Windows 7 Pro 64-bit update configuration madness

This actually happened to me yesterday:

http://uberhumor.com/wp-content/uplo...hotos-2156.jpg

and what's even stranger is that my computer has been offline for over a
week. The computer does *not* have a wireless receiver built into it
either. I allowed it to update when it was online, then moved it back to
a room in my house where there isn't any internet access. I've had the
computer on and off several times since I disconnected it from the
internet over a week ago, then when I turned it on yesterday, for some
reason it decided that it was time to do some update configuring.

Go figure.

--
John Corliss

John Corliss wrote:

This actually happened to me yesterday:

http://uberhumor.com/wp-content/uplo...hotos-2156.jpg

and what's even stranger is that my computer has been offline for over a
week. The computer does *not* have a wireless receiver built into it
either. I allowed it to update when it was online, then moved it back to
a room in my house where there isn't any internet access. I've had the
computer on and off several times since I disconnected it from the
internet over a week ago, then when I turned it on yesterday, for some
reason it decided that it was time to do some update configuring.

Go figure.

After downloading and installing the updates, have you yet fully
rebooted the computer? No, not power down to hibernate, standby, or
hybrid mode but actually powered down the computer (no Windows prior
state saved)? Some updates cannot complete until the shutdown process.
Some are completed during the next load of Windows so new files can
replace old ones that were locked (in use) when the update was initially
applied.

If a cold boot doesn't work then power down and pull the power cord for
a few minutes, reconnect, and then boot up. You did not identify your
"computer". If it has a main battery (e.g., laptop) then shutdown, pull
the battery, pull the A/C power cord, wait a few minutes, insert the
battery and/or connect to A/C, and boot up.

However, since you already did the final installation procedure on boot
(you did not say it keeps happening so presumably it happened just
once), you won't see that behavior again until you install more updates
that require a reboot to complete the installation.

VanguardLH wrote:
John Corliss wrote:

This actually happened to me yesterday:

http://uberhumor.com/wp-content/uplo...hotos-2156.jpg

and what's even stranger is that my computer has been offline for over a
week. The computer does *not* have a wireless receiver built into it
either. I allowed it to update when it was online, then moved it back to
a room in my house where there isn't any internet access.

And since I'm talking about a desktop computer, not a laptop, this meant
unplugging it from the wall after powering it down completely.

I've had the
computer on and off several times since I disconnected it from the
internet over a week ago, then when I turned it on yesterday, for some
reason it decided that it was time to do some update configuring.

Go figure.

After downloading and installing the updates, have you yet fully
rebooted the computer? No, not power down to hibernate, standby, or
hybrid mode but actually powered down the computer (no Windows prior
state saved)?

I completely powered off the computer and then powered it back on
*several times* before it performed the update configuration. I don't
use "hibernate, standby, or hybrid mode". Sorry I didn't make that clearer.

Some updates cannot complete until the shutdown process.
Some are completed during the next load of Windows so new files can
replace old ones that were locked (in use) when the update was initially
applied.

If a cold boot doesn't work then power down and pull the power cord for
a few minutes, reconnect, and then boot up. You did not identify your
"computer". If it has a main battery (e.g., laptop) then shutdown, pull
the battery, pull the A/C power cord, wait a few minutes, insert the
battery and/or connect to A/C, and boot up.

However, since you already did the final installation procedure on boot
(you did not say it keeps happening so presumably it happened just
once),

That was indeed the case.

you won't see that behavior again until you install more updates
that require a reboot to complete the installation.

Regardless, the number of complete power-off and power-on cycles (about
five or six) between my having downloaded the updates and their having
been configured is strange.

--
John Corliss

Turning off automatic updates via configuration does not disable
Microsoft from still performing some updates, like updating the WU
client or service. Users have been reporting these "ghost" updates for
as long as Microsoft has provided an automated update service. You may
have configured automatic updates in Windows to "notify only" but that
does not prevent Windows from surrepitiously retrieving and installing
some updates. Ever since Microsoft provided automatic updates users
have been plagued by ghost updates. The user config, like "notify
only", is ignored for "special" updates.

