Upgrading to Windows 11 [Archive]

johnmeyer

28th January 2022, 01:56

I'm just curious. I have over a dozen computers, most running Windows XP (or earlier) O/S. However, I do have several computer running Windows 7. I like 7 just fine, although it broke searching, has driver issues with all the old hardware I have to use for my media business, etc.

So here's the question: is there actually anything function in Windows 10 (and now 11) that I'm missing out on? I've been forced to use is on many occasions when helping someone with a problem and, like the Microsoft pointless re-write of their office apps twenty years ago, it looks like they just rearranged the deck chairs on the Titanic (i.e., a pointless, misguided effort). I never once find myself coming back to XP & 7 and saying, "gee, I really should upgrade."

P.S. When I say "earlier," I mean earlier. I have a 1987 laptop which runs 24/7, capturing all the phone calls on my home PBX, and it is running DOS 3.1. It used to run DOS 5, but ever since the disk drive froze up, and I've had to run it off floppies, and so I have to run a really old, more compact version of DOS. Still works great!

FranceBB

28th January 2022, 09:02

So here's the question: is there actually anything function in Windows 10 (and now 11) that I'm missing out on?

The only "nice" feature of Windows 11 for me is the fact that it can run Android apps and they have a store which resembles the native Play Store in Android, but that's it.

Features wise, you don't miss much and unless you need things like Visual Studio 2022 to work or modern drivers for recent hardware or DirectX12, there's hardly any need to upgrade.

The things I hate about Windows 11 are:

1) The taskbar has been completely re-written in XAML and it lacks some basic functionalities. Sure, you can bring it back to the left instead of the center, but if you right click on it, you don't have the options you would have on Win10 like launching the Task Manager and also if you drag a file to a program in the taskbar that is minimized 'cause you want the application to open and then drop it in there like you would in Windows 10, you can't and it's gonna say "not permitted" on Windows 11.

https://i.imgur.com/0f5AhQJ.png

Picture yourself this scenario: you are browsing a folder and you find a file, you have FileZilla minimized and you want to drop that file into Filezilla. Normally you would drag it to the taskbar, wait for Filezilla to go back being a window and then drop it there, but with the new taskbar YOU CAN'T!

https://i.imgur.com/wpjVa4z.png

2) The new Windows button doesn't show a list of all programs, it shows you a list of the preferred applications and you MUST click on "All apps" to have the list of all programs you would have on Win10. So you're effectively clicking it TWICE while on Win10 you just had to click once.

https://i.imgur.com/iskMIJy.png
https://i.imgur.com/s07H0HM.png

3) The dumbed down right click option. If you right click on a file, Windows automatically assumes you're an idiot and shows you a reduced menu, as if we didn't all use that very same menu for the last 20+ years... So, if you right click on a picture (or any file) you get this crap:

https://i.imgur.com/zKlhSre.png

but fortunately there's a value in the registry that restores the good old right click:

https://i.imgur.com/MBspzEu.png

There's more but if I keep going I'm gonna get angry (frustrated by Microsoft poor decisions) first thing in the morning and that ain't good for my blood pressure, so I'm just gonna leave it there...

Boulder

28th January 2022, 09:20

Oh come on, it's just things going more and more into the great Mobile Way. That long list doesn't fit in it so they decided to shorten it :P

I wonder if it learns your usage pattern along the way. That would be a good thing, just show the ones I use all the time.

vcmohan

28th January 2022, 12:58

tormento

28th January 2022, 13:05

One more thing. For upgrading to windows 11 do I need to save all my data files? Do I need to reinstall all applications I installed on windows 10? Or is it like normal OS upgrade done from time to time automatically?
I'd save my data daily, beside updating, upgrading or whatever. :p

Anyway, a in place upgrade will leave all your data and apps where they are.

My two cents is to have a clean install, as some redundant/useless dll will be kept from Windows 10.

I did a in place upgrade but I am planning to have a fresh install on the first major Windows 11 service pack.

kedautinh12

28th January 2022, 13:37

Just update your data still keep after update. You can rollback to win 10 and don't lost any data

Boulder

28th January 2022, 16:02

One more thing. For upgrading to windows 11 do I need to save all my data files? Do I need to reinstall all applications I installed on windows 10? Or is it like normal OS upgrade done from time to time automatically?

I personally consider Windows 11 as a Service Pack of Windows 10. Whatever problems you may have, probably occur with the major bi-annual releases anyway. Usually some drivers need to be reinstalled, but I've never had any serious issues with updates.

Balling

29th January 2022, 11:24

FranceBB, nice to see you patched the uDWM microcompositor to remove rounded coreners that can even hide part of movie, for example! Nice.

MysteryX

2nd February 2022, 05:40

Honstly -- if you're running WinXP (with way outdated security holes), you're better off installing Linux and it will run smoothly with everything up-to-date.

FranceBB

2nd February 2022, 08:34

WinXP (with way outdated security holes)

0Patch still works and covers zero-day vulnerabilities.
Microsoft Extended Support provided security updates 'till July 2019, then 0patch picked up the task and they provide security fixes for WinXP and Win7.
In a nutshell, 0patch + a good antivirus and firewall like Avast Premier will do the job.

you're better off installing Linux and it will run smoothly with everything up-to-date.

