Shop OBEX P1 Docs P2 Docs Learn Events
update 869 of 40750 WTF Microsoft — Parallax Forums

update 869 of 40750 WTF Microsoft

jdoleckijdolecki Posts: 726
edited 2012-04-30 07:17 in General Discussion
So I load Win7 Pro on my motherboard for my Robot

This is the update message i get????
photo (2).jpg
1024 x 765 - 65K

Comments

  • LoopyBytelooseLoopyByteloose Posts: 12,537
    edited 2012-04-25 08:15
    40750 Updates? Heh... he...

    But setting aside the obvious muddle-mindedness of the message, let it run and see it it stablizes.

    From what I can see, M$ adapted an approach similar to Linux's LiveCD for installations with W7. That means that the installation disk just loads enough of the OS system to verify that it is a legitamate copy, to confirm the existing hardware, and then it depends on a massive update from the internet to bring the system up to being complete.
  • ElectricAyeElectricAye Posts: 4,561
    edited 2012-04-25 08:33
    I've always assumed that minute-by-minute updating was just normal for Microsoft software. I've always imagined armies of code monkeys banging away in basement cubicle complexes, churning out sometimes Shakespeare, sometimes computer code, and Microsoft just uploaded these products as updates on a minute-by-minute basis, then observed which snippets of code made improvements to their OS's and which ones caused crashes, etc. I've always assumed they have been employing a kind of Darwinian selection process when it comes to their code, like inducing random mutations in the DNA of bacteria to see if anything beneficial will pop up. Isn't that the way they've been doing it? ..... for decades?

    Monkey-typing.jpg
  • jdoleckijdolecki Posts: 726
    edited 2012-04-25 10:11
    It installed all of them, I just shut the light off and went in the house.

    This is the same robot motherboard that i installed

    MS Robotics Studio

    Kinect SKD.

    Visual Studio (Express)

    Parallax Propeller / Spin software.

    Arduino software.

    And when I powered it all up with the Kinect, all running on batteries.

    It runs!
  • LoopyBytelooseLoopyByteloose Posts: 12,537
    edited 2012-04-25 11:49
    I am happy to hear it is now running fine and appears to be just a part of the installation process. Nonetheless, I gave up on M$ as the update process is a constant source of interruption. Either I find I cannot immediately jump into a task that I need to do when I turn on the computer or I find that I cannot completely shutdown the computer.

    Linux seems to be much better behaved about offering to do updates when one has appropriate time. And it has far less annoying pop ups trying to tell you to do or buy something.
  • bill190bill190 Posts: 769
    edited 2012-04-25 16:21
    Microsoft has moved to cars now...

    Here is all about the "update" (due to customer complaints) which takes 60 minutes to install...
    http://www.dailytech.com/Major+MyFord+Touch+Update+Arrives+Promises+Big+Improvement/article24165.htm
  • $WMc%$WMc% Posts: 1,884
    edited 2012-04-25 19:48
    People see numbers like money. A PC doesn't.
    '
    Can you control it with your smart phone now ???????????????
  • RDL2004RDL2004 Posts: 2,554
    edited 2012-04-26 05:55
    I'm just curious, did you start with an original Windows 7 disk or did you install Service Pack 1 before beginning the update process?