There is only one way to ensure that no WU updates are retrieved and
applied unless you decide to do that: disable both the BITS (Background
Intelligent Transfer Service) and WU (Windows Update) services. BITS is
used by any program that wants to perform background file transfers.
For example, Windows Defender will use it to obtain its updates (and
despite you configure WU to not update since most users do want their
anti-virus software to get updated). BITS can be used by any program
via API to perform a background download. It is used by WU to download
the updates with minimal impact on responsiveness of the host. The WU
service remains enabled so it can be called upon to perform updates.

If you want to ensure that updates are retrieved and applied only when
YOU decide then disable BITS and WU services until YOU want them to run.
I use 2 batch files to enable these services before running the WU
client and then disable these services after done using WU client. Then
Windows cannot incur any ghost updates (even with "notify only") because
it cannot connect to Microsoft's WSUS server.

---WU-disable.bat---
echo off
cls

echo Stop BITS (Background Intelligent Transfer Service) ...
sc.exe stop BITS
echo Disable BITS ...
sc.exe config BITS start= disabled
echo.

echo Stop Windows Update service ...
sc.exe stop wuauserv
echo Disable Windows Update service ...
sc.exe config wuauserv start= disabled
echo.
---end of batch---

---WU-enable.bat---
@echo off
cls

echo Enable BITS (Background Intelligent Transfer Service) to Manual
startup mode ...
sc.exe config BITS start= demand
echo.

echo Enable Windows Update service to Manual startup mode ...
sc.exe config wuauserv start= demand
echo Start Windows Update service ...
sc.exe start wuauserv
echo.
---end of batch---

Starting and stopping services is asynchronous. When sc (service
controller) gets status back, all it knows is that the service either
responded to a request to stop or reported it had started (but not that
it is ready). So using WU-enable.bat means you need to wait until both
BITS and WU services are actually ready before trying to use them with a
following update check. However, they come up and are ready so fast
that by the time you get around to starting the WU client that those
services should already be started and ready.

However, you said after moving your computer that it had no network
access hence no Internet access. BITS and WU services left enabled
can't do anything without an Internet connection (well, a network
connection to a WSUS server which could be you own; for example,
companies run their own WSUS servers). That's why I wondered if the
computer had ever been fully powered down WITHOUT any resume to a prior
Windows state on power up. No hibernate mode, no hybrid mode, that
would resume the prior Windows state by copying into memory what had
been stored in a hibernate file. You don't want to reestablish a prior
Windows state. You want to initiate a new Windows state (or session).
"On and off several times" does not dictate that a *new* Windows session
was created on power up. I've seen lots of users that thought they were
powering up a fresh session of Windows when, in fact, they never
shutdown Windows and instead saved state which got reused on the next
power up.

If you did a Windows Update and rebooted (to make sure all changes for
all updates got fully applied - not all updates force an update but may
still need one to sync all related files), had fully shutdown Windows
(did NOT store a saved state), powered down, and moved the computer to
elsewhere with no network (not just Internet but no network access at
all), and powered up to get then get an update completion then I don't
know how that happened (other than executing a saved update file to run
it offline).

VanguardLH, please listen.

1. I have WU set to not update until I do it manually. I updated the
computer until the update site said that my copy of Windows 7 Pro 64 bit
was completely up to date.

2. I completely turned off the computer (Start Menu, Turn Off).

3. I *unplugged the computer* from all power sources. No 110 was going
to it at all.

4. I unplugged the CAT-5 cable from the back of the computer. The
computer has no built in wireless receiver. It can only access the
internet via its RJ-45 port on the back.

5. I physically moved the computer into a room which which has no
internet access, no cable and no cable modem.

6. I did *not* reconnect the computer to the internet because I didn't
want to and besides, was physically unable to do so.

6. I used the computer 5 or 6 times, completely powering it down and
later, powering it back up. I do not use "sleep" or "hibernate" or any
of the other options which are alternatives to _completely_ powering
down a computer, I always completely power down my computers whenever
I'm done using them. During these 5 or 6 times, I remained disconnected
from the internet completely.

