Simple way to perform updates for all W11 builds

jimbo45 · Mar 14, 2023

Hi folks
This is I've found the easiest way to get updates for Windows 11 working without issues or needing a clean install. Then after you've got your update etc you can simply easily create a WintoGo system of your running system (if you want -- without a clean install) without the hassle of not being able o "convert back" to standard again

What you need is

1) Windows iso / bootable USB of a current W11 system -- any build will dobut prefereably the latest build of the "Current" 22H2 set.
2) An iso image / bootable USB of Macrium restore (or equivalent)
3) some spare HDD / SSD etc storage space.

Steps :

Prep:

a) ensure your CURRENT physical Windows system is up to date with all updates applied.
b) Create a folder on the spare (preferably external device) called "My Drivers"
c) copy the folder from C:\windows\system32\DriverStore to "My Drivers".
d) now image your Windows system (not IMAGE not CLONE) to the external HDD

Create a reference VM

a) use the VM software on your host to create a "Blank" VM of W11 with a "Virtual Disk" large enough to restore your Image you made in the "prep" stage.
b) add the iso image of Macrium stand alone restore and the iso image of the Windows install media (not needed after this ist time as updates can be done via WU)
c) add the hdd / ssd you stored the macrium system image on as a "PHYSICAL DISK". With VMWare you can add as use a physical disk in advanced. With HYPER-V you can have the USB device in the config, for most Linux hosts using KVM/QEMU just add physical usb in the virt machine manager. You can select via te drop down and check via command lsusb.. for VBOX ?? as I dont use it but there must be an equivalent.

d) set the VM to boot sec boot and TPM to either pass thru or emulation -- doesn't matter -- or even if you don't have one because we will be using an image of an already working system !!

e) boot the macrium stand alone restore from the VM -- and enter into command mode from the console at the bottom --diskpart as you will want to initialize the "Virtual disk" before it can be used. create it as a gpt disk (clean, convert gpt etc)

f) restore the image to the virtual disk -- just copy the partitions

g) now re-boot the VM again - this time setting the Windows iso image / usb stick as the boot device
h) use "repair windows and get into command line from the windows boot screen
i) diskpart again
j) list disk -- select the VIRTUAL disk
k) list vol -- you should see a list with letters -- one witll be 100m hidden. select this vol and assign letter=S
l) the main virtual disk will probably be vol C -
k) exit diskpart
l) still in command line type bcdboot c:\windows /s S: /f UEFI
k) reboot the VM using the VM disk as boot disk -- still keep external ssd / usb storage,
l) install whatever guest tools are available for enhancement of video, network, mouse, etc. on vmware it's install vmware tools, on KVM/QEMU install from fedora (red hat) win-virtio cd, or whatever vbox / HYPER-V needs.
k) reboot the VM if requested.
l) now IMAGE the VM to the external disk.

You've now got your reference VM.

Back on the main physical machine -- restore the VM image to the physical machine.
re-install the boot loader as per step l in the create reference VM

boot the system -- you'll be missing some drivers (perhaps) -- then simply go into device hardware --update driver-> update from this device and restore from the folder "My drivers" -- by checking the include subfolders windows will just pick up the correct one -- but if you created the VM from a physical machine originally then the drivers will already be in the system.

so normal usage -- you've done the time consuming and hard bit.

For updates -- simply update the VM and image it. Then restore to physical machine the only thing you will need to do on the physical machine is re-install the boot loader.

If you want a new build say latest insider build simply set your insider level (IN THE VM) to say canary and run the update. Then image it and copy back to physical machine.

For an up to date Windows to go machine copy either the VM or physical image to the external usb device (image then restore), re-install the boot loader (remember to the CORRECT device !! and there you have it.

Sounds comples -- perhaps the initial time but works a treat afterwards - simple and quick.

Cheers
jimbo

kelper · Mar 14, 2023

jimbo45 said:
d) now image your Windows system (not IMAGE not CLONE) to the external HDD

What does this mean?

jimbo45 · Mar 14, 2023

kelper said:
What does this mean?

An Image of the system is a file that can be used to restore to another device -- machine or whatever. A clone makes a disk copy -- everything identical as the original HDD -- allthough some partition re-sizing might be possible on restore. The problem with cloning and using this method is that the partition UUIDS of the source and target disk will be the same so re-installing the boatloader etc is a problem as there's a conflict between the "Two" boot areas and bcdedit for example won't be able to resolve the correct one.

Cheers
jimbo

cereberus · Mar 14, 2023

jimbo45 said:
Hi folks
This is I've found the easiest way to get updates for Windows 11 working without issues or needing a clean install. Then after you've got your update etc you can simply easily create a WintoGo system of your running system (if you want -- without a clean install) without the hassle of not being able o "convert back" to standard again

What you need is

1) Windows iso / bootable USB of a current W11 system -- any build will dobut prefereably the latest build of the "Current" 22H2 set.
2) An iso image / bootable USB of Macrium restore (or equivalent)
3) some spare HDD / SSD etc storage space.

Steps :

Prep:

a) ensure your CURRENT physical Windows system is up to date with all updates applied.
b) Create a folder on the spare (preferably external device) called "My Drivers"
c) copy the folder from C:\windows\system32\DriverStore to "My Drivers".
d) now image your Windows system (not IMAGE not CLONE) to the external HDD

Create a reference VM

a) use the VM software on your host to create a "Blank" VM of W11 with a "Virtual Disk" large enough to restore your Image you made in the "prep" stage.
b) add the iso image of Macrium stand alone restore and the iso image of the Windows install media (not needed after this ist time as updates can be done via WU)
c) add the hdd / ssd you stored the macrium system image on as a "PHYSICAL DISK". With VMWare you can add as use a physical disk in advanced. With HYPER-V you can have the USB device in the config, for most Linux hosts using KVM/QEMU just add physical usb in the virt machine manager. You can select via te drop down and check via command lsusb.. for VBOX ?? as I dont use it but there must be an equivalent.

d) set the VM to boot sec boot and TPM to either pass thru or emulation -- doesn't matter -- or even if you don't have one because we will be using an image of an already working system !!

e) boot the macrium stand alone restore from the VM -- and enter into command mode from the console at the bottom --diskpart as you will want to initialize the "Virtual disk" before it can be used. create it as a gpt disk (clean, convert gpt etc)

f) restore the image to the virtual disk -- just copy the partitions

g) now re-boot the VM again - this time setting the Windows iso image / usb stick as the boot device
h) use "repair windows and get into command line from the windows boot screen
i) diskpart again
j) list disk -- select the VIRTUAL disk
k) list vol -- you should see a list with letters -- one witll be 100m hidden. select this vol and assign letter=S
l) the main virtual disk will probably be vol C -
k) exit diskpart
l) still in command line type bcdboot c:\windows /s S: /f UEFI
k) reboot