Today is first Patch Tuesday of 2021 and Microsoft is rolling out a new cumulative update for all supported version of Windows. The cumulative update with security fixes is rolling out to PCs with October 2020 Update, May 2020 Update, November 2019 Update, and May 2019 Update.
In January 2021 cumulative update for Windows 10, there are only security enhancements for the system, browsers, core components and other basic functions.
Windows 10 version 1903 end of life *
Microsoft has confirmed that Windows 10 version 1903 reached the end of servicing on December 8, 2020, and no new updates will be released for the operating system. If you want to receive security and quality updates, you need to update to the latest version of Windows 10. Or you can also update to Windows 10, version 1909, which can be installed using the Enablement Package KB4517245 (EKB).
Just installed a big Windows update (No idea what number it was, don’t care really) and so far have not encountered any problems. I would like to thank the Microsoft guys for finally getting their act together…
Touch wood and hope I won’t regret this but . . . . across a PC and two lappys I’ve not had a problem for a long time so the reboot anxiety of old has long gone.
I’m grateful that Windoze doesn’t get as many updates as Android.
One of the latest rounds of W10 updates caused one of my laptops a few problems and then yesterday I saw a message that Windows Repair Tool was about to remove some updates. I allowed it to go ahead followed by the obligatory restart and all is now well in that Lenovo.
This was the first time I had seen a message concerning the repair tool and I’ve been using windows for well over 20yrs, so it does seem that windows do keep an eye on individuals progress where their products are concerned.
Having avoided them for quite a long time now, I decided to take the plunge and finally update yesterday.
Although I have set things not to update between 8am and 2am, I over-rode that for this occasion. Nevertheless, it tried not to re-start and I had to try a few times to get it to complete!
Happily, and with a certain amount of relief, I found that it happened both relatively quickly and without creating any havoc, including not messing up my desktop.
You never know, I might begin to trust Micro$oft a little more in future!
Yes, I’d like to think that Micro$oft do consider their users. After all, people wouldn’t use them if they didn’t.
Having said that I’ll trust Windows Updates in future, I’ll still put updates off for a few weeks before accepting them, just to see if any problems are reported - hopefully on here, as we have some people who know far more than I do about these computer things.
I hear that version 21H1 will come out in the summer (after June) and will be followed by a bigger one (might be a redesign of W10), in the Autumn.
It’s suggested that a new “trick” is being used (to avoid installation probs) whereby the updates are downloaded but only “swictched on” in due course by an “enablement switch” which could turn off a failing section ready for fixing without impact.
I think one of my bugbears is the length of time it takes to install the updates. In the past I have found updates to take well over an hour to do their thing. Hopefully, this would avoid such a thing?
As for a ‘failing section’, I can’t say I’ve ever noticed one of those before.
An update can affect various parts of the Windows package, on the PC.
In the past, if one of the existing parts, getting the update,
went wrong the whole download would be backed out and later attempts made to sort it out.
If I understand what they are now suggesting is that a large download would be downloaded in sections, and, if one section went wrong it would be switched off and the rest of the sections would be completed.
Then they would focus in on the failing section, maybe days later, and sort it.
I usually find the download time via standard speed broad-band is acceptable, BUT, the time taken to remove the footprint left behind always seems extraordinarily long to me; then of course the defrag has to be added in to avoid slowing down followed by a registry clean to remove the rest.
Fingers crossed…