7. Around the 6th or 7th time and still completely disconnected from the
internet, I turned the computer back on and got the message which said:
"Configuring Windows Updates
120% complete
Do not turn off your computer."

So,

a. How is it possible to be 120% complete?
b. Why was the configuration of any update(s) delayed so long, if indeed
that was what happened?

Is there anything which still remains unclear?
Is there anything which I still need to clarify in order to get you to
understand that there is *no way* that any updates could have been
installed after I disconnected from the internet?

VanguardLH wrote:

(snipped unnecessary explanation of how BITS and WU work, etc.)
However, you said after moving your computer that it had no network
access hence no Internet access. BITS and WU services left enabled
can't do anything without an Internet connection (well, a network
connection to a WSUS server which could be you own; for example,
companies run their own WSUS servers). That's why I wondered if the
computer had ever been fully powered down WITHOUT any resume to a prior
Windows state on power up. No hibernate mode, no hybrid mode, that
would resume the prior Windows state by copying into memory what had
been stored in a hibernate file. You don't want to reestablish a prior
Windows state. You want to initiate a new Windows state (or session).

As I clearly said in my reply to your last post which you completely
removed along with the rest of my reply:

I completely powered off the computer and then powered it back on
*several times* before it performed the update configuration. I don't
use "hibernate, standby, or hybrid mode". Sorry I didn't make that
clearer.

"On and off several times" does not dictate that a *new* Windows session
was created on power up.

Are you replying to my OP or are you replying to my reply to your reply?

I've seen lots of users that thought they were
powering up a fresh session of Windows when, in fact, they never
shutdown Windows and instead saved state which got reused on the next
power up.

Why would you deliberately remove the clarification from my last post
and then then behave as if I provide that clarification?

If you did a Windows Update and rebooted (to make sure all changes for
all updates got fully applied - not all updates force an update but may
still need one to sync all related files), had fully shutdown Windows
(did NOT store a saved state), powered down, and moved the computer to
elsewhere with no network (not just Internet but no network access at
all), and powered up to get then get an update completion then I don't
know how that happened (other than executing a saved update file to run
it offline).

I didn't save an update file and-or run it offline. Do you *REALLY*
think that if I had done so, that I wouldn't understand it was possible
for that to be responsible for the message?

Vanguard LH, you've discussed things many times with me over in ACF. I
in particular remember a conversation about me using a CAD program for
designing a fence I wanted to install on my property where you went nuts
and started ranting about local codes. By doing so, you assumed that I
hadn't already dealt with that issue AND you diverted the discussion
into something which was completely off-topic for that group.

Now you have patronizingly treated me like somebody's grandmother who
can't send an email.

For future reference, allow me to provide some personal background for you:

I have been using computers since the mid '70s. I started using Windows
with version 3.0 back in the 1991 and before that, DOS on XTs, before
that an ancient Apple computer, before that Commodore 64s and 128s,
before that my college's Harris mini-frame. I have been using computers
intensively ever since. Although I don't program (I did so some of that
at the beginning, but disliked it and quit), I am a very, very advanced
user.

Perhaps you've been using computers longer or more intensely than I
have, I don't care. The fact remains that my background clearly
indicates that I'm not a novice and I would appreciate it if you
remembered that in the future.

--
John Corliss

John Corliss wrote:

1. I have WU set to not update until I do it manually. I updated the
computer until the update site said that my copy of Windows 7 Pro 64 bit
was completely up to date.

2. I completely turned off the computer (Start Menu, Turn Off).

Turn Off?

My Win7 only shows Start - Shutdown
with a drop-down list of Switch User
Log off
Lock
Restart
Sleep

which looks like:

http://toastytech.com/guis/win7shutdown.png

except that I have Hibernate disabled so it does not appear as a
selection in the drop-down list.

3. I *unplugged the computer* from all power sources. No 110 was going
to it at all.

As pointed out, lack of power does not eliminate saving the Windows
session state for a restore on next power up. I'd investigate just what
"Turn off" does in your Start menu.

4. I unplugged the CAT-5 cable from the back of the computer. The
computer has no built in wireless receiver. It can only access the
internet via its RJ-45 port on the back.