On modern hardware I do recommend Linux as main OS and Windows VMs for literally everything you need in terms of either encoding or coding etc. I'm proudly running Fedora since January 6, 2016 and all my Windows (Win98Se, WinXP, Win11) are VMs created via a clone-disk (disk to vhd) of my old 1999, 2002 and 2015 physical installations.
All my work-server (real work servers), though, are all running Windows Server 2019 and they're gonna stay like that as they're the ones who really encode stuff.

thescrapyard

3rd February 2022, 19:31

Interesting thing I stumbled across by accident, is that Windows 11 and late revisions of Windows 10 can run native Linux apps in its native GUI in Windows without a VM machine running Linux

It does it via something called WSL2

I'm installing a dual boot of my system running Windows 10 just to give this a try. WSL2 doesn't like my copy of Windows 10 as its too early and I ain't doing yet another install/update just to try that, but will set-up a dual boot. I did this years ago when I moved from WinXP to Win7. Had it on dual boot for considerable time until I accepted Windows 7

I avoided Windows 10 for a very very long time, as it sucked big style on first releases (as usual). I tried Windows 8 but that was so bad I never touched it again

Its like having Wine on Linux to run Windows software, but now WSL is Linux on Windows

https://www.windowscentral.com/how-install-wsl2-windows-10

MysteryX

4th February 2022, 18:53

So you can run WSL2 within a VM within Linux?

Dogway

4th February 2022, 19:20

1) The taskbar has been completely re-written in XAML and it lacks some basic functionalities. Sure, you can bring it back to the left instead of the center, but if you right click on it, you don't have the options you would have on Win10 like launching the Task Manager and also if you drag a file to a program in the taskbar that is minimized 'cause you want the application to open and then drop it in there like you would in Windows 10, you can't and it's gonna say "not permitted" on Windows 11.

Can't you fix that with ClassicShell or power tools like AHK or AutoIt?

FranceBB

4th February 2022, 19:55

Can't you fix that with ClassicShell or power tools like AHK or AutoIt?

Totally, but with patch Tuesday and other automatic updates it might break which is why I don't wanna have anything too weird or different from the original configuration, therefore I really would like Microsoft to bring the option back.
You know, as long as I change reg entries it's fine, but as soon as I change system DLLs, there could be dragons. Last thing I want is the PC to restart after an update and never boot ever again. DX

Marshalla12

2nd January 2023, 19:29

pxxls51

2nd January 2023, 19:39

I haven't upgraded yet even on Windows 10))
I'm too comfortable with my 7
I use my notebook with this windows version for work. I make calls. use a virtual number for marketing, I speak to clients, email them and so on
no lagging or something like that

I use my notebook with the same windows version for work too. I make calls to clients and potential customers, using MightyCall (https://www.mightycall.com/) virtual numbers for marketing. I speak to them about the digital products I'm selling, send them emails about them, and follow up with them to ensure their satisfaction. I also use social media to promote my digital products and to make sure that I'm getting the best possible results from my marketing efforts.

FranceBB

2nd January 2023, 20:48

Well, fast forward to 2023, guess what happened?
Windows 11 Enterprise x64 updated itself and bluescreened itself, thus making it unbootable forever.
The only choice I have is to reinstall it and lose everything (programs installed, customizations etc) except for personal files which will be kept.

https://forums.virtualbox.org/download/file.php?id=46573

This taught me a valuable lesson: I should have never upgraded, I should have stayed on Windows 10 Enterprise x64 which, after so many years of updates, is now stable.
Beware of Windows 11 guys, one day it might boot, the other might not.
If you can, stay on Windows 10 'till 2025, this is DEFINITELY what I'm gonna do with my new installations.

StainlessS

2nd January 2023, 22:26

I recently got a 2nd hand HP Prodesk 400 G4 Mini (one of the tiny little thingies) with Windows 11 Pro installed,
played with it for about 3 or 4 days and then setup W10 Pro. Not a big fan of 10 but less horrid than 11.
EDIT: Dual boot with Cinnamon Mint (as are my other machines).
Mint is quite familiar for those transitioning to linux.

FranceBB

2nd January 2023, 23:05

with Windows 11 Pro installed

run xD

played with it for about 3 or 4 days and then setup W10 Pro.

You made the right choice. I hope that by 2024-2025 Windows 11 will be stable enough for us all to use it, but right now, no thank you.

Not a big fan of 10 but less horrid than 11.

Yeah, same here.

Dual boot with Cinnamon Mint (as are my other machines).
Mint is quite familiar for those transitioning to linux.

Yep I have Linux too, but I'm on Fedora, which, by the way, is the distro used by the Penguins' King, Linus Torvalds himself (http://images.computerhistory.org/revonline/images/500004391-03-01.jpg?w=600)! :D

StainlessS

2nd January 2023, 23:29

I tried Fedora, not a fan of it. (bout 6 months ago)
However, I did use it maybe bout 15+ years ago, and Mandrake / Mandriva too.
I always used to give up on linux as it was not ready for prime time, until Cinnamon Mint that is.

EDIT: Mum tries out [an early build] Windows 11 :- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDiVCuGqvMc
She quite likes it, it don't get the savaging she sometimes gives.

EDIT: Some data I collected whilst deciding which tiny little machines to get,
below are mostly T suffix CPU's (35W TDP, 65W PSU machines), top one is fastest Intel CPU (there are faster AMD) monster on GeekBench [TDS has one in his sig],
the others with names are my machines, 3 tiny weeny ones and an i7 tower.
The Prodesk i3 Benchmark was done when it still had W11 on it, I'll maybe redo with W10.
The named ones are my benchmarks, my bench for the HP i3 is duplicate, the other is geekbench official average benchmark.
My named Lenovo Tiny benches faster than its higher clockspeed brother, possibly because I put in 32GB fastest supported dual channel RAM
and pretty fast SSD [PCIe gen 4 nvme BUT the damn motherboard is only gen 3 despite CPU supports gen 4, I was gutted] ,
is usual for only single channel RAM when you buy them [2 sticks, one occupied].
No idea how any of them would fare in encoding, I've only just setup up W10-22H2 on all three of the tiny's.
The clockspeed noted is just the low base speed, so many other speeds are now doc'ed, the monster at the top has 2 types of cores, total 24 cores, 32 threads
and loads of different clockspeeds to consider.
The Dell has two nvme SSD slots which I really like and all 3 support nvme and 2.5" Sata SSD.
The Prodesk aint got no Wifi or Bluetooth, but I can live with that - dongle will do.

