Windows 10 online distributable vs store bought

[Blackhawk]

I've got two PCs that need work, both likely involving reinstallation of Windows 10. A lot of time is wasted after an OS install waiting for updates to download and install.

Does anyone know if the installer downloadable directly through Microsoft already bundles the updates, or is it just the original retail release?

[gameoverman]

I don't know the answer to that, but I do know you can download bundled updates on a regular basis. I think those files are mostly for administrators to deploy offline on a network, but I think it serves the purpose of avoiding having to download updates right after reinstall. Of course this means you need two USB sticks, one for the OS reinstall and one for the update package.

[Paingod]

I doubt it does, or at least, I couldn't find quick evidence that it did. That might take a bit of constant, recurring work to build out a new version of the OS installer and have it include every update, and any stored versions instantly become outdated.

I use WSUSOffline to great effect. Download all the updates once, install them over and over from a flash drive. I haven't used it with Windows 10, but it let me blow through 4 clean installs of Windows 7 a month back in record time. I even have it on the same flash drive as the bootable Windows 7 installer, so it's an all-in-one USB drive to reformat, install, and update Windows 7 in a couple hours.

[Blackhawk]

Wow, I typed a reply earlier and must have closed the window without submitting. Think-place is confusticated today.

I wasn't able to find a clear answer, either. The recent anniversary update has polluted the search results so thoroughly that they're useless, even with boolean searches.

In any case, I did the install last night (I ended up only needing to do one), and found that the answer was a clear 'sort of.' They do seem to keep the downloadable copy updated, but not regularly. It was, I believe, updated through about three months ago, which means I saved about a year's worth of updates by downloading that copy.

[Zaxxon]

Windows 10 has a different update model (backporting to Win7/8.1 this month) in that there's only one month's update required--they're cumulative. It's much, much less of a hassle than it used to be. They do also periodically update the downloadable media (currently it's 1607, aka the Anniversary update).

Where you still get into Update Hell™ is in the ancillary stuff--Office, .NET, etc. But the days of needing 200 updates after a clean install just to get Windows itself current are over.

[Blackhawk]

That's good to know. Curiously, my main PC still hasn't gotten the Anniversary update. Every other PC I maintain, whether mine or friends/family, has.

[Zaxxon]

Did you perhaps select 'Defer Feature Updates' in Update --> Advanced?

You can manually download the upgrade here.

[Jag]

Windows 10 has a different update model (backporting to Win7/8.1 this month) in that there's only one month's update required--they're cumulative. It's much, much less of a hassle than it used to be. They do also periodically update the downloadable media (currently it's 1607, aka the Anniversary update).

Where you still get into Update Hell™ is in the ancillary stuff--Office, .NET, etc. But the days of needing 200 updates after a clean install just to get Windows itself current are over.

Pretty much. I recently had to a do a full reinstall on a PC (using the W10 downloader) and I think I only had to update once and it was pretty quick and easy.

[Blackhawk]

Did you perhaps select 'Defer Feature Updates' in Update --> Advanced?

You can manually download the upgrade here.

Windows 10 Home doesn't have that functionality. We plebs ain't s'posed to fiddle with our Winders.

I am still on 1511. I have no idea why, but I'm forcing the update.

[Blackhawk]

Ugh, error 0x80004005, which seems to mean any of about 50 different things. The standard MS solutions did not work.

Looks like I get to do more PC repairs.

[Blackhawk]

I think (think) it was Eset NOD32 antivirus that was causing the problem.

I love this antivirus. It has yet to give me a false positive. It has a tiny footprint, and is generally unobtrusive.

This is also that third time I've spent significant time troubleshooting an application only to find out it was NOD32 blocking something.

[Daehawk]

My wife's laptop uses Win 10 and it pushes updates each week plus each time she reboots..its a very annoying thing.

[Punisher]

My wife's laptop uses Win 10 and it pushes updates each week plus each time she reboots..its a very annoying thing.

I don't think I've noticed updates every week.... but try this to maybe help you out.
manually check for and install updates
reboot
repeat until there are no more updates.

Like all versions of Windows, MS has yet to come up with a "just install the latest updates at once" feature. It is typically something like... There are 100 updates, but we can't do those at one time so we will give you 1-25 for now, then on the next check 26-30, then maybe 31-78, etc...
So if you were never fully updated from the install, this could be spread over weeks during the automatic updates.

[Daehawk]

Might attempt that sometime when she is asleep. last time I manually updated was when she wanted to use it and it took 1 1/2 hours for it to finish and she could use it. I let her use mine until then and it sucked. We got rid of cable so the only way for her to watch tv is through ehr laptop.

[hitbyambulance]

We got rid of cable so the only way for her to watch tv is through ehr laptop.

this goes into quite another thread, and i am sure you know this already, but you can plug a UHF antenna into your TV for OTA HD reception (number of channels received depending on location and some other variables).

[stessier]

Depending on the age of the TV, you may need a digital converter as well (as in my case).