It has been a while, since Microsoft tried to push Windows 10 as a upgrade to older Windows machines. Now Microsoft’s management confirms, that it has gone to far with it’s “malware style” Windows 10 10 upgrade campaign.

From July 2015 till July 2016 Microsoft has offered a free upgrade for Windows 7 SP1 and Windows 8.1 machines to Windows 10. During that period, Microsoft shipped its Get Windows 10 app to existing Windows 7 SP1 and Windows 8.1 machine. And in May 2016 Microsoft used nasty tricks to force people to upgrade to Windows 10.

(Source: extremetech.com)

They changed the behavior of the x button – formerly know to close a windows and abort an operation. In the Get Windows 10 app dialog box shown above, the x button in the upper right corner closed the window – but the update wasn’t terminated. So many users are ending with machines upgraded to Windows 10 and wasn’t happy with that. Some users was in need to spend extra money for computer technicians to reset their machines back to Windows 7 SP1 or Windows 8.1, because Microsoft’s rollback feature, implemented in Windows 10, was just a pain in the ass – and won’t work in many cases.

Well, Paul Thurrott and Mary Jo Foley had Chris Capossela, Microsoft’s Chief Marketing Officer, in their Windows Weekly podcast (here is the video). And here is the transcript, what Capossela has to say about that upgrade process:

We know we want people to be running Windows 10 from a security perspective, but finding the right balance where you’re not stepping over the line of being too aggressive is something we tried and for a lot of the year I think we got it right, but there was one particular moment in particular where, you know, the red X in the dialog box which typically means you cancel didn’t mean cancel.

And within a couple of hours of that hitting the world, with the listening systems we have we knew that we had gone too far and then, of course, it takes some time to roll out the update that changes that behavior. And those two weeks were pretty painful and clearly a lowlight for us. We learned a lot from it obviously.

Just have a look back: People has refused full 10 months to upgrade to Windows 10 – and then Capossela “think they went to far”? Sorry, it was a decision at Microsoft to use malware like approaches to trick people into upgrading to Windows 10 – it’s not a “went to far” – it’s an absolutely no go. Further details may be read at extremetech.com.

Windows 10 Creators Update has been announced by Microsoft for Spring 2017 (March or April). This new feature upgrade will bring also new features like support for 3D. And there are other little improvements under the hood.

One of these things are probably folders for apps in Windows 10 start menu. During Christmas weekend, a new build Windows 10 14997.1001 has been leaked. MSPowerUser reported that this build provides also app folders for start menu.

(Source: MSPowerUser)

The GIF image shown above demonstrates how to use an app folder within start menu. App folders has been long available for Android devices for instance.

[German]Microsoft has made another step to assist Windows users to fix update errors. A new trouble shooting website and an extended trouble shooting app for Windows 10 users are offered.

Fix Windows Update errors site

A new website Fix Windows Update errors provides steps to fix problems when installing updates in Windows. Microsoft list the errors 0x80073712, 0x800705B4, 0x80004005, 0x8024402F, 0x80070002, 0x80070643, 0x80070003, 0x8024200B, 0x80070422, 0x80070020 as samples for “common” update errors.

Visiting the website shows options to select the Windows version used. And depending on the selected OS, the site suggests steps to fix the update error.

For Windows 10 Microsoft offers to download a new/updates troubleshooting wizard latestwu.diagcab. After double clicking the downloaded troubleshooting wizard, the user will be guided trough several steps.

The dialog box shown above provides not only an option to fix Windows Update. Two new options allows you to check also Windows Background transfer service BITS and also the machines network connection.

[German]Microsoft has released since December 2016 several INTEL driver updates named as INTEL – System – <date> <version> (for instance INTEL – System – 6/28/2016). All packages are declared as optional updates for Windows 7 SP1 and Windows 8.1, and are offered via Windows Update. Microsoft and Intel doesn’t provide details about those updates till yet. Within this blog post I try to provide a few details about those updates.

Back view …

Since early December 2016 Windows 7 SP1 and Windows 8.1 users are receiving optional updates for several Intel system drivers. All updates are offered via Windows Update, but not all machines are receiving updates (I haven’t seen such an INTEL system driver update till yet).

All updates has several things in common: First of all, the INTEL system driver update release date is dated weeks or months ago, but the machines are receiving those updates since early December 2016. And some users in doubt, that the updates fits the systems hardware. Unfortunately Microsoft nor Intel are willing to provide details about those updates till yet.

INTEL system driver updates – an overview

I’ve provides several hints about some updates released earlier within my blog. But now, nearly every day new INTEL system driver updates are arriving. And no details for those drivers are  available. Here is a short list of all INTEL system driver updates known to me so far (some blog readers informed me about those updates).

Note: All screenshots are for a German Windows – but the details may be also mapped to English and other Windows versions.

