First, the bad news. The free Windows 10 upgrade offered to Windows 7 and 8.1 users for the past year or so is probably going to conclude at the end of July. If Microsoft sticks with this plan, upgrading to Windows 10 after that will cost about $120 US.
What’s good about this? Those annoying upgrade prompts will apparently disappear as well.
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.
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…
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.
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.
Once the installer started actually installing, it didn’t take long to finish. At this point I allowed myself to see the light at the end of the tunnel. But that light was a train, and that train was called Windows Update.
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.
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:
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.
Microsoft’s help for Windows Update problems like these is useless:
If you use Windows 7 or 8.1, by now you’ve no doubt noticed that Microsoft is trying to push you to upgrade to Windows 10. In my opinion, Microsoft is doing this because Windows 10 includes a lot of features that track your activities, and the information gathered is extremely valuable for the purposes of advertising. Windows 10 doesn’t have a lot of advertising yet, and Microsoft denies that this is what they’re planning, but it seems clear that Microsoft is jealous of Google’s enormously lucrative ad-supported empire.
But what about all those people staying with Windows 7 and 8.1? Microsoft’s solution is to retrofit those versions, via Windows Update, with some of the privacy-invading features from Windows 10. And of course, because we’re talking about Microsoft, they’re trying to hide what they’re doing by obfuscating the true purpose of these updates. The language used to describe these updates tends to include phrases like “This service provides benefits from the latest version of Windows to systems that have not yet upgraded.”
We’ve discussed the KB3035583 update (and how to remove it) before. That’s the update that adds all those annoying upgrade prompts to Windows 7 and 8.1. But you should be aware of (and watch for) a few other sneaky updates. These have been generally categorized as ‘telemetry’ updates; a reference to the way they monitor what’s happening on your computer.
If you want to avoid these telemetry updates, check to see if they are already installed. If they are, uninstall them, and use the ‘hide’ feature of Windows Update to prevent them from reappearing. If you see these updates listed in Windows Update, make sure to de-select them, then hide them.
Woody Leonhard is getting a bit of a reputation as a Microsoft apologist. You may recall that he refused to believe that Microsoft would push Windows 10 onto Windows 7 users, and later had to admit he’d been wrong. Woody’s analysis of the telemetry updates is predictably pro-Microsoft.
At the other end of the spectrum, there’s a project on Github that consists of a batch script that automatically removes all of the telemetry updates from Windows 7 and 8.1. It actually removes twenty-one updates, many of which are shady for other reasons besides privacy.
A more balanced analysis is provided by the GHacks site. This article identifies the most problematic (telemetry) updates and explains how to get rid of them.
As expected, Microsoft recently changed the status of the Windows 10 update for Windows 7 and 8.1 computers, from ‘optional’ to ‘recommended’. If your PC’s Windows Update settings are configured to automatically install recommended updates, Windows 10 will be downloaded, silently consuming multiple gigabytes of bandwidth and hard drive space.
Thankfully, the Windows 10 upgrade won’t actually be installed without your consent; users will be given a chance to skip or reschedule the upgrade. You can also avoid the update completely by making some changes to the Windows registry, or by using the excellent GWX Control Panel.
If you run Windows 7 or 8.x, you’ve probably seen for yourself the many ways in which Microsoft is trying to get people to upgrade to Windows 10, or at least to add unwanted Windows 10 features to your O/S. I wrote about my own experiences with this back in October. Here are a few observed examples:
If you’re like me, you plan to upgrade to Windows 10 when you bloody well feel like it, and not when Microsoft decides you should. And, like me, you’re looking for ways to prevent all this annoying behaviour on your Windows 7 or 8.x computer.
One of the more annoying features of the ‘Get Windows 10’ icon is that even if you remove it (using instructions I posted earlier) it typically reappears for no apparent reason. This makes it seem more like a virus than anything helpful.
Microsoft’s own instructions for removing the ‘Get Windows 10’ icon, published only grudgingly after many user complaints, are poorly written and needlessly complicated. But rather than try to present a simpler guide here, I will instead point to a small utility that does all the work for you: GWX Control Panel, available as freeware from Ultimate Outsider.
GWX Control Panel shows the status of the ‘Get Windows 10’ app, whether Windows Update O/S upgrades are enabled, and whether there are any Windows 10 installation files on your computer. Buttons let you disable ‘Get Windows 10’, disable O/S upgrades in Windows Update, and clear the Windows 10 download folders (which, by the way, are typically huge). It’s totally safe and simple to use.
Sadly, Windows 10 will start appearing as a ‘Recommended’ update in Windows Update on Windows 7 and 8.x computers at some point in 2016. Hopefully the update will be clearly labeled and easy to ignore and/or hide.
How-To Geek has additional information.
