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#1
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display Win7 Updates status while downloading
In the good old days, when you did a Windows Update,
you could display a screen that showed the activity as it was going on... and control when, how, & what to install. On my Windows 7 system, I've not figured out how to get that same acreen, along with Windows 7 Updater just downloading when it wants and all I see on the toolbar is the little blue boxy icon with the ring around... In Win7 - is there any way to control "updates" and actually have a screen display as it is downloading & installing ? I hate all this "dumbing down" to protect the user (consumer). -- / _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ No Good Deed - Goes Unpunished |
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#2
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display Win7 Updates status while downloading
On 2/12/2015 1:52 PM, ps56k wrote:
In the good old days, when you did a Windows Update, you could display a screen that showed the activity as it was going on... and control when, how, & what to install. On my Windows 7 system, I've not figured out how to get that same acreen, along with Windows 7 Updater just downloading when it wants and all I see on the toolbar is the little blue boxy icon with the ring around... In Win7 - is there any way to control "updates" and actually have a screen display as it is downloading & installing ? I hate all this "dumbing down" to protect the user (consumer). To control updates, use the Control Panel. Select [Windows Update Change Settings]. Select whatever settings you want, especially the pull-down list under "Important updates". I have "Check for updates but let me choose whether to download and install them." I also have checked all the checkboxes below that. With my settings, I select which updates to install. Since I log them and maintain my own inventory of what is installed on my PC, I generally select only one category at a time (e.g., Windows now, Office later). When I select the "Install updates" button, the Windows Update window usually closes; but its icon remains in the notification area (formerly called the Tray). I immediately select that icon, and the Windows Update window opens again, allowing me to monitor the downloading and installation. As I indicated in an earlier thread, I generally wait about a week before installing Microsoft updates. Too often in recent years, one or more updates make things worse instead of better; so I wait to allow Microsoft to withdraw any buggy updates. In the latest batch, I will not be installing the Windows 7 update for KB3021917, which seems to benefit only Microsoft and not users. The Windows 7 update for KB3001652 also seems to be a problem; that one, I might install separately from all the others -- if it has not been withdrawn. -- David E. Ross The Crimea is Putin's Sudetenland. The Ukraine will be Putin's Czechoslovakia. See http://www.rossde.com/editorials/edtl_PutinUkraine.html. |
#3
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display Win7 Updates status while downloading
On 2/12/2015 4:17 PM, David E. Ross wrote:
On 2/12/2015 1:52 PM, ps56k wrote: In the good old days, when you did a Windows Update, you could display a screen that showed the activity as it was going on... and control when, how, & what to install. On my Windows 7 system, I've not figured out how to get that same acreen, along with Windows 7 Updater just downloading when it wants and all I see on the toolbar is the little blue boxy icon with the ring around... In Win7 - is there any way to control "updates" and actually have a screen display as it is downloading & installing ? I hate all this "dumbing down" to protect the user (consumer). To control updates, use the Control Panel. Select [Windows Update Change Settings]. Select whatever settings you want, especially the pull-down list under "Important updates". I have "Check for updates but let me choose whether to download and install them." I also have checked all the checkboxes below that. With my settings, I select which updates to install. Since I log them and maintain my own inventory of what is installed on my PC, I generally select only one category at a time (e.g., Windows now, Office later). When I select the "Install updates" button, the Windows Update window usually closes; but its icon remains in the notification area (formerly called the Tray). I immediately select that icon, and the Windows Update window opens again, allowing me to monitor the downloading and installation. As I indicated in an earlier thread, I generally wait about a week before installing Microsoft updates. Too often in recent years, one or more updates make things worse instead of better; so I wait to allow Microsoft to withdraw any buggy updates. In the latest batch, I will not be installing the Windows 7 update for KB3021917, which seems to benefit only Microsoft and not users. The Windows 7 update for KB3001652 also seems to be a problem; that one, I might install separately from all the others -- if it has not been withdrawn. Oops! KB3001652 had already been withdrawn by the time I wrote the above. Instead, I meant KB3013455, which has caused printing and viewing problems for some users. -- David E. Ross The Crimea is Putin's Sudetenland. The Ukraine will be Putin's Czechoslovakia. See http://www.rossde.com/editorials/edtl_PutinUkraine.html. |
#4
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display Win7 Updates status while downloading
ps56k wrote on 2/12/2015 4:52 PM:
In the good old days, when you did a Windows Update, you could display a screen that showed the activity as it was going on... and control when, how, & what to install. On my Windows 7 system, I've not figured out how to get that same acreen, along with Windows 7 Updater just downloading when it wants and all I see on the toolbar is the little blue boxy icon with the ring around... In Win7 - is there any way to control "updates" and actually have a screen display as it is downloading & installing ? I hate all this "dumbing down" to protect the user (consumer). Control Panel - Windows Updates. ??? |