• INTEL – System – 6/28/2016: This update has been shipped at 12/05/2016, but the release date for this package is dated 6/28/2016. I’ve provided some details about this update within the blog post Windows: optional update ‘Intel – System – 6/28/2016’. My recommendation: Hide this update.
• INTEL – System – 8/19/2016: This optional update is dated at August 19, 2016 and has been offered since December 21/22, 2016. An analysis of the update package showed me, that several device IDs will be set and Null drivers are installed. Some users are reporting trouble after installing this optional update. I’ve documented more details within my blog post Windows: optional update ‘Intel – System – 8/19/2016’. My recommendation: Hide this update.

• Realtek Semiconductor Corp. – MEDIA – 11/8/2016 12:00:00 AM – 6.0.1.7982: This optional update is dated at October 10, 2016 and has been available since December 22, 2016. According to Microsoft Update Catalog this update contains a revised Realtek audio driver (update size is 100 MB for Windows 7/8.1) – I recommend to install this update.
• Alcor Micro, Corp. – USB – 4/11/2016 12:00:00 AM – 1.0.145.40103: This optional update is dated at April 11, 2016 and has been available since December 22, 2016. Microsoft Update Catalog says it’s an USB 2.0 driver update – searching the web says, it’s a driver update for a Alcor Micro USB 2. card reader. I recommend to install this update.

• Intel – System – 3/13/2016 12:00:00 AM – 11.0.0.1010: This optional update is dated at March 13, 2016 but has been shipped since December 22, 2016. According to Microsoft Update Catalog it’s a Watchdog timer driver update for device ID acpi\int3f0d (“Intel(R) Watchdog Timer Driver (Intel(R) WDT)”) for Windows 7 , Windows 8, and Windows 8.1. The .inf installer file says it installs a new kernel mode driver. If you have a system backup, I would let Windows install this update.
• Intel – System – 9/15/2016 12:00:00 AM – 11.6.0.1032: This optional update has been shipped since December 22, 2016 for Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012, and Windows Server 2012 R2. According to Microsoft Update Catalog the update ist dated at September 15, 2016 and is a ‘Intel System driver update’. Searching the web brought me more details. The update renews the TeeDriver.sys for das Intel(R) Management Engine Interface. The size is 167 KB. Because the Intel Management Engine is superfluous (and it’s a nasty thing from a DRM, privacy, security view), and the Teedriver has been a root cause for blue screens and other issues, I would block/hide this update.
• Intel – System – 10/3/2016 12:00:00 AM – 10.1.1.38: This optional update is dated at October 3, 2016 but has been shipped since December 26/27, 2016. The update size is 58 KB, and the package is available for Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012, and Windows Server 2012 R2. According to Microsoft Update Catalog it’s a ‘Intel(R) Celeron(R)/Pentium(R) Processor Host Bridge – 5AF0’ driver. Inspecting the install archive showed me, that Null drivers for newer Intel chipsets and CPUs (Broadwell, Baytrail,  Haswell, Apollo Lake etc.), and for devices provided within those chipsets, are defined with it’s device IDs. My recommendation: Hide this update, until more details are provided from Intel/Microsoft (see also Windows: optional update ‘Intel – System – 8/19/2016’).
• Intel – System – 11/16/2016 12:00:00 AM – 11.6.0.1042: This optional update has been shipped since December 26/27, 2016. The update size is 167 KB, and the package revision date is November 16, 2016. The update is available for Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012, and Windows Server 2012 R2. According to Microsoft Update Catalog it’s an Intel system driver update. Inspecting the install archive, I found, that it’s an update for TeeDriver.sys driver for the Intel(R) Management Engine Interface. I would hide this update (see also Intel – System – 9/15/2016 12:00:00 AM – 11.6.0.1032 discussed above).

This is a list of optional Intel system driver updates known to me. I guess, we will see similar updates in future. The worse: Neither Intel nor Microsoft are obviously willing to shed light into that update stuff. 

How can I obtain further details about those updates?

Using the hints from my blog-post Windows: optional update ‘Intel – System – 8/19/2016’ use a browser and search Microsoft Update Catalog for Intel Drivers. Use the pattern ‘Intel – System’ combined with the revision date for the update package, provided via Windows Update as a search string (for instance ‘Intel – System – 11/16/2016’). The the browser should show some results and you can obtain further details via the hyperlinks provided within Microsoft Update Catalog.

Experienced users may download the update from Microsoft Update Catalog into a local user folder. Double clicking the .cab file allows us to copy the content to a 2nd local folder. Inspecting the .inf files located within the package within Windows editor may give more clue what’s the update is for.

Well, that’s in brief, what I found till now so far. You can left a comment, if you are receiving new Intel system driver updates, or if you are having issues after installing such an update. Also if you have further details or insights, please left a comment – maybe it will be helpful to others.

My final thoughts: My impression is, the the Intel system driver updates are offered without rules (some users are reporting, that it doesn’t makes sense for their machines). Until Intel and/or Microsoft provides details, I would not let Windows install those updates.