One of the updates released by Microsoft on Tuesday apparently caused serious crashing problems on Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 computers. Microsoft has re-issued the update to resolve these problems. Anyone who already installed MS15-115 on affected Windows systems should run Windows Update again to get the new version.
The MS15-115 bulletin has been updated to show the change.
From the associated knowledge base article:
This security update was rereleased on November 11, 2015, for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 to resolve the following issues:
* Resolves crashing that occurred in all supported versions of Microsoft Outlook when users were reading certain email messages.
* Resolves problems that occurred while users were logging on to the system. For example, after a user restarted the computer and then pressed Ctrl+Alt+Delete at the logon screen, the screen flashed and then went black. The user was then unable to continue. There may be other, similar logon issues that are related to this issue.
Microsoft has confirmed that OEMs will no longer be allowed to sell new computers with Windows 7 or 8.x after October 31, 2016. If you buy a new PC after that date, you won’t have any options besides Windows 10.
Support for Windows 7 – including security updates – will continue to 2020, so it’s still a perfectly viable operating system. But it’s unclear whether you will still be able to purchase Windows 7 OEM separately, from Microsoft or any other seller, after October 31, 2016. I certainly hope so, although it seems unlikely. So if you’re planning to build any new Windows 7 computers between October 2016 and 2020, you should stock up on Windows 7 OEM licenses now.
Microsoft is really ramping up the annoyance factor lately. The latest is that some time in 2016, Windows 7 and 8.x computers will start seeing Windows 10 as a ‘Recommended’ update in Windows Update. If you have Windows Automatic Updates enabled, your computer will be upgraded to Windows 10 on some arbitrary night in early 2016, while you’re asleep.
This is bad for several reasons. Here are a few:
The Verge has more.
In the couple of months since the release of Windows 10, there have been plenty of reports of strange, unexpected, and unwanted behaviour on Windows 7 and 8.x computers. At least one high profile writer dismissed these reports, but recanted after witnessing the behaviour themselves.
I ran into one such problem yesterday when I tried to install October’s Patch Tuesday updates on my Windows 7 computer. Although auto updates are disabled on that computer, I had previously decided to install all updates flagged as ‘Important’. The idea was to see what happened if I allowed Microsoft to push whatever they wanted to that computer, putting myself into the same situation as most typical users.
The first thing I noticed was the ‘Get Windows 10’ icon that started appearing in the notification area. At the time, I provided instructions for uninstalling the update that caused this icon to appear, and did that myself as well. But the icon – and the update that enables it – kept appearing. Even ‘hiding’ the update (KB3035583) in Windows Update could not prevent the damned thing from reappearing.
Fast forward to yesterday, and when I tried to install updates on that Windows 7 PC, I was able to check for updates, and see the pending updates, but there was no way to install them! Instead, all I could see was a panel urging me to upgrade to Windows 10 and a ‘Get Started’ button.
I eventually discovered a rather amusing article on The Inquirer’s site, which provided some useful insight into the problem. Besides singling out the writer who had previously pooh-poohed claims of this unwanted behaviour, the article pointed to a Microsoft Knowledge Base article that provides instructions for getting rid of all the Windows 10 upgrade prompts.
I followed the procedures in that KB article, and sure enough all the upgrade prompts vanished, the KB3035583 update stopped reappearing, and Windows Update once again allowed me to install updates.
Anyone using Windows 7 or 8.x who is seeing any of this unwanted and unwelcome behaviour is urged to follow the instructions in the KB3080351 article. If you’re unwilling or unable to do so yourself, ask your friendly local support person to do it.
Meanwhile, a message to Microsoft: are you serious? Are you so eager to push everyone to Windows 10 that you are now literally trying to trick or even force users to upgrade? This is not acceptable. You need to step down from this or the backlash is going to get serious. There is already discussion around the idea of a class action lawsuit.
Update 2015Oct18: I’m not the only person seeing this kind of thing. Some Windows 7 and 8.x users have reported the Windows 10 upgrade installing without any confirmation at all.
I don’t usually post about Apple software, but the QuickTime Player is installed on many Windows computers, so it falls into a kind of grey area.
Apple recently released an update for QuickTime to address at least nine vulnerabilities it exposes on Windows 7 and Vista computers. Anyone who uses QuickTime on Windows 7 or Vista should install the new version of QuickTime as soon as possible.
I no longer have QuickTime installed on my main computer. Downloaded QuickTime media files play in a combination of VLC and Windows Media Player. There’s no QuickTime player plugin in my my main web browser, either, but I don’t really mind not being able to see QuickTime media embedded in web pages. If I really need to see that content, I can always download it.
If you’re not sure whether you have QuickTime installed, or want to find out how QuickTime media is played on your computer, you can try playing these QuickTime sample media files.
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