5. I physically moved the computer into a room which which has no
internet access, no cable and no cable modem.

6. I did *not* reconnect the computer to the internet because I didn't
want to and besides, was physically unable to do so.

6. I used the computer 5 or 6 times, completely powering it down and
later, powering it back up. I do not use "sleep" or "hibernate" or any
of the other options which are alternatives to _completely_ powering
down a computer, I always completely power down my computers whenever
I'm done using them. During these 5 or 6 times, I remained disconnected
from the internet completely.

7. Around the 6th or 7th time and still completely disconnected from the
internet, I turned the computer back on and got the message which said:
"Configuring Windows Updates
120% complete
Do not turn off your computer."

So,

a. How is it possible to be 120% complete?
b. Why was the configuration of any update(s) delayed so long, if indeed
that was what happened?

Is there anything which still remains unclear?
Is there anything which I still need to clarify in order to get you to
understand that there is *no way* that any updates could have been
installed after I disconnected from the internet?

Anyone else have physical access to your PC? Got any gremlins in the
house (they're also called kids)? If so, do they have smartphones that
could tether (via USB, Bluetooth, or wifi) your PC to the Internet?

Based on what you detailed, I can't see how a Windows update got delayed
for so long. I'm assuming this isn't some gag since the update message
shown in your linked photo says "120% complete". I have seen gag
software that pretends to issue messages to alarm the user.

Have you looked at the startup programs and task scheduler for untoward
software? msconfig and Task Scheduler won't show all startup programs.
You might want to use SysInternals' AutoRuns. Presumably you have
already scanned your PC for malware using multiple security products.

VanguardLH wrote:
John Corliss wrote:

1. I have WU set to not update until I do it manually. I updated the
computer until the update site said that my copy of Windows 7 Pro 64 bit
was completely up to date.

2. I completely turned off the computer (Start Menu, Turn Off).

Turn Off?

My Win7 only shows Start - Shutdown
with a drop-down list of Switch User
Log off
Lock
Restart
Sleep

which looks like:

http://toastytech.com/guis/win7shutdown.png

except that I have Hibernate disabled so it does not appear as a
selection in the drop-down list.

I'm on my XP computer and used what it's Start Menu says. Oh well.
--
John Corliss

On 23/10/2016 09:26, John Corliss wrote:
VanguardLH wrote:
John Corliss wrote:

1. I have WU set to not update until I do it manually. I updated the
computer until the update site said that my copy of Windows 7 Pro 64 bit
was completely up to date.

2. I completely turned off the computer (Start Menu, Turn Off).

Turn Off?

My Win7 only shows Start - Shutdown
with a drop-down list of Switch User
Log off
Lock
Restart
Sleep

which looks like:

http://toastytech.com/guis/win7shutdown.png

except that I have Hibernate disabled so it does not appear as a
selection in the drop-down list.

I'm on my XP computer and used what it's Start Menu says. Oh well.


Sometimes after adding or removing Windows components or using the disk
cleanup wizard you will see something like "Configuring Windows updates"
next time you reboot.

--

Brian Gregory (in the UK).
To email me please remove all the letter vee from my email address.

Brian Gregory wrote:
John Corliss wrote:
VanguardLH wrote:
John Corliss wrote:

1. I have WU set to not update until I do it manually. I updated the
computer until the update site said that my copy of Windows 7 Pro 64 bit
was completely up to date.

2. I completely turned off the computer (Start Menu, Turn Off).

Turn Off?

My Win7 only shows Start - Shutdown
with a drop-down list of Switch User
Log off
Lock
Restart
Sleep

which looks like:

http://toastytech.com/guis/win7shutdown.png

except that I have Hibernate disabled so it does not appear as a
selection in the drop-down list.

I'm on my XP computer and used what it's Start Menu says. Oh well.


Sometimes after adding or removing Windows components or using the disk
cleanup wizard you will see something like "Configuring Windows updates"
next time you reboot.

Thanks, Brian. I went into "Programs and Features" and then into "Turn
Windows features on or off" to see if I could disable some game stuff. I
don't remember changing anything, but I might have gotten rid of the
internet games.

Thanks again.
--
John Corliss