#### BENCH SingleCore/Base Speed/Cores, From GeekBench (Ordered by Single Core bench)
i9-13900K 2242 8PC/16EC/32T # Fastest Intel CPU
i9-11900T 1558 1.5GHz 8C/16T
i7-11700T 1476 1.4GHz 8C/16
i5-11400T 1260 1.3GHz 6C/12T # Lenovo M70q Gen 2 Tiny (W10)
i5-11500T 1222 1.5GHz 6C/12T
i7-8700 1212 3.2GHz 6C/12T # OMEN 880 (W10)
i7-9700T 1044 2.0GHz 8C/16T
i5-10500T 1037 2.3GHz 6C/12T # DELL Optiplex 7080 Micro (W10)
i7-8700T 1022 2.4GHz 6C/12T
i3-10100T 962 3.0GHz 4C/8T
i5-9500T 941 2.2GHz 6C/6T
i7-7700T 939 2.9GHz 4C/8T
i5-7600T 938 2.8GHz 4C/4T
i3-9100T 914 3.1GHz 4C/4T
i5-6600T 891 2.7GHz 4C/4T
i7-6700T 888 2.8GHz 4C/8T
i5-8500T 883 2.1GHz 6C/6T
i7-4790T 882 2.7GHz 4C/8T
i3-6300T 856 3.3GHz 2C/4T
i5-8400T 844 1.7GHz 6C/6T
i5-7500T 838 2.7GHz 4C/4T
i3-7100T 835 3.4GHz 2C/4T
i3-8100T 834 3.1GHz 4C/4T # HP ProDesk 400 G4 Mini (W11)
i7-4770T 827 2.5GHz 4C/8T
i3-8100T 820 3.1GHz 4C/4T
i3-6100T 783 3.2GHz 2C/4T
i5-6500T 781 2.5GHz 4C/4T
i5-7400T 765 2.4GHz 4C/4T
i5-6400T 691 2.2GHz 4C/4T

#### BENCH MultiCore/Base Speed/Cores, From GeekBench (Ordered by MultiCore bench)
i9-13900K 25455 8PC/16EC/32T # Fastest Intel CPU
i9-11900T 7158 1.5GHz 8C/16T
i7-11700T 6229 1.4GHz 8C/16
i7-8700 5672 3.2GHz 6C/12T # OMEN 880 (W10)
i5-11400T 5569 1.3GHz 6C/12T # Lenovo M70q Gen 2 Tiny (W10)
i5-11500T 5082 1.5GHz 6C/12T
i7-9700T 5080 2.0GHz 8C/16T
i7-8700T 4743 2.4GHz 6C/12T
i5-10500T 4623 2.3GHz 6C/12T # DELL Optiplex 7080 Micro (W10)
i5-9500T 4019 2.2GHz 6C/6T
i5-8500T 3829 2.1GHz 6C/6T
i5-8400T 3721 1.7GHz 6C/6T
i3-10100T 3439 3.0GHz 4C/8T
i7-7700T 3434 2.9GHz 4C/8T
i7-6700T 3226 2.8GHz 4C/8T
i5-7600T 3040 2.8GHz 4C/4T
i7-4790T 3020 2.7GHz 4C/8T
i7-4770T 2911 2.5GHz 4C/8T
i5-6600T 2860 2.7GHz 4C/4T
i3-9100T 2825 3.1GHz 4C/4T
i3-8100T 2707 3.1GHz 4C/4T # HP ProDesk 400 G4 Mini (W11)
i3-8100T 2700 3.1GHz 4C/4T
i5-7500T 2682 2.7GHz 4C/4T
i5-6500T 2491 2.5GHz 4C/4T
i5-7400T 2435 2.4GHz 4C/4T
i5-6400T 2193 2.2GHz 4C/4T
i3-6300T 1856 3.3GHz 2C/4T
i3-7100T 1851 3.4GHz 2C/4T
i3-6100T 1738 3.2GHz 2C/4T

I got myself tempted by this series of videos, Tiny(Lenovo) Mini(HP) Micro(Dell), I love the size of the things.
Tiny Mini Micro (one of a series of review clips)
STH Project TinyMiniMicro Home Lab Revolution Introduction :- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bx4_QCX_khU&list=PLC53fzn9608B-MT5KvuuHct5MiUDO8IF4

kedautinh12

3rd January 2023, 01:14

I'm on win 11 and still ok with this :D

guest

3rd January 2023, 02:00

I use W11 22H2, it's awesome, I love it :)

StainlessS

3rd January 2023, 14:00

What is the situation, if you install both W10 and W11 on same machine ?
(machine that is W10/W11 serial number bound to the machine, ie Lenovo, HP, or Dell m/c serial allows legal W10 install without prompt for product key)

Will M$ get a bit shirty if I were to install both side by side, you obviously can't run them at the same time.

