I recently installed Windows 7 on a computer that was previously running Windows XP, and encountered a few issues. The biggest problem was Windows Update, which has trouble with new Windows 7 installs because of the huge number of post-Service Pack 1 updates. If you’re looking for a solution to that problem, you may want to skip to the Windows Update discussion, or jump directly to the fix that worked for me.

Install Now!

Booting from a Windows 7 install disc, the first thing I saw was a lone button in the center of the screen: Install Now. I found this disconcerting, because I was expecting to be able to choose a drive and partition on which to install Windows 7.

Not wanting the installer to choose the wrong partition, I powered down and disconnected all non-essential hard drives. Rebooting from the Windows 7 disc again, I clicked the Install Now button and was eventually allowed to choose the install destination. With a mixture of annoyance and relief, I carried on…

You should upgrade! (not)

I was planning a clean install, since as far as I was aware, it isn’t possible to upgrade from XP to 7.

Proceeding with the install, I assumed there would be no upgrade option. But the installer found the old Windows XP installation (which made sense), and suggested that I should perform an upgrade instead (which was unexpected).

So I followed the instructions: I rebooted the computer, this time from the old boot hard drive, which started Windows XP. Then I inserted the Windows 7 disc, and was told that upgrading from Windows XP to 7 was not possible. Thanks a lot for wasting my time, Microsoft.

Disconnect external drives

Proceeding with a clean install, past the message encouraging me to perform an upgrade install, past a warning about the old Windows directory being renamed windows.old, I was next informed that the installer was “unable to create a new system partition or locate an existing system partition.” There was no way to get past this message.

Turning to Google, I discovered that this message can occur when an external drive is connected to the computer. Remember when I said I disconnected all the other drives? Well, I forgot the external. I unplugged it, rebooted from the Windows 7 disc, and this time, the error did not appear.

In the good old days, Microsoft produced service packs for Windows. These were essentially giant collections of all previous updates, and were a big time saver for IT folks. Install Windows, download and run the most recent service pack, then install a few newer updates, and you’re done. Microsoft even provided Windows media with current service packs pre-installed, to save even more time.

Windows 7 Service Pack 1 was the last service pack ever, as Microsoft declined to produce SP2. It’s been a while since SP1, and Windows 7 is still supported, so the pile of post-SP1 patches is getting big. Well over 200, anyway. And this is a problem.

Aside: some people claim that the best way to install updates on a new Windows 7 install is to leave Automatic Updates enabled and walk away from the computer. This isn’t a viable option if you’re billing by the hour or have other clients waiting. Also, the idea of leaving everything in the hands of Microsoft makes me uneasy.

On my first attempt to run Windows Update, it displayed this error code: 8007000E. Microsoft provides a ‘help with this error’ link, which I clicked. This popped up a help dialog with a list of Windows Update error codes, but 8007000E was not listed. Not very helpful.

I tried running the Windows Update Troubleshooter, which claimed to find problems and fix them. After rebooting, I tried again to run Windows Update.

At this point, Windows Update said it was checking for updates, and it stayed like that for about an hour before I finally gave up and rebooted. Which brings up an interesting question: how long are we supposed to wait for Windows Update to check for updates? There’s no way for a user to determine whether Windows Update is actually doing something, or just frozen/hung. The progress indicator keeps whizzing by regardless. Yes, there are a lot of updates. But there’s no way it should take hours just to determine which updates are available.

After rebooting, I activated Windows 7, on the off chance that this would help. Running Windows Update again, I was presented with another, different error code: 80244019. And once again, the code wasn’t listed in the ‘help with this error code’ dialog.

Turning again to Google, I found a Microsoft knowledge base article about error code 80244019. This suggested that the computer had a virus. Really? A clean install onto a computer that’s behind a router isn’t going to magically become infected with a virus. However, I installed anti-malware software and ran a scan, which of course found nothing of interest.

Eventually, I decided to look for help elsewhere on the web. In other words, anywhere but Microsoft. And found it, on superuser, an extremely useful site where you can ask questions and get answers from other users. Full disclaimer: I’m an active contributor to the site.

Superuser to the rescue

The superuser question that provided the solution is titled “Windows 7 SP1 Windows Update stuck checking for updates“, and there are several answers.

The answer with the highest number of votes recommends installing Microsoft update KB3102810. I installed that update, rebooted, and tried Windows Update again. Almost immediately, it found 161 updates. Success? Only partly. After about an hour of thrashing, Windows Update reported that 93 updates had installed successfully, while 68 update failed to install. It also mentioned two more error codes, 8024200D and 8007000E. Yeesh.

After rebooting, I tried to install the magical KB3102810 update again, but was informed that it was already installed.

Referring again to that helpful superuser question, I decided to try the recommendations in the second highest ranking answer, which I have modified slightly:

1. Make sure automatic updates are completely disabled: Control Panel > Windows Update > Change settings > Important updates > Never check for updates.
2. Download the KB3138612 update, saving it somewhere you’ll remember.
3. Download the Windows 7 System Update Readiness Tool (SUR), saving it somewhere you’ll remember.
4. Restart the computer.
5. Install the `KB3138612` update, running it from where you downloaded it earlier.
6. If you’re prompted to restart, do so.
7. Install the SUR Tool, running it from where you downloaded it earlier. This is a large set of updates and can take a while to install.
8. If you’re prompted to restart, do so.
9. Run Windows Update and check for updates. It may take a few minutes to finish checking.
10. Install any remaining updates.