Similar articles:
Windows: optional update ‘Intel – System – 6/28/2016’
Windows: optional update ‘Intel – System – 8/19/2016’

Recently I stumbled upon a user post in German Microsoft Answers forum reporting that Windows 10 drops an error 0xC0000411 after revoking from hibernation.

The user reported, that “the hibernation mode” was lost and he could not continue with his work, after trying to switch the machine to hibernation mode and re-invoke it later. This error has been reported (see here and here) since Windows Vista/Windows 7 from several users.

What does error 0xC0000411 mean?

Error 0xC0000411 stands for STATUS_HIBERNATION_FAILURE, the system could not switch to the hibernation mode. So Windows 10 deactivates hibernation mode until the next restart. So in other words: The users machine was never be able to go to hibernation and because of the disabled hibernation mode, no Windows settings are preserved.

The cause for this issue is?

I’ve seen wrong BIOS settings, BIOS incompatibilities, damaged hiberfil.sys files and also some outdated drivers as a root cause for this error.

How to fix error 0xC0000411?

Due to the nature of this error, there has been several ways to fix the isse. Here are a few hints, what you can try.

• Resetting the BIOS to default settings and update the video driver could be a cure for this issue (see here).
• Here user Hexaae wrote that re-flashing the BIOS/UEFI can solved the issue on a machine.

  He mentioned the case also within this thread in an ASUS forum, and reported a faulty BIOS/UEFI on G751JY boards with BIOS 211 and Windows 10 x64 as a root cause. On this board, a re-flashing won’t cure the issue. But a BIOS/UEFI update solved this issue.

Another suggestion for clean boot is provided here. And you can try the following steps (suggested here):

1. Disable hibernation (according to KB920730) and reboot your machine. This should delete the old hiberfil.sys file.

The file hiberfil.sys is a hidden system file, so, if you intend to delete the file manually or check whether it’s removed during reboot, enable view of hidden system files in Windows explorer options.

2. Run Disk Cleanup (right click the Windows drive, select Properties and use disk cleanup on the General tab).

3. Defragment the drive (using the drive’s property page, go to Tools tab and use the defragmentation button).

5. Open an administrative command prompt windows, enter chkdsk c: /f /r and hit enter.

In Windows 10, the file system check will be executed within the operating system. In older Windows version, the file system check will be executed during the next reboot.

6. Reboot Windows again, enable hibernation (according to KB920730) and reboot your machine another time.

Try, if the errors has been resolved. In some cases the steps given above will fix the issue. You can also check the system using the instructions given within this blog post Check and repair Windows system files and component store to avoid a damaged system causing this issue.

In other cases, faulty or non compatible drivers installed on a machine are the root cause for this behavior. Within this thread user Scott Marlin mentioned some Dell computers, where updating the graphic driver and sometimes the storage driver fixed the issue.

Similar articles:
Win10 Wiki
Windows 10: Open command prompt window as administrator
Check and repair Windows system files and component store
Bugs in Windows Disk Management tool
Uninstalling ‘uninstallable’ Windows Updates
How to decode Windows errors?
Windows 10: Analyze upgrade errors
Windows: How to decode update 0x8024…. errors
Stop Windows from installing updates over and over again

Its no secret that Microsoft is developing a new Surface Pro 5 and that this device will be announced 2017. But now, rumors are saying, that we will see the new model in first quarter 2017.

Taiwan based site Digitimes has published a short news, that Microsoft is planning the release of a 2-in-1 Surface Pro 5 tablet pc first quarter 2017. The new device shall come with Ultra HD display and a magnetic chargeable stylus.

(Source: Microsoft)

It’s also reported, that Microsoft added Quanta Computer (beside to Pegatron Technologies) as a manufacturer for Surface Pro 5. If the device is announced for end of March 2017, I gues, it will be shipped with Windows 10 Creators Update.

[German]A question from Windows 10 users facing serious trouble installing updates is “how in hell can I block updates from being installed”? Well, here are some solutions.

In Windows Update for Business Microsoft offers since Windows 10 Version 1511 a possibility to defer non security updates for up to 8 months. But this feature isn’t available for users of Windows 10 Home. Some users are stopping Windows Update (WU) service to prevent downloading updates. Others are setting internet connection to metered, to prevent downloading updates. But this isn’t a good idea, because updates for Windows Defender are also paused.

If an update install fails over and over, of if an update breaks a Windows machine, system restore can revoke the installation, you are nailed. How to prevent re-installing of those updates? Microsoft also has cut blocking auto driver installation since Windows 10 Version 1511.

Block updates with wushowhide.diagcab

Microsoft developers has already released the tool wushowhide.diagcab, which ban be downloaded via KB3073930.

1. Double clicking to wushowhide.diagcab, and use the Next button to step trough the wizard dialogs.

Hhere I used a German Windows 10 to document the steps, so parts of the dialog contents is in German.