I would install separately, making image of each OS [then wipe disk], so as not to use the daft M$ boot control stuff where one is reliant upon the other to boot [I aint ever used that stuff - I presume that they still do that],
and have linux in charge of boot control. [Ideally W10 and W11 would be 'unaware' of each other - I think you can remove OS access to Partition using FDisk or other cmd]
EDIT: UEFI machine.

coolgit

3rd January 2023, 18:11

Still on Win 7 and happy and laughing at those on Win 10/11.

kedautinh12

3rd January 2023, 18:15

Still laughing, caveman :D

richardpl

3rd January 2023, 18:31

Still on DOS. Loving it.

tormento

12th January 2023, 11:39

I can no longer find a reliable supplier of punch cards.

Can you?

videoFred

12th January 2023, 12:08

So here's the question: is there actually anything function in Windows 10 (and now 11) that I'm missing out on?

No :D

Fred.

videoFred

12th January 2023, 14:04

Well, fast forward to 2023, guess what happened?
Windows 11 Enterprise x64 updated itself and bluescreened itself, thus making it unbootable forever.

Windows auto updates: horror! :scared:
And it is nearly impossible to stop it!

Fred.

FranceBB

12th January 2023, 14:54

Windows auto updates: horror! :scared:
And it is nearly impossible to stop it!

I know!
"You can delay me but you can't avoid me!" - Windows Update

https://i.imgur.com/BL3xuoy.png

johnmeyer

12th January 2023, 17:37

Auto updates are the first thing I disable on any device or app.

This adage is about as old as any such thing, and it is also truer than almost any other adage:

"Don't fix it if it ain't broke."

:)

videoFred

12th January 2023, 20:30

Auto updates are the first thing I disable on any device or app.

But in Win10 and 11 it's impossible to disable it! You can delay it for a while but not disable it.

I realy do not like this :mad:

Fred.

goorawin

13th January 2023, 04:39

Yes you can stop windows updating by using this software.
https://www.greatis.com/stopupdates10/
I have been using it on several windows 10 pro's computers now for a number of years and it works really well if you do what's called a hard block.
I just do updates from time to time, when I want them done.
It also appears to be working on a Windows 11 pro laptop I have.

Sunspark

13th January 2023, 05:54

I don't know why people say it can't be stopped. I didn't run any third party program. I don't remember now what I did, but a mixture of policy settings, services, registry, etc. and it'll never bother you for an update again.

I don't buy the fearmongering about "updates" if you're behind a router and you don't run weird random stuff. So yeah, you could run Win 7 and it would be fine.

kedautinh12

13th January 2023, 06:06

That right, windows update can stop in win 10/11 easily

videoFred

13th January 2023, 10:36

videoFred

13th January 2023, 10:37

That right, windows update can stop in win 10/11 easily

Easily? How do you do that?

Fred.

kedautinh12

13th January 2023, 11:16

Many way like regedit, services. Google is your friend

Dogway

13th January 2023, 13:11

I think for Win10 probably this isn't needed anymore? All updates should be now "safe" as Win10 is on maintenance mode (no more features).

FranceBB

13th January 2023, 13:20

I wouldn't say "easily".
The easiest way is to basically put your Windows behind an hardware firewall that blocks access to some internet addresses including Microsoft Update.
This way, it won't try to download and install updates automatically.
Alternatively, it can be managed by group policy on Pro and Enterprise version of Windows, but if you're a home user with the Home version you're out of luck and you gotta perish to them.

Speaking of which, my version of Windows 10 was Enterprise and when I upgraded to 11 I retained the Enterprise license, however I had automatic updates on.
Three of my other colleagues had Windows 10 Professional and upgraded to Windows 11 Professional.
Tormento knows about them.
None of our PCs was officially supported by Microsoft; in my case 'cause I didn't have the TPM 2.0 and my overall system was old, while for my two colleagues they had TPM 2.0 but their CPU was an i7 6700HQ, so not officially supported as it was considered to be too old. Lastly the third PC was a desktop with TPM 1.2 and an old Intel Xeon which wasn't officially supported by Microsoft.
Needless to say, we all perished to Microsoft bluescreen.
The first one to go was one of my colleague with an incompatibility with Pulse Connect Secure that led to a lot of stress and frustration and workarounds that didn't work.
Eventually, after applying workarounds that did work, every update was breaking them until one of them conflicted with the workaround and prevented Windows 11 Professional from booting, so he had to go back to Windows 10 Professional by re-installing it from scratch and sweared never to go back to 11 ever again 'till 2025.
The second person to go was the other colleague of mine with Windows 11 Professional 'cause he had an issue using some legacy software written in Borland Delphi 20+ years ago which was going into segmentation fault and other legacy programs from the 2000 that are still in use today to handle some scheduling etc and were misbehaving. After insisting a bit, he eventually had to downgrade to 10 Professional from the Windows settings thus retaining all his saved files and installed programs, so everything came back to normality.
The third and last person was a workstation with an NVIDIA Quadro P4000, an old Intel Xeon E5-2640, a TPM 1.2 and a Blackmagic Decklink card. In this case, the guilty component was indeed the Blackmagic Decklink connected via SDI to a VTR and their capture software. After going through driver after driver, it never really behaved and it occasionally bluescreened. One of the very reproducible error was when you had your screen turned off. If you start capturing a file while it's playing and then you change the source to your monitor (perhaps 'cause you have two computers connected etc), it would freeze forever until you reboot OR it would bluescreen. After some weeks of nightmare, it was downgraded back to Windows 10 Professional.

I think for Win10 probably this isn't needed anymore? All updates should be now "safe" as Win10 is on maintenance mode (no more features).

Windows 10 nowadays is rock solid compared to 11.

Sunspark

13th January 2023, 18:54

I don't agree that W10 is rock solid. I check every once in awhile and I see complaints from people about how MS has broken something like printing or VPN or something else. Easier to just leave a stable version alone and not to touch it.

