Windows Update, but not as we know it...

audiobabble

audiobabble

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I wonder if anyone can shed any light on this weird problem I've been having lately on my laptop...

I installed/tweaked the W10 optimized image as per this thread https://www.ntlite.com/community/index.php?threads/guide-optimized-image.2990/

Been using it since late last year with no problems.

Lately, I find that when I connect to the internet, after about a minute my processor fan starts up and when I check Task Manager, I find that Windows Update is taking a large percentage of CPU, plus a fair bit of ram (200+MB). This will typically go on for about 15-20 minutes.

The things is:
1. windows update is paused indefinitely
2. windows update service is manually disabled
3. windows update exception is disallowed in TinyWall

while this process is running it's not actually using any wifi bandwidth. I suspect it might be doing some kind of system scan.

However, it does it every time after a restart. The other interesting thing is, if I kill the wifi while it's doing it's thing, then it stops. After reconnecting it doesn't restart itself unless i restart windows..

The other bit of possibly relevant info is that recently my battery completely died. This led to problems with windows forgetting the date on occasions and also bios settings getting forgotten. I only noticed this windows update thing since that time.

I've since replaced the battery, and was hoping the problem would go away, but it hasn't.
 
After piecing together information from your latest posts, I can see that you won't resolve the majority of issues until you do a reinstall of Windows. I'd recommend doing a BIOS update and then reset it to defaults to weed out any quirks caused by the battery. In Windows Setup, make sure to delete the 3 Windows partitions for your current install before proceeding with the Optimized Image guide as-is, without any other tweaks whatsoever.

Use that image for about a week to develop a baseline to compare against. Don't add any additional tweaks after that first week, unless you're sure they are helping. If the Windows Update issue returns, report back with notes on what happened in the 24 hours prior to it installing updates.

I can pretty much guarantee this scenario was caused by bad tweaks though, since you mentioned in another post you modified my Windows Update tweak and that's when it started installing updates. Without reinstalling Windows again you are now using a build version that both doesn't match what my guide was created for, and it assuredly undid some of my tweaks once it was allowed to patch itself.

I also identified a number of other concerns I saw in your posts, about using extra tweaks that are either causing problems or are bound to, such as the ACPI tweak, Wi-Fi script, possible conflicts from other presets/guides like the PDF you mentioned, etcetera. In other words, this is now a dirty/broken install and the right way to fix it is to start over.
 
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audiobabble said:
I wonder if anyone can shed any light on this weird problem I've been having lately on my laptop...

I installed/tweaked the W10 optimized image as per this thread https://www.ntlite.com/community/index.php?threads/guide-optimized-image.2990/

Been using it since late last year with no problems.

Lately, I find that when I connect to the internet, after about a minute my processor fan starts up and when I check Task Manager, I find that Windows Update is taking a large percentage of CPU, plus a fair bit of ram (200+MB). This will typically go on for about 15-20 minutes.

The things is:
1. windows update is paused indefinitely
2. windows update service is manually disabled
3. windows update exception is disallowed in TinyWall

while this process is running it's not actually using any wifi bandwidth. I suspect it might be doing some kind of system scan.

However, it does it every time after a restart. The other interesting thing is, if I kill the wifi while it's doing it's thing, then it stops. After reconnecting it doesn't restart itself unless i restart windows..

The other bit of possibly relevant info is that recently my battery completely died. This led to problems with windows forgetting the date on occasions and also bios settings getting forgotten. I only noticed this windows update thing since that time.

I've since replaced the battery, and was hoping the problem would go away, but it hasn't.
Click to expand...
Just purge windows update with Ntlite and use Ntlite to update manually if there is a issue. Windows has been causing a lot of issues for a lot of users lately(repairs have been rampant)

I will never use windows update ever again and like to have control of when I update my system.
 
Hellbovine said:
After piecing together information from your latest posts, I can see that you won't resolve the majority of issues until you do a reinstall of Windows. I'd recommend doing a BIOS update and then reset it to defaults to weed out any quirks caused by the battery. In Windows Setup, make sure to delete the 3 Windows partitions for your current install before proceeding with the Optimized Image guide as-is, without any other tweaks whatsoever.

Use that image for about a week to develop a baseline to compare against. Don't add any additional tweaks after that first week, unless you're sure they are helping. If the Windows Update issue returns, report back with notes on what happened in the 24 hours prior to it installing updates.

I can pretty much guarantee this scenario was caused by bad tweaks though, since you mentioned in another post you modified my Windows Update tweak and that's when it started installing updates. Without reinstalling Windows again you are now using a build version that both doesn't match what my guide was created for, and it assuredly undid some of my tweaks once it was allowed to patch itself.

I also identified a number of other concerns I saw in your posts, about using extra tweaks that are either causing problems or are bound to, such as the ACPI tweak, Wi-Fi script, possible conflicts from other presets/guides like the PDF you mentioned, etcetera. In other words, this is now a dirty/broken install and the right way to fix it is to start over.
Click to expand...
This is sound advice. Likely not something I'm going to be able to do until I get another system though due to being reliant on my current laptop for both work and creative work. This is one of the reasons I like to have two Windows partitions -- I can set up a fresh one while still using the other for daily tasks.
I am planning to get a new rig though in the near future, so that would be a prime candidate for a 'start from scratch' approach.
Regarding glitchfree.pdf -- if i recall correctly, there wasn't actually much that needed doing from the tweaks recommended therein -- most of it was done already by your patches. I'd have to consult my notes to see what extra stuff I did.
As for the Wi-Fi script it's simply this BAT file:
powershell Set-NetAdapterAdvancedProperty -Name "WiFi" -AllProperties -RegistryKeyword "SoftwareRadioOff" -RegistryValue "1"
which is set to run as a shutdown script, so after a restart wifi is found to be off. It can then simply be switched back on via the wifi button in the task tray.
The ACPI setting is something I turn off manually ONLY when requiring ultra-low latency in certain recording situations.
My recollection is hazy regarding the windows update thing... chicken or egg, I can't remember whether I felt the need to modify your tweak because of windows update rearing its ugly head, or whether I made the tweak for some random reason then starting having trouble.
 
I did a reinstall last night on my computer using the Optimized Image exactly as-is, and it worked properly. Nothing was installed by Windows Update and I ran the entire task scheduler afterward too, but the computer was still in my control and there were no updates downloaded or installed. A clean reinstall using my guide will definitely solve the issues, and you can try the following steps in the meantime to help things behave:
1) Open Security Center and disable tamper protection. Run all the Optimized Image registry files from the desktop. Some of them won't work, because they have to be integrated into an image instead, but this will at least reapply all the tweaks that do work on a live install. Reboot afterwards.

2) Launch a command prompt as administrator, then enter "rundll32.exe advapi32.dll,ProcessIdleTasks & pause" without quotes and wait for it to finish in about 15-30 minutes. Reboot and check task manager afterwards to see lower resources. We did this to force the task scheduler to execute all pending tasks that have built up, but this also updates many timestamps too.

3) Disconnect from the internet by unplugging the router, then unpause Windows Update, restart the computer, then pause Windows Update again for whatever date you want. That should reset this feature by updating the timestamps and fixing any bad tweaks here.

Reboot after the above, connect to the internet, and hopefully the problems will be tolerable now until you can reformat later.
 
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