#5
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display Win7 Updates status while downloading
ps56k wrote:
In the good old days, when you did a Windows Update, you could display a screen that showed the activity as it was going on... and control when, how, & what to install. On my Windows 7 system, I've not figured out how to get that same acreen, along with Windows 7 Updater just downloading when it wants and all I see on the toolbar is the little blue boxy icon with the ring around... In Win7 - is there any way to control "updates" and actually have a screen display as it is downloading & installing ? When you select which updates to install (you do review them before installing them, right?), the updates window minimizes to a systray icon. Expand that tray icon to see the progress. There is no point in showing each update as it downloads. You already and just reviewed that list (didn't you? right?). For the download step, you get to see how much is getting download and percentage complete. WU is a background job meant to not interfere with your continued use of your computer, so downloading is slow. Then you see a message about WU creating a restore point. Then you see "x of y" when installing each update where x is the current number in the list of updates you selected and y is the total number of updates that you selected. As each update is installed, you are shown the name of that update (title and KB number). What more information did you expect to see than the progress of the download(s) and seeing each update as it gets installed? I hate all this "dumbing down" to protect the user (consumer). You should ask before lambasting someone else for your ignorance. It makes you look dumb, not Microsoft. When you start the download, the tray icon shows up and even shows for a short time a pop up telling you about how to see the update progress. Or you could leave the tray icon as it is and hover the mouse over it to get a summary of the update progress as a percentage. |
#6
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display Win7 Updates status while downloading
On Thu, 12 Feb 2015 15:52:38 -0600, ps56k wrote:
In the good old days, when you did a Windows Update, you could display a screen that showed the activity as it was going on... and control when, how, & what to install. On my Windows 7 system, I've not figured out how to get that same acreen, along with Windows 7 Updater just downloading when it wants and all I see on the toolbar is the little blue boxy icon with the ring around... In Win7 - is there any way to control "updates" and actually have a screen display as it is downloading & installing ? I hate all this "dumbing down" to protect the user (consumer). I can't even guess what you're doing wrong... Maybe VanguardLH pegged it, however. -- Gene E. Bloch (Stumbling Bloch) |
#7
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display Win7 Updates status while downloading
"VanguardLH" wrote in message ... You should ask before lambasting someone else for your ignorance. let me know how you can monitor the downloading and installing progress with the icon - when the Updates are selected for Automatic ? |
#8
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display Win7 Updates status while downloading
ps56k wrote:
let me know how you can monitor the downloading and installing progress with the icon - when the Updates are selected for Automatic ? Not a criteria in your original inquiry. I had assumed you were a smart Windows user who had long ago learned that automatic updates are dangerous to the operation and reliability of the OS. Apparently you want someone else to determine when and how to change the state of your computer. Okay, that's a choice, too. Automatic = no prompting. If there were prompts, automatic updates would not be automatic. If you want the updates to be automatic then that means they are not to get shoved in your face. Automatic means [mostly] hidden. How long have you been using Windows? After a short time, most users find out that they do NOT want Windows Update set to automatic. Partial updates that require a reboot to complete can lead to misbehavior in the OS or apps, or installing updates and not doing a reboot can lead to the same misbehavior. New updates means new code which means different bugs and vulnerabilities. You are the admin of your computer so it is your responsibility to review the updates before applying them. If you absolve the chore to someone else then you elected to let someone else admin your computer. That means someone else can change the state of your computer anytime they like with code they think is fixed or changes features or do anything at anytime they want. Windows users that get informed about the various operational modes of WU often elect to NOT use automatic updates. Automatic mode causes way too many problems. Even configuring WU to download but not install can run into problems. Myself and others have discovered that sometimes the downloaded updates do get installed, sometimes on Windows shutdown (and to finish on the next boot up). The only safe operational mode for WU is to NOT download and only notify you of updates. Then, when YOU are ready (not doing critical work, can afford interruptions, and have saved a backup), you then manually instigate a download and install of updates. You get to see how many updates (in size and count) when you manually choose to perform Windows updates. Automatic means just that: you're not involved. If you want to see what updates were applied between now and some date in the past (because you are likely not to know when automatic updates were performed), you could go into the Add/Remove Programs equivalent applet, view installed updates, and sort in the "Installed On" column. The