The person with the Delphi stuff, there is another option that could have been considered.. a virtual machine. To install even as far back as XP in a VM, and run the Delphi apps from the virtual machine.

FranceBB

13th January 2023, 19:30

I don't agree that W10 is rock solid.

True, but the important part of the sentence is "compared to 11" Eheheheh

thescrapyard

14th January 2023, 23:23

I installed windows 7 about 2 years after it came out, same with windows 10 and I'm now on windows 11 Enterprise 22H2 on my new build after using 2nd hand hardware for years (except GFX cards I got burned on that after my GTX480 finally dies after 10 years so risked 2nd user on another one that was worse than my GTX480). My old tower still functions perfectly so will be used for kids gaming computer eventually and another build I stripped for a bartop pinball I'm working on (it took 5 years for my bartop arcade/pinball build so no rush) I tried windows 8 when it was first released and hated it so avoided updating for a good couple of years, maybe longer I can't recall that far back. I usually wait at least 2 or 3 years after all the hype before I move to the next windows release but as windows 11 was in public beta and is now available on most laptops as default and seemed to be more stable than previous semi-public betas

An upgrade to windows 11 is risky, as proved by previous posts so I tend to do fresh installs and avoid upgrades. More work, but guaranteed no conflicts

I installed StartIsBack as I don't like the Mac Style taskbar, and used StartIsBack on Windows 7 and Windows 10. Ran AeroTweak to disable Defender totally and also run Blackbird to try to block all MS tracking and call home

The auto updates are a pain, but as yet have been ok so I'll leave blocking updates just yet

I use an ancient piece of software that just works called VOBBlanker, great for repairing badly created DVDs and removing hard to block menus and refused to run under Windows 10 regardless what I tried. Runs perfectly under Windows 11 ....

Haven't really setup avisynth fully to see how much quicker it is with 20 cores, but encoding using vidcoder to x265 was about 65fps on my i7-4790k with GTX1060 to about 250-350fps with the Intel i5-13600k and RTX3070 using GPU and now about 10 minutes per encode so at least 4 to 5 times faster

My latest build cost a fair bit but as I haven't built a brand new system for about 10 years though it was time. Gigabyte UD DDR4 (DDR5 not worth it in my view), Intel i5-13600k. water cooled artic cooler 280mm, 128GB RAM (because I could), RTX 3070 (for the kids and fancied looking at raytraced gaming) and 1TB black NVME same as in PS5 (loads windows in about 16 seconds from pressing power on). plus a couple more NVME (because I could) for games and VMWare. 6TB storage drive for complete MAME build, 4TB for data plus my USB drives I use for storage in a be quiet case that is very quiet

Ascet

15th January 2024, 13:18

It's always a good idea to double-check if your specific setup will work smoothly before you go ahead with the upgrade. Btw, isn't it better just to get a windows 11 cheap (https://digitalchillmart.com/product/windows-11-pro-32-64-bit/) key? Just a suggesiton.

StainlessS

15th January 2024, 14:23

Best-ish (IMHO) update blocker for W10/W11 [EDIT: W8.1, W8, W7, Vista, WXP] is this one

Windows Update Blocker v1.8
https://www.sordum.org/9470/windows-update-blocker-v1-8/
NOTE: Wub software does not block Microsoft defender updates.

Supported operating systems: Windows 11 , Windows 10, Windows 8.1 , Windows 8 , Windows 7 , Windows Vista ,Windows XP (32\64-bit).

Easy Disable Update Windows 11 by Windows Update Blocker V1.17 [for previous version]:- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNwGoRA5Ss0

I was on v1.7, so musta been recentish update.

Easy peasy blocking, non install, I create a "Program Files/_HACK" directory and copy into there,
and have a link on my Desktop to the folder.
Additional non-install tools also in that folder [eg "OO_ShutUp_W10", M$ Privacy/Spyware blocker].

I tried many before opting for this one.

TIP:- Contains both x86 and x64 exe's, delete the one that is not for your OS, avoid mistakes.

EDIT: W10 updates can still cause problems.
Windows 10 22H2 KB5034441 error Do not reinstall Windows it will still be there:- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gvQ0W7fmTg
One current W10 update tries to update the RECOVERY partition, if you dont got no recovery (I dont), then will fail with error, and then do exact same
thing next time it tries to update, Rinse and Repeat. [EDIT: Also fails if RECOVERY is the setup default 500MB, ie not big enough for the update :confused: ]

As above crazy update get stuck in loop, downloading and failing, then repeating, I use this to avoid that particular update,
How to Hide or Show Windows Updates in Windows 10:- https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/8280-hide-show-windows-updates-windows-10-a.html
It does work.
EDIT: Suggest keep copy of the above SHOW/HIDE whotsit, its the type of thing that M$ likes to remove/delete so may become un-available.
The download "wushowhide.diagcab" is TenForums linked to MicroSoft site, it is executable.

EDIT: youtube clip that shows how to resize the RECOVERY partition for the above Windows Update problem.
How To Fix and Install The Windows 10 Update Error 22H2 Security Update KB5034441 Code 0x80070643:- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EHdb8bXZpg
I have not done this myself, I dont have a recovery partition, I removed it after install.
Or an alternative clip, FIX IT...Windows 10 KB5034441 Security Update Fails With 0x80070643 Errors:- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIf3MG9BK-s

coolgit

15th January 2024, 14:35

27th January 2022, 19:58
Windows 10/11 are pants.

Sticking to Windows 7 for life by the look of it.

