indeed incompatible with 1903/1909 e.g. compatible drivers unavailable etc (I've not attempted to check the age of your machine or look for experience of other users with this PC - have you tried that?) then you can indeed stay with 1809.

Where can I find a "compatibility checker" for this update ??
(I had used one back in November, either by HP or Microsoft I forget where, and it had passed.... according to that "test" lollll. With ONLY the mention that my wireless card drivers had to be updated.... which I tried but Atheros had no updated drivers at the time..... but do they now ?? ..... Another thing I would have to check.....)

This will turn out to be a 2-3 day project..... at least it will keep me busy during my social distancing and self-isolation ;-)