2. Select Hide updates in dialog box shown above and wait till the search lists all pending Windows Update packages.

3. Check the checkboxes of all faulty update packages and click to Next button.

If the dialog box shown above, close the wizard using the Close button. Afterward the updates should be blocked.

Side notes: I have never tested, what’s happens after a feature upgrade with pending driver updates. Maybe this is a reason, why some feature upgrades are stalling with errors – but I’m in doubt.

If drivers are installed after they has been blocked, they are in Windows driver cache (.inf cache). Try to uninstall this driver in Windows device manager and check the checkbox to delete the driver.

To re-enable a hidden update later, just process the steps given above, but select the command Show hidden updates.

After the list of hidden updates are shown, check the required updates and click the Next button to process the next steps.

Some alternative methods to control updates

Beside Microsoft wushowhide.diagcab there is the Windows Update MiniTool from  wilderssecurity.com. This tool provides a neat GUI to select and download updates.

The tool also provides the option Automatic Updates, that brings back the update options known from previous Windows versions. But this option won’t work in Windows 10 Home.

Block (driver) updates via PowerShell script

Another way to block updates has been provided by a reader of my German blog (OlliD). He posted as PowerShell script within this (German) forum. Here is his PowerShell script to block updates:

Function Get-WindowsUpdate {

[Cmdletbinding()]
Param()

Process {
try {
Write-Verbose „Getting Windows Update“
$Session = New-Object -ComObject Microsoft.Update.Session
$Searcher = $Session.CreateUpdateSearcher()
$Criteria = „IsInstalled=0 and DeploymentAction=’Installation‘ or IsPresent=1 and DeploymentAction=’Uninstallation‘ or IsInstalled=1 and DeploymentAction=’Installation‘ and RebootRequired=1 or IsInstalled=0 and DeploymentAction=’Uninstallation‘ and RebootRequired=1“
$SearchResult = $Searcher.Search($Criteria)
$SearchResult.Updates
} catch {
Write-Warning -Message „Failed to query Windows Update because $($_.Exception.Message)“
}
}
}

Function Set-WindowsHiddenUpdate {

[Cmdletbinding()]

Param(
[Parameter(ValueFromPipeline=$true,Mandatory=$true)]
[System.__ComObject[]]$Update,

[Parameter(Mandatory=$true)]
[boolean]$Hide
)

Process {
$Update | ForEach-Object -Process {
if ((($_.pstypenames)[0] -eq ‚System.__ComObject#{c1c2f21a-d2f4-4902-b5c6-8a081c19a890}‘) -or (($_.pstypenames)[0] -eq ‚System.__ComObject#{70cf5c82-8642-42bb-9dbc-0cfd263c6c4f}‘) -or (($_.pstypenames)[0] -eq ‚System.__ComObject#{918efd1e-b5d8-4c90-8540-aeb9bdc56f9d}‘)) {
try {
$_.isHidden = $Hide
Write-Verbose -Message „Dealing with update $($_.Title)“
} catch {
Write-Warning -Message „Failed to perform action because $($_.Exception.Message)“
}
} else {
Write-Warning -Message „Ignoring object submitted“
}
}
}
}

Get-WindowsUpdate | Set-WindowsHiddenUpdate -Hide:$true
Get-WindowsUpdate | Where { $_.Title -match ‚Definitionsupdate‘ } | Set-WindowsHiddenUpdate -Hide:$false
Get-WindowsUpdate | Where { $_.Title -match ‚Sicherheitsupdate‘ } | Set-WindowsHiddenUpdate -Hide:$false

The PowerShell script may be invoked with the following batch file:

REM Hide_Windows_Updates.cmd
„%PSModulePath%..\powershell.exe“ -ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted -File „%~dp0Hide_Windows_Updates.ps1“ -NoProfile -NoLogo -Mta

EXIT

You can set up a task in Windows task planner to block updates. But this solution isn’t transparent and easy to use at all. This would be superfluous, if Microsoft would provide an option to control automatic update installation, like it was known in previous Windows versions. But there are hints, that Windows 10 Creators Update will allow to block updates for at least 35 days (will blog about that later).

Similar articles:
Win10 Wiki
Windows 10: Open command prompt window as administrator
Check and repair Windows system files and component store
Windows 10: Analyze upgrade errors
Uninstalling ‘uninstallable’ Windows Updates
Windows 7/8.1/10: error side-by-side configuration is incorrect
Stop Windows from installing updates over and over again
PSA: Windows 10 Anniversary Update gives just 10 days for rollback
Windows 10:Updates KB3195781/KB3194496 and install issues [Fixes]

I wish all of you a happy new year 2017.

(Source: from my German Japan-Blog  – cherry blossom in April in Japan – photo was taken during one of my stays in Japan in 1989)

In March/April 2017 Microsoft will release Windows 10 Creators Update (Version 1703) for all Windows 10 users. Here are a few details, what the newest leaked build indicates on upcoming features.