updates will still be grouped by product so you need to scroll down to the "Microsoft Windows" group to see the list of updates for that product sorted in installation order. I have never use automatic updating in any product. Most times I don't even want me to notify me of new updates. I will decide at points of time when it is appropriate to change the state of my computer. At most, I may configure a program to notify me of new updates but I will still decide when to download and install them. As such, I do not have personal experience with the WU applet when using the hidden automatic update mode. I suspect during an update that loading the WU applet will show you what is happening at the time of an automatic update; however, I don't know that you will get some popup or other interferrence telling you when an automatic update is in progress. When an automatic update is occurring, is there no tray icon present (to quickly load the WU applet instead of having to navigate the Start menu to load it)? If a tray icon does not appear during an automatic update, you can add a shortcut (on your desktop or in a toolbar in the Windows taskbar) that runs "C:\Windows\System32\control.exe /name Microsoft.WindowsUpdate" (sans quotes). If there is no visable tray icon during an automatic update then maybe the system tray notification area (systray) is configured to hide that icon. In that case, you will have to configure the systray to change the icon for WU from "only show notifications" to "show icon and notifications". Alas, the WU entry may not be listed in the systray config unless the WU is actually running. So you could try doing a manual update and check if its tray icon is visible. As I recall, I would get the popup or balloon telling me new updates were available (because I configured to notify, not to download and automatically install) but the WU tray icon was hidden. I had to go into the systray config to change the WU icon to "show icon and notifications"; else, it was hidden as "only show notifications". |
#9
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display Win7 Updates status while downloading
"VanguardLH" wrote in message
... -- As such, I do not have personal experience with the WU applet when using the hidden automatic update mode. -------------- tnx for the pages of editorial comments without actually answering the Q&A that indeed let us all know how smart you are... and yeah - I have been using Windows since before 3.1 - |
#10
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display Win7 Updates status while downloading
ps56k wrote:
"VanguardLH" wrote in message ... -- As such, I do not have personal experience with the WU applet when using the hidden automatic update mode. -------------- tnx for the pages of editorial comments without actually answering the Q&A that indeed let us all know how smart you are... and yeah - I have been using Windows since before 3.1 - There should be a control panel for Windows Update, in each OS version. There is also a windowsupdate.log file, at least on my current OS. Even if for some reason, it was "totally automated", the log file should have the transactions. For example, when I look in mine right now, I can see it's been busy generating nuisance entries in the log, which help flush the more useful entries that might have been in there. I think when the log gets big enough, the old entries are flushed. And unlike setupapi.log, the files don't roll over and old files get kept. As with many Microsoft logs, the log information isn't all that useful. Windows Update control panel also keeps a "history", and there should be a separate menu item to take you to the history. An update can have a status of "failed" for example, and if Windows Update has a real problem, you can see large quantities of "failed" in the log. And perhaps the one at the beginning of the swath of "failed", is the one that is "blocking" progress. Then, you need to find a recipe for resetting Windows Update. An easy way to do that, is to look for a Microsoft Fixit, which may be able to clear out the appropriate cache folder and set things straight. Otherwise, if you know the mechanics of it a bit, there's likely a manual recipe you can try out. Paul |
#11
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display Win7 Updates status while downloading
ps56k wrote:
"VanguardLH" wrote in message ... -- As such, I do not have personal experience with the WU applet when using the hidden automatic update mode. -------------- tnx for the pages of editorial comments without actually answering the Q&A that indeed let us all know how smart you are... Or how dumb it is to use automatic update mode. Ah, too bad, you don't get to mandate the content of responses, like folks describing why they think automatic update mode is for ignorant users. I said why automatic was a bad choice. I also offerred suggestions on how to ensure you could see the WU tray icon, how to see what updates were last installed, or how to view the automatic updates as they occurred - which really means the updates are not automatic but monitored, just like they would be for a manual update. and yeah - I have been using Windows since before 3.1 - Oh, I see. You want someone to change your diaper. I mentioned to check if the WU tray icon is configured to be hidden or not and how to change it so that it is always visible. You can load the WU applet to watch an automatic update in progress but that requires you know when the automatic update was in progress. You don't like the answer that automatic means hidden and that you have to do something to unhide. So, back in your favorite Windows XP, and when an automatic update was currently in progress, you actually got interrupted with a popup, balloon, or the WU applet's window appeared telling you about the automatic update and showing you its progress? If so, that's a rather obnoxious automatic mode to push it in your face. |
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