3rd January 2023, 19:11
Still on Win 7 and happy and laughing at those on Win 10/11.

Another year goes by and reading daily how people on Win 10/11 are tearing their hair out.

Win 7 gives me zero problems:goodpost::D:D

StainlessS

15th January 2024, 16:26

Win 7 gives me zero problems
Arh, yes, good ol' W7.
But, you now no longer have the option to update to W10 from earlier editions [updates blocked a couple of months back, well will no longer be activated],
so you are stuck with the good one :)

johnmeyer

15th January 2024, 16:50

Another year goes by and reading daily how people on Win 10/11 are tearing their hair out.

Win 7 gives me zero problems:goodpost::D:DYup. My main computer is still my 2008 Polywell (Silicon Valley custom computer builder). Dual Boot: XP and Win7. All upgrades for everything turned off. As a result, I never wake up to find out that it suddenly bricked itself from an upgrade (like my Amazon Firestick did last month).

I have close to twenty computers, including five that run Windows 10. They do a great job attracting dust, but I keep them around just in case there is something I need to do that can't be done by my various workhorses (I also have several Win7 laptops).

When I go to my computer, I start work within five seconds of the boot finishing (and the boot goes really fast because I've removed every single non-essential background process).

When I was running software companies in the 80s and 90s, upgrades used to be essential, and I very much looked forward to them because the software ran faster, had fewer bugs, and had really cool, essential new features. These days, the "B-team" programmers who get assigned to maintain an old program do nothing but screw up the interface (think Windows Office apps); introduce more bugs than they fix; and fiddle about the margins with "new features" that are barely more than cosmetic.

Speaking of Office, I did several big projects this summer involving Excel and Word. I still use the 2003 versions of these apps. I had several collaborators, all using the modern versions. I had to convert their docs to my old version (there is a simple utility for that), but once I did, I ended up doing 98% of the work because none of them could figure out how to use even the simplest features, much less make mailmerge or tables work in Word, or how to reconcile database versions in Excel.

Despite all this, if I ever do another big video project I will look into upgrading Vegas to the current version (I'm still using V13, the last Sony version). Magix has added a lot of real features, and I might be able to make use of some of them.

So, I'm not a total Luddite. :)

Emulgator

15th January 2024, 22:17

Well put, johnmeyer, I can only concur completely.
For AI restoration sake I had to delve into Win10, it took countless hours to make it behave.
For a few weeks enjoyment of sheer calculation power.
Then a forced Windows Update forced me into bluescreen, unbootable state.
Since the system was still quite vanilla back then: Reinstall.
After the second bluescreen it became harder: So much work went already into the system, licenses and such.
I bought a used copy of the first machine and upgraded it to the same specs, hoping to be able to continue on the remaining machine if one stalls.
Still I was and still I am bluescreened occasionally to non-bootable state by a Windows Update, more than 3 times per machine in total.
Right now I am writing from the replacement system trying too figure out for the fourth time how a simple update can screw up this babylonic tower of mediocre patchwork.
SSD can be read nicely externally, no loss, but no boot. System/Startup repair: seems to destroy more than it helps.
UEFI specs: more than 2000 pages, only a handful in the knowing.
Impossible to handedit a simple start configuration on the offending partition/folder/file.
https://geoffchappell.com/ was very enlightening, a recommendation to read.
Who can, keeps a small, but well groomed herd of WinXP and Win7 machines in his barn, beside of the unruly beast, which can not even reliably catch a left click. Me too !
Vegas V14 here, bought 15 and even 16, hopes unfulfilled. Back to V14, does it all, Prodad stabilisation and iZotope Mastering Plugins included.
The New Stress tinkerware can stay outside ;-)
Office: The same here. I boil everything down to Excel 2000 version compatibiliy, and I know why...

coolgit

15th January 2024, 22:21

I have close to twenty computers

So, I'm not a total Luddite. :)

20 PCs... Bitcoin mining eh??

I'm not a luddite, I just don't go running around upgrading everything for the sake of upgrading.

StainlessS

16th January 2024, 02:13

Its not much of a problem to just disable updates,
but good idea to make an image of working drive, I use Macrium Reflect Free Edition to image
dual boot windows 10 + Linux Cinnamon Mint over about 10 machines and one W7 + mint over 1 machine,
and W10 alone over about a further 7 or so machines [laptops/tablets].
If you ever do get into trouble, is ~10 mins job to reinstall from image and Macrium Reflect USB tool.
(I actually only use the USB version, use full Macrium Reflect just to make the USB bootable tool).

EDIT: I have only about 250GB for W10, + 200GB for Mint, I dont store any data in OS partitions (well maybe temporarily in downloads),
and dont include any SSD data partitions in saved image.
Macrium Reflect allows you to restore only selected partitions from the image, and for W10+ GPT drives [as opposed to MBR], they dont even have to be in the original order,
but may need move/resize via some tool, eg System Rescue Disk (linux USB bootable tool with a partition manager).
Macrium understands EXT1 -> EXT4 linux partitions, BUT, ALWAYS define a SWAP partition for any linux, an earlier version of Macrium
screws up when EXT4 and no swap partition where recent linux will create a 'pretend' swap partition at the end of the linux partition, and
older Macrium does not understand the 'pretend' swap and messes up a restore (maybe that is fixed in current Macrium, dont know).
EDIT: On one 2-in-1 tablet/laptop thingy, I have W10 and Android, Macrium copes with the Android partitions just fine too.

Boulder

16th January 2024, 08:57

Just dropped by to say that I hope I'm still active at 89 years of age like the OP, vcmohan. Last active date January 11th :)

kedautinh12

16th January 2024, 09:26

Just dropped by to say that I hope I'm still active at 89 years of age like the OP, vcmohan. Last active date January 11th :)

What happens with VCMohan?