Pauses updates for 35 days

Well, Windows Update is terrible broken in Windows 10, and Microsoft is aware oft his. But unfortunately Microsoft’s management still is focused on “eye catchers” for VR and social media users. Early after release of Windows 10 RTM some Microsoft developers provided us with wushowhide.diagcab, to cure the biggest mess – stalling updates (see How to block Windows 10 updates). There I’ve mentioned that feature updates can be deferred for a while) – this option “defer updates” is shown in the following screenshot, obtained from a leaked Windows 10 build 14997 Enterprise.

A new option Pause Updates is shown, indicating, that a user can pause update installation for 35 days. Only Windows Defender updates will be processed. But I guess, this option won’t be available in Windows 10 Home Creators Update.

BTW, there is a change.org petition started from Susan Bradley. She wanted a change in Windows 10 update. But till now, not 7,500 people has already signed this petition – it’s a shame.

Game Mode and other new gimmicks

Within the internet some users are providing their findings in new Redstone insider preview builds for Windows 10 Creators Update. The site mspoweruser.com reports here about a Game Mode – but no real details are provides (the feature seem non functional). Cortana may be used during installation to set up speech control (just a gimmick, same category like the “green” colored blue screens mentioned during the last days within several internet site, or in the category of providing a QR code within blue screens, without giving detailed explanations what to do to solve that issue).

I read also that the upcoming Windows 10 Creators Update will com with a “night mode” (see here) already available in iOS and Android, to dim the device display from blue to a red tone. There are some other small improvements mentioned in rumors during the last days. I guess we have to wait until end of March or early April 2017 to see, what’s in Windows 10 Creators Update.

Similar articles:
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Windows 10: Open command prompt window as administrator
Check and repair Windows system files and component store
How to block Windows 10 updates
PSA: Windows 10 Anniversary Update gives just 10 days for rollback

Some users are receiving an update error 0x80080008 under Windows 10 and the installation is aborted. Within this blog post I give some hints how to fix this error.

Update error code 0x80080008 stands for CO_E_SERVER_STOPPING – the object server terminated, after being invoked via OLE service. Within this forum thread I found the recommendation to re-launch Windows Update service. This should be established automatically during Windows 10 reboot. But you can try also the following steps.

1. Open a command prompt windows with administrative privileges (see Windows 10: Open command prompt window as administrator).

2. Enter the commands given below and press enter.

net stop bits
net stop wuauserv
net start bits
net start wuauserv

If that doesn’t help, try to check and repair your Windows component store using the command:

DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

See also my blog post Check and repair Windows system files and component store. Then try to enter the following commands within the command propmpt window:

REGSVR32 WUPS2.DLL /S
REGSVR32 WUPS.DLL /S
REGSVR32 WUAUENG.DLL /S
REGSVR32 WUAPI.DLL /S
REGSVR32 WUCLTUX.DLL /S
REGSVR32 WUWEBV.DLL /S
REGSVR32 JSCRIPT.DLL /S
REGSVR32 MSXML3.DLL /S

These commands tries to re-register some DLL libraries. Maybe re-registering wups2.dll will be sufficient (see). Some other hints will be found here.

Similar articles:
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Check and repair Windows system files and component store

Recently I stumbled upon an error: In Windows 10 I wasn’t able to use Sysinternals Process Monitor for boot logging. The feature just dropped an error message. Here are the details and a how to cure this issue and enable boot logging.

What we are talking about?

Currently I’m writing a book about Windows 10 insides – and within a chapter I intended to introduce boot logging with Sysinternals Process Monitor. In previous Windows version it was possible, to launch Process Monitor, open Options menu and select Enable Boot Logging (see screenshot below).

But in Windows 10 I was greeted with the following error dialog box. I’ve tested Windows 10 Version 1607, but it seems that all Windows 10 versions are causing this error.

The dialog box reporting, that Process Monitor was not able to write to a file ProcMon23.sys. I checked Windows 7, but this file wasn’t available. Then I checked Windows 10 and I found such a file.

How to solve this issue

Searching the web, I came across this MSDN article, where deleting this file in Windows PE was suggested. I tried a different approach (never believe, what Microsoft writes): I fired up Windows explorer and navigated to

%SystemRoot%\System32\Drivers\

and found a file PROCMON23.sys. Then I tried to rename this file to _PROCMON23.sys. It required administrator privileges, but I was able to process this renaming operation successfully. Microsoft’s MSDN article also requires to launch Process Monitor using a command:

C:\procmon\Procmon /BackingFile C:\procmon\log.pml /AcceptEula /Quiet /noconnect

I also ignored this advice and launched Process Explorer via a double click. And voilá, it came up with the window shown above – and I was able to enable the boot logging option. Inspecting the folder %SystemRoot%\System32\Drivers\ showed me, that a new file PROCMON23.sys was created – beside the old file _PROCMON23.sys.