Following this procedure resolved all remaining problems. At the final Windows Update check, there were sixty-two important updates and sixty-three optional updates. All 62 of the important updates installed successfully.

Conclusions

Microsoft’s help for Windows Update problems like these is useless:

• error codes are not listed in the popup help for those codes;
• the many Knowledge Base articles on this subject are not helpful; and
• various troubleshooters and FixIts are rarely effective (note that the third answer on that superuser question suggested running one of these, and although it was the accepted answer, it got far fewer votes).

Since I’m curious about the Windows 10 auto-update process, I usually wait for new builds to be installed automatically before I write about them. Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 14328 was announced on April 22, but this morning (April 27), I started to wonder why my test computer was still running Build 14316.

The Windows Update settings page informed me that there had been a problem connecting with the update servers. Below this message was a Retry button. Clicking the button immediately started installing Build 14332, which was announced on April 26.

I’m not sure I understand what Microsoft thinks an ‘automatic’ update system should do, if it doesn’t automatically retry after failed server connections. Oh well, this is a preview build. Presumably this sort of thing won’t happen with release builds.

In any case, this means we have two builds to discuss.

Build 14328

The most notable change in 14328 is the introduction of Windows Ink, which adds pen/touch input support to Windows 10 and many of its included apps. If you don’t use a touch interface, this won’t be of much interest, although you can still use the Ink features.

Build 14328 includes welcome enhancements to the Start menu, although it’s still not possible to add custom entries. That functionality died with Windows 7, and it seems unlikely to return at this point.

Cortana can now be activated from the lock screen, which is obviously much more convenient for folks who use Cortana but also value security.

Windows 10’s search capabilities are improved in Build 14328; it now searches files on OneDrive cloud storage as well as local files.

Improvements to the Action Center include a more distinct notification icon, which now shows the number of pending notifications. Quick Actions may now be customized.

You can now access your calendar from the date/time display in the notification area, a feature that existed in Windows 95 but vanished in later versions for no apparent reason.

The taskbar clock now appears on all displays, something that gamers will appreciate. Taskbar settings are now on the All Settings screen. Why they were ever missing is a mystery.

The audio icon in the notification area now allows switching between audio output devices, something we’ve wanted to see in Windows for ages.

The Apps and Features settings page has a new feature that will reset a misbehaving app to its default settings.

Security was improved further with the removal of email addresses from the lock screen (by default). The lock screen now also includes media controls, so you don’t need to unlock Windows to play the next track.

Various bug fixes and visual changes round out this build, including new and improved icons for Windows Explorer and settings pages.

Build 14332

In this build, support for Linux programs is improved. I’m still not able to use this interesting feature, because my test PC is running a 32-bit Windows 10 build. I could upgrade it to 64-bit, but it also only has 2 GB of RAM, and although that’s technically enough to run 64-bit Windows 10, enabling the Linux subsystem and its other requirements will almost certainly overload it. 🙁

Cortana can now search documents on Office 365.

Changes to power management should improve battery life in this build.

Numerous bugs were also fixed in this build.

Last week Microsoft pushed out another preview build for Windows 10: build 14316.

For me, the most interesting aspect of build 14316 is ability to use Linux commands from the Windows 10 command line. Getting this to actually work involves a few additional steps, including installation of Visual Studio, Microsoft’s main development platform. Sadly (for me, anyway), this essentially requires at least 4 GB of RAM, and my test PC has only 2 GB.

Build 14316 also sports improvements to Cortana, more new extensions for Edge, and better control of alerts in the Action Center. You can now switch between dark and light visual modes globally. Virtual Desktops have been enhanced with multi-desktop pinnable windows. Battery settings were improved. The Feedback Hub now allows user comments.

The BSOD (Blue Screen Of Death) screen that appears when Windows crashes has been improved with QR codes. This is a neat idea, because it means you no longer have to write down the error details. Just scan the code with your smartphone to find out what the error means.

A new setting in Windows Update allows you to specify a window of time during which the computer should not be restarted automatically. Unfortunately, the window can be ten hours long at the most.

With this build, Microsoft changed the status messages that appear on your screen during installation. These messages now look more like the ones you see when installing Windows updates. This change may be partly due to the unintentionally humourous nature of the original messages. My favourite was “All your files are exactly where you left them”, which was presumably meant to be reassuring, particularly as upgrades in previous Windows versions would sometimes blow away user data.

There’s another preview build for Windows 10. According to the accompanying announcement, build 14291 includes improvements to Edge and the Feedback Hub, Microsoft’s mechanism for reporting Windows 10 issues.

The changes to Edge show that Microsoft is still playing catchup, adding features that have existed in the other major browsers for a while. So there’s nothing particularly revolutionary, but if you’re forcing yourself to use Edge, being able to use extensions and pin tabs will be helpful.

Several of the Windows 10 apps have also been improved, including Maps, and Alarms & Clock.