Boulder

16th January 2024, 11:57

What happens with VCMohan?

What do you mean? My post was just to point out that he's still visiting the forum every now and then, which I find very encouraging for anyone who feels "too old for this s**t" :D

kedautinh12

16th January 2024, 12:48

What do you mean? My post was just to point out that he's still visiting the forum every now and then, which I find very encouraging for anyone who feels "too old for this s**t" :D

Lol, but your post make me misunderstanding :D

FranceBB

16th January 2024, 13:44

I hope I'm still active at 89 years of age like the OP, vcmohan.

Man, I'm not even sure I'm gonna live 89 years, let alone browse Doom9...
I wonder what's gonna happen to Avisynth in the long run and whether there's gonna be a new influx of new developers to keep the open source community going or not, but then again I guess time will tell...
For what it's worth, I've been using Avisynth as a home user since June 2006 (and professionally since July 2013) and so far it's been a wonderful love affair with this amazing frameserver and this lovely community! :D

Long live Avisynth!

StainlessS

16th January 2024, 16:58

I'm not even sure I'm gonna live 89 years
Being Italian and what with all of that red wine and olive oil, you are bound to outlive Avisynth.
[EDIT: assuming that you live past this current WW3 threat :) ]

johnmeyer

16th January 2024, 18:32

Boulder: 89?? Wow! I was patting myself on the back for being able to do some of this stuff at 71.

Glad you're still above ground. I just sent my first wave of tax documents to my 88-year-old accountant only to find he died in June, just after he filed my last set of returns. You think you have to be sharp to do programming as you get older, imagine trying to keep up with the completely arbitrary, tortured, and convoluted tax code!

As for blue screens and bricked systems, a trick I learned back in the early 1990s was to partition your new computer's boot drive into two drive letters, before you load any apps onto it. The C: drive needs to be about 30-50% larger than it is when the O/S is freshly installed (to accomodate new applications), so you tell your partitioning software to create a C: drive of that size, and then you create an E: drive (D: is my DVD drive) using the rest of the space. Then, when you screw up (which is usually why I have to do an O/S restore) or something else happens, you only have to restore the O/S, programs, and program settings (the stuff in the "User" section). This is only 20-30 GB on most of my computers, and the other 1,000 - 4,000 GB is data, which you can back up separately.

You do have to spend about five minutes changing Windows so the apps store their stuff on the E: drive (which is how you can keep the C: drive small).

When I do a restore, it only takes about five minutes. I do backups onto my plug-in SATA drives, which is another reason the restore is super-fast. I have a bay which accepts multiple bare SATA drives, and I have a farm of 20+ drives. I use a utility called "WhereIsIt" which contains all the file names from all the drives, so I can find a file across the 20+ drives (and all my networked computer drives), even when they are offline, and even if I'm on the road. If I can't access the file right away, at least I know it exists.

I probably should start moving stuff to "the cloud," but after Amazon changed its cloud policies, Google is restricting access, and Apple keeps telling me my backups are failing, my worst fears about the cloud are being realized.

I don't have a cloud vendor that I trust but, at the risk of taking this necro'd thread completely OT, I'd love to get a recommendation of what company to use for cloud backup.

Sunspark

16th January 2024, 20:14

For Excel, I think Excel 2010 is a good version and very stable, but it could also be that I'm used to it, but it does have some useful features that earlier versions didn't.

The ribbon is a cognitive shift, but once you get used to it, it's not bad at all. I also have LibreOffice which would be the interface of 2000 and having a million buttons and really long scrolling menubar lists makes me think that the ribbon for apps like Excel is actually a good idea.

FranceBB

16th January 2024, 20:57

For Excel, I think Excel 2010 is a good version and very stable

Yep yep, I'm using the 2010 version of Office too on my Windows XP. Very stable. That, along with Open Office, it's the perfect combo.
At work, on the other hand, I'm using all the various Office 365 stuff whenever I have to, but that's basically only 'cause everything is collected on SharePoint and multiple people can work on the same documents at the same time, you have logs on who changed what, version control as you can go back in time on the same document etc etc etc. All stuff corporations like, you know...
Would I use it for my private stuff? Oh gosh, no.

being able to do some of this stuff at 71.

That is also quite remarkable, John!

Being Italian and what with all of that red wine and olive oil, you are bound to outlive Avisynth.

Touch wood!

https://i.imgur.com/OlqUHSq.png

(white wine, but you get the idea xD - picture from 2015, in Italy with Italian wine)

Boulder

17th January 2024, 17:24

Boulder: 89?? Wow! I was patting myself on the back for being able to do some of this stuff at 71.
Hehe, I was talking about vcmohan, who must be the oldest (semi-)active person in the video encoding (or basically whatever video-related!) field. I've admired him for years for keeping his head sharp all this time, and at the same time feel some sadness for seeing how fast time goes.

Me, I'm closer to 50 than 40, but fortunately don't have any serious health issues like many younger seem to already have. I've always said that I'm going for 90, and after that, a 100 is a piece of cake :D

My dad turns 75 this year and he's been old in his thoughts almost since he retired ten years ago, fortunately just too lazy or uncomfortable to start learning and doing new stuff. My wife's parents are the same age and they've been waiting to die already before they turned 70. I've never understood that mindset at all, they had all the time in the world and also enough money to travel for example, but now the father-in-law has Alzheimer's and it won't take long till he's not able to stay at home.