Similar articles:
Windows 10 Wiki
Windows 10: Open command prompt window as administrator
Check and repair Windows system files and component store
Windows 10: How to fix update error 0x80080008
How to block Windows 10 updates
Windows 10: Hibernation causes error 0xC0000411
Windows 7/8.1: Optional INTEL System driver updates

[German]A new rumor says, Microsoft has decided to ship Windows 10 Creators Update in April 2017. And the new feature upgrade will be Version 1704 and not Version 1703.

Microsoft had announce Windows 10 Creators Update on Oktober 26, 2016 for “early 2017” – but gave no further details about the launch date.

Later on, some observers suggested (see this Tweet), that Windows 10 Creators Update will be Version 1703 – because they found some version data in group policies. @h0x0d Windows 10 Version 1703 pic.twitter.com/Ya8cKxmdoB

— Tero Alhonen (@teroalhonen) 14. Oktober 2016

Now a new rumor has come to light. MSPowerUser.com reported within this article, that Microsoft plans a Windows 10 Creators Update release for April 2017. They cited internal sources at Microsoft. MSPU wrote, Windows 10 Creators Update shall be feature ready in mid/end of January 2017. New Insider Preview builds of Redstone 2 (the internal code name) shall be focussed on bug fixes. And they write, Windows 10 Creators Update will be released as Version 1704 (and not Version 1703).

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Just an addendum for administrators who are not aware of WSUS issues under Windows 10 Version 1607 clients. There are issues ending in error 0xc1800118, and error 0x8024500c. But workarounds are known since months.

Distributing Windows 10 Version 1607 via WSUS results in error 0xc1800118

I’ve been informed since a while from some of my German blog readers about this issue – but forgot to publish it. Here is, what’s the matter: Since August 2016 administrators wasn’t able to distribute Windows 10 Version 1607 (as a feature update) via Windows Server Update Services (WSUS). An attempt to distribute this feature update ends with error code 0xc1800118. Blog reader Uwe S. has send me an e-mail end of September pointing out a workaround:

Microsoft provides finally a solution to install “feature update Windows 10 Pro, Version 1607” via WSUS.

MS article KB3194588 has been extended with additional steps. Here two posters mentioning, that the workaround did the job. Also I was able on my test machine, using the workaround from kb3194588 , to install Windows 10 Pro, Version 1607 via WSUS without error 0xc1800118.

Windows 10 Version 1607 loads updates from WU instead of WSUS

There is also a problem with Windows 10 Version 1607 clients. According to post in internet forums (I don’t use WSUS), the new client drags updates via Windows Update (WU) instead from WSUS (as configured via group policies). I got some comments within my German blog (see). And I found a while ago this Microsoft Technet thread. Windows 10 Version 1607 clients could not contact WSUS to download updates. Within the thread error 0x8024500c has been mentioned, if the option  “Defer updates” is selected in Windows update settings.

Microsoft has released this night a maintenance update KB3209835 for Insider Preview testers in release preview ring. The update is only available for PCs and is probably a “test run” for next weeks patch day.

There are no change log nor other details, what this update (internally called “Package for RollupFix”) is for, released from Microsoft. According to tenforums.com, update KB3209835 changes Windows 10 to build 14393.594. The popup with update description, posted at tenforums.com, mentions “Install this update to resolve issues in Windows” and addresses an non existent KB article. Digging a bit around in the update files, I found that they are patching many things,

• from secure boot/efi components, to IE files (MSXML60), or sensor settings,
• Windows Deployment Image Servicing Management WinProviders,
• Windows EventLog API, Windows shell settings UI
• up to DISM core component and software licensing client.

Also WebcamExperience-Package, and media components like Multimedia Core, WMP network sharing service, Restricted Codecs Package or DolbyDec are updated. I guess, we will see the Microsoft Knowledge Base article next week Tuesday (on Microsoft patch day). Here are the direct download links.

KB3209835 64-bit (x64) .cab download (948 MB)
KB3209835 32-bit (x86) .cab download (510 MB)

[German]Here are a few information about updates released January 3, 2017 for Microsoft Office 2014 and Microsoft Office 2016. It’s all non security updates, so they are optional for bug fixes.

Microsoft’s Office Engineering Team has released details on January 4, 2017. Here is a list of all updates – further details may be found within the linked KB articles.