    I just re-installed XP from a 2 year old disk that included Service Pack 3 and there were only about 125 updates required (still took many hours though).
  • ratronicratronic Posts: 1,451
    edited 2012-04-26 08:26
    RDL2004 that's what happens when you install Windows from an original disk. I keep a current back up image of my system drive to prevent this. But if you are using an original retail Windows disk to install on to a new machine then it is "update mania".
  • WBA ConsultingWBA Consulting Posts: 2,935
    edited 2012-04-26 12:12
    Keep in mind that is the number of update "operations" not the number of updates. With XP, we were told "you have 3 updates to install" but each of those updates could have contained 100's of update operations. An operation is a registry modification, file update, shortcut creation, service modification, etc, etc. With Win7 it just seems like updates are more intense. My last Win7 scratch install ran through 12,000 update operations but it took less than 20 minutes.
  • User NameUser Name Posts: 1,451
    edited 2012-04-26 12:25
    ElectricAye's post reminds me of the old saying, "Monkey C, monkey doo."
  • LoopyBytelooseLoopyByteloose Posts: 12,537
    edited 2012-04-29 09:11
    It is not like we really need to know there witll 40750 items updated - it is a rather useless number. An installation bar might be a bit less daunting or some indication of what packages are being attended to. But I fear that would be too sensible, like Linux. Windows is mostly for the majority of the users in the world that just want something to run and never want to look under the hood.

    My problems with Windows updates is that they seem to interrupt me when I am trying to be most productive (when I first turn on the computer) or when I am trying to get out the door (the machine won't shut down). Linux updates run quite well in the background whenever one elects to do so AND if there is a requirment to reboot, one can choose to do so after one's work in progress is resolved.
  • localrogerlocalroger Posts: 3,452
    edited 2012-04-29 16:32
    ratronic wrote: »
    But if you are using an original retail Windows disk to install on to a new machine then it is "update mania".

    I just had to do this. My personal PC was hosed by malware just before Christmas and due to Dell's creative manipulation of the partition system to support MediaDirect, my PING backup failed to mount. I had to reformat and install from an XP SP2 base disk I borrowed from work. It was on the internet for six hours straight updating itself, requiring eight resets before I could start loading the Dell drivers and application software.

    This time I formatted the HD myself and made sure the partition table was normal, and have verified that PING restores properly. Not counting the personal data I actually lost (not a lot, but some of it badly missed) it took a whole month to restore a proper image of all the stuff I'd downloaded and installed over the years for various purposes. Definitely don't want to have to go through all that again.
  • potatoheadpotatohead Posts: 10,261
    edited 2012-04-29 20:23
    Get something like Acronis. Imaging disks is generally far quicker than new installs. I keep two or three. Generally, one is the factory install. Another is "with tools and environment setup", and a third is a running snapshot to be updated before I do specific things.

    As far as getting interrupted is concerned, one can firewall the Microsoft stuff, and the machine will generally be quiet. The cost on that is having to pay attention to networked use, and or managing when updates happen. I like to select a time that won't matter, and catch it up at that time, and will just restrict networked use to known cases. There is still risk in that, but not much, and a VM used for Internet activities can do a lot of damage on that risk too.
  • LoopyBytelooseLoopyByteloose Posts: 12,537
    edited 2012-04-30 07:17
    One must use Acronis, Ghost or another disk imaging application to restore or repair Windows - otherwise the time spent in installation is huge.

    On the other hand, with Linux one doesn't have a huge time deficit to re-install the whole system. Just boot the LiveCD, re-install, and run an update after the re-install is complete. And if one wants to make a disk imagine, it can be done for FREE is a Bash utility.

    Part of the difference is the fact that Linux depositories manage all downloads much faster (including the update process), part of it is that there is a huge increase in speed when you don't have to go many places for various proprietary software; part of it is Linux seems to just make their software work better in terms of administration.

    I just updated W7 on my dual boot Toshiba Netbook with W7 Starter after months of using the LInux side and ignoring the W7.

    The W7 update process is far slower and more tedious. And I still have items that are not resolved after about 4-5 hours of running updates. I also had crashes due to conflicts of updating Adobe and Java while the W7 updates were running in the background. (Linux runs all the updates in the background while I can continue to do productive work without interruption or slow down.) And Windows seems to both jump in at the beginning to delay a boot and hang on to the update and installation process for hours that disallows me to shut down the computer.

    In sum, huge amounts of time are wasted just tending to update administration. I'll stay with Linux and get more productivity. And I am not including the time spent in creating disk images or restoring them.
Sign In or Register to comment.