I don't have a cloud vendor that I trust but, at the risk of taking this necro'd thread completely OT, I'd love to get a recommendation of what company to use for cloud backup.
I know some people use Backblaze. I myself have an M365 license so I'm using Microsoft's OneDrive with a scheduled Duplicati job to back up most of the OS drive and some other important folders. I'm using strong encryption on the stored files so not even Microsoft can touch it.

johnmeyer

17th January 2024, 17:48

<snip> ... they had all the time in the world and also enough money to travel for example, but now the father-in-law has Alzheimer's and it won't take long till he's not able to stay at home.
They guy who used to be my financial advisor before he retired, died, and then was resurrected (heart stopped for 15 minutes while his wife performed CPR -- not only survived, but his mind is intact!) used to advise me to do things while I could because, "you go from 'go go' to 'slow go' to 'no go'." I never had the itch for travel, even though I've got enough money to do it. So instead, I fix things for people. Amplifiers, cracked cutting boards, vacuum cleaners ... you name it, I'll try to fix it.

I know some people use Backblaze. I myself have an M365 license so I'm using Microsoft's OneDrive with a scheduled Duplicati job to back up most of the OS drive and some other important folders. I'm using strong encryption on the stored files so not even Microsoft can touch it.I have no interest in subscription licenses so I'll look into Backblaze. I'd never heard of that one. Thanks!

Boulder

17th January 2024, 18:54

They guy who used to be my financial advisor before he retired, died, and then was resurrected (heart stopped for 15 minutes while his wife performed CPR -- not only survived, but his mind is intact!) used to advise me to do things while I could because, "you go from 'go go' to 'slow go' to 'no go'." I never had the itch for travel, even though I've got enough money to do it. So instead, I fix things for people. Amplifiers, cracked cutting boards, vacuum cleaners ... you name it, I'll try to fix it.

Best way to spend your retirement or in fact, any spare time is by doing things you enjoy. Even better if you can bring joy to others like you can by fixing things. I bet you need to learn new things all the time and experience is invaluable :)

johnmeyer

17th January 2024, 22:20

Some of it is simple, some is quite difficult. Traditional things, like cutting boards and vacuum cleaners are easy:

https://i.imgur.com/yn63bvH.jpg

Amps are usually straightforward, like this preamp board from a Norwegian Tandberg receiver (bad pot):

https://i.imgur.com/kRbVrKQ.jpg

Sometimes I have to rebuild or recap the unit, like three 1950s Dynaco tube amps I did two years ago:

Dynaco Mark II (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvWQEOGZjC4)

coolgit

19th July 2024, 14:29

Oh dear the whole world gone antsy with microsoft 10/11 crashing with CrowdStrike.

Currently watching The Dam Busters on Windows 7. No blue screen of death here, just some Germans about to die.

Frank62

19th July 2024, 18:14

Lucky, that I work on Windows 7 for most machines, and the Win 10 ones are offline, only intranet...

By the way:
Your dambusters destroyed one of the two dams 40km from here. Yes, many people were killed, drowned, also old and very young people. Not very funny, because very real.
But all in all it made the war shorter, and they had to do it, so seen from today it was rather a good thing.
A good friend runs a museum in that context, directly at the dam.

FranceBB

19th July 2024, 18:25

Oh dear the whole world gone antsy with microsoft 10/11 crashing with CrowdStrike.

Tell me about it, I woke up this morning at 7AM with a lot of automatic emails from Aspera Orchestrator saying that it couldn't perform POST and GET API calls to some services, it couldn't use some FTPs and so on and so forth. I thought "ok, looks like there's a problem with Orchestrator", so I took a shower, shaved, got dressed as always and headed to my workplace at 8AM only to find out that Orchestrator was perfectly fine and healthy, it was sending emails 'cause it was the only thing running on Linux and it witnessed quite literally everything else built around it blue screen as it was running Windows (including the Domain Controllers).

FranceBB

21st July 2024, 15:10

I'm actually commenting back on this 'cause, as we went into the weekend and things settled, people took time to investigate things and actually found out what happened. Well, actually, more like "why" it happened. I'm sure everyone knows that OS can run things in user space and kernel space. The overwhelming majority of programs run in user space (which is abstracted away), so that if something bad happens, the program crashes but the user can go on with his life as it doesn't affect the rest of the OS. Only few things are supposed to run in kernel space and of course drivers are one of those things since they need direct access to the hardware. Unfortunately, when things go wrong in kernel space, the OS cannot do anything to recover, which is exactly what happened when Crowdstrike released the infamous update on Thursday evening. As to "why" an antivirus wants to run in kernel space with a driver, let's just say that antiviruses integrate with the OS at a low level. Anyway, on Friday morning, lots of people just went on to delete the new C-00000291 driver from C:\Windows\System32\drivers\CrowdStrike in safe mode to then reboot the machine. I was one of them as I did that on plenty of servers and workstations across the whole company. Then, once those were back up and running, at around 09.35AM CEST CrowdStrike released an update with the new driver. Now, the interesting thing is not that Windows bluescreened, but why it bluescreened, which leads to the question: what was the deal with the old driver? We may not have the source code from CrowdStrike, but what we have is the sequence of instructions that the CPU executed collected in the crash dump.

https://i.imgur.com/mhG8qAE.png

The interesting line from the crash dump (in the picture) is

mov r9d, dword ptr [r8]

For those who are not familiar with x86 assembly, it's read in reverse, so take the data referred by the pointer r8 and move it into r9. All good, right? Well, not quite. The problem is that r8 is completely empty, therefore Windows enters an irrecoverable state and bluescreens as it cannot access the data.

https://i.imgur.com/Z0KCPv3.png