Office 2016

Update for Microsoft Office 2016 (KB3127983)

Update for Microsoft Excel 2016 (KB3141472)

Update for Microsoft Office 2016 Language Interface Pack (KB3141450)

Update for Skype for Business 2016 (KB3128049)

Update for Microsoft Office 2016 (KB3141473)

Update for Microsoft Office 2016 (KB3127987)

Update for Microsoft Office 2016 (KB3127992)

Update for Microsoft Office 2016 (KB3128055)

Update for Microsoft OneNote 2016 (KB3141455)

Update for Microsoft Office 2016 (KB3128056)

Update for Microsoft Outlook 2016 (KB3141453)

Update for Microsoft Office 2016 (KB3141451)

Update for Microsoft Project 2016 (KB3141459)

Update for Microsoft Visio 2016 (KB3128045)

Office 2013

Update for Microsoft Access 2013 (KB3118349)

Update for Skype for Business 2015 (KB3141468)

Update for Microsoft Office 2013 (KB3141474)

Update for Microsoft OneNote 2013 (KB3141465)

Update for Microsoft Outlook 2013 (KB3141466)

Update for Microsoft Project 2013 (KB3141470)

Update for Microsoft Visio 2013 (KB3141462)

Microsoft has also released an update for Word Viewer (KB3141490), although support ends in November 2017

[German]Sometimes users are missing volume control icon in taskbars status area. This blog post addresses this issue and provides diagnostics steps to fix that issue.

Windows 10 (and also previous versions) shows a volume control icon within the taskbar’s status area (see screenshot below).

If that icon is missing, no volume control is possible (only function keys may be useable on notebooks).

Fix #1: Is the icon jus hidden?

Check in a first step, whether the volume control icon is just hidden. This can be done, using the following steps (I uses Windows 10 Version 1607, but similar steps are able in other Windows versions).

1. Right click left from the date on the taskbar and select context menu command Properties.

2. Click the hyperlink Select which icons appear on taskbar in Settings app. Or use Turn system icons on or off (depending on your Windows 10 build)

3. Check the switch for Volume, the settings must be On.

If the setting for Volume is set to Off, no volume control icon is shown.

In Windows 10 Pro/Enterprise you should also use gpedit.msc to check whether a group policy to hide volume control is set. Go to branch User configuration / Administrative templates / Start menu and taskbar and search for the entry.

In Windows 10 Home launch registry editor and go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\ Windows\ CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer. If a DWORD value HideSCAVolume=1 is present, delete this entry or set the value to 0.

Fix #2: Restart, logoff and troubleshooting

In Windows 10 some desktop items fails from time to time. Try to cure this issues using the fixes given below:

• Log of from user account and log in again – check, whether the issue is gone.
• If that doesn’t help, restart Windows 10 (press the shift key during selecting the Restart command. This forces a complete restart. 
• If that doesn’t help, check whether the volume control is present under a new user account.

You can also try to check Windows for damaged files (see Check and repair Windows system files and component store).

Tip: If the volume control icon is missing after each restart, you can try the following fast workaround. Launch task manager (via taskbar’s context menu),  go to Processes tab and select Windows-Explorer. Then click the Restart button in task manager window. If no tabs are shown, click More details in lower left corner of the task manager.

Fix #3: Change text size settings

I found another hint in Microsoft Answers-Forum within this thread. A users proposed the following steps to repair the missing volume control icon issue.

1. Click in Taskbar to Start and select the Settings icon in start menu.

2. In Settings app click System and select Display within the next page.

3. Drag the slider Change the size of text, apps and other items …. from 100 % to 125 %.

4. Ignore the message that changes are going active after next login and move the slider back to 100 %.

Then log off and log on again and check whether the volume control icon is back.

Fix #4: Check your registry settings

If the fixes provided above doesn’t help, try the following steps to check your registry settings.

1. Fire up registry editor regedit.exe (can be done with standard user rights).

2. Navigate in the left pane to key HKEY_CURRENT_USER to the following sub key:

\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\
TrayNotify

3. Delete the values IconStreams and PastIconStreams (if they are are present) via context menu.

Close registry editor and reboot Windows. The registry values will be re-created automatically.

Side note: The description given above is for Windows 10 Version 1607, but should also help in other Windows version.

Similar articles:
Windows 10 Wiki
Check and repair Windows system files and component store

Cerber Ransomware has been on the raise in 2016. There has been several campaigns – and the worse thing: it seems that Cerber won’t fade away in 2017.

A fake credit card email campaigns addressed people who are shopping lately for holiday season 2016 contains a Cerber download link (see this Microsoft article). But there has been several campaigns over the last months of 2016 (see the graph below).

 
(Source: Microsoft)

Cerber will be distributed in most cases via an e-mail attachment, like it is shown below as a zip attachment.

(Source: Microsoft)

Microsoft has analyzed telemetry data from Windows Defender. The result shows that this latest exploit kit attack that leads to Cerber largely affects Asia and Europe.

(Source: Microsoft)

Each campaign delivers variants of Cerber, but all variants tries to encrypt user data on infected systems and ask for money to unencrypt the data. Windows 10 has security technologies that can detect this new batch of updated Cerber ransomware. Microsoft is discussing further details about Cerber within this Technet blog post.

Just a brief blog post about a rare Windows issue. Some users are facing a strange problem: The UAC prompt won’t be shown – it opens invisible in background.

I came across this issue due to a post in German Microsoft Answers forum, where a user complains about his effect under Windows 10 and Windows Server 2012 R2. After searching the web, I found a few hits here, here, and here. All users describing the same effect: Invoking a task that requires administrative privileges, the UAC prompt won’t be shown. The hear just the sound notification, but wasn’t able to confirm the UAC (or confirm it blind via keyboard shortcuts).

In this old Windows 7 forum post it seems, that an old version of Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) caused this issue. But in Windows 10, MSE isn’t available – and Windows Defender can’t be uninstalled. I guess, it could have something to do with graphics card or graphics driver. But it seems that the following workaround helps:

1. Opens Control Panel (Windows+X) and go to User Accounts and Family Safety > User Accounts and click to Change User Account Control settings.

2. Move the slider from the 3rd position  down to the 2nd position Notify me only when apps try to make changes to my computer (do not dim my desktop).

Maybe it helps, if you are affected by this behavior.

[German]Microsoft provides a Maps app that can be used for navigating. But some users are facing issues with Maps – sometimes it takes long, until the map is shown, or Cortana won’t work. Here is a hint, what’s causing probably this issues.

Searching Google for “windows 10 maps app not working” results in many hits (see also here, here or here). A reader of my German blog informed me that he found a root cause for the following Maps issues:

• Maps needs a long time, until maps and street views are shown
• Cortana won’t work with Maps app

Other apps works as expected in Windows 10. His first idea, that it was caused due to an upgrade from Windows 7 seems to be wrong. Finally he found, that the graphic card and it’s supported DirectX model was the root cause. He used the DirectX diagnose program dxdiag to inspect the driver support of a graphics card WDDM driver. Here are the details of such a driver support for an ATI Radeon HD 3450 on View tab (he used a German version of dxdiag).

The reader wrote: On the Display tab the Feature Levels are shown. If feature level 10.1 is supported, the Maps app will work. He suggested to insert the graphics card into the machine and let Windows 10 search for WDDM drivers. If Windows 10 installs a driver other than a Microsoft Basic driver, Maps will be supported. He wrote, that the Maps app relies on DirectX 10.

He tested it with Windows 10 32 and 64 Bit with the following graphic sets.
several older Nvidia Geforce 6, 7 or a Quadro FX;
simple graphic devices like AMD/ATI HD 3
Onboard Intel graphics and
Onboard system with ATI HD graphics card

Side note: Maybe it’s a hint, if you are running into that issue. But I should also note, that I’ve tested the Maps app within a VMware VM, just supporting Feature Level 9.3 – and Maps worked.

Die Nvidia Karten hatten alle nur DirectX 9 Unterstützung; mit einem älteren Treiber
für Windows 7 bzw. 8 liefen diese Karten zwar unter Windows 10, jedoch eben nicht
die Apps von Microsoft, die DirectX 10 benötigen. Nur leider sagt einem das niemand und nirgendwo wird darauf hingewiesen. An dieser Stelle mein Dank an Tibor K. für diese Hinweise, vielleicht helfen diese Betroffenen weiter.

[German]It seems that Slimjet browser version 12.0.15.0 released on January 6, 2016 contains a nasty “file lock bug”. Here’s what I found so far – maybe others can confirm it.

My scenario: Slimjet browser Version 12.0.15.0 portable under Windows 7 SP1 64 bit version. The browser locks uploads files until the program is closed.

File lock until the browser process terminates

I stumbled upon this bug during uploading images in the portable version of Slimjet browser Version 12.0.15.0. I use this feature during blogging, to host my images for blog posts in WordPress or on other image hosting sites. Suddenly the files wasn’t no more alterable. So I run the following test scenarios:

• Upload an image file into the WordPress media area
• Upload an image file to imgup.net

I’m able to reproduce this file lock error. Here are my test scenarios:

• Drag a graphic file into the uload area of a web site (WordPress media upload area, imgup.net area “Bilder hierhin ziehen”),. That works as expected.
• Select the button within the Website (WordPress media upload area, imgup.net ) to upload a media file. Then the Windows Open dialog box will be shown and allows to select and upload a media file (see the following screen shot).

Uploading an image file via the Windows Open dialog box is causing a file lock. After uploading, I’m no more able to save the image from am image program – I got this error dialog, after I tried to save a modify image.

Also, my attempt to delete the faulty image file and then restore the modified version from the image program failed with the following error dialog box.

Closing the browser tab used for upload isn’t sufficient. The file lock and the file handle is only released after closing the whole browser (this is terminating all Slimjet processes – another “not so fine” issue, that processes of already closed browser tabs remains in memory).

I’m pretty sure, the error wasn’t present in earlier versions of Slimjet browser. I also tested the scenarios mentioned above in Google Chrome portable version 55.0.2883.75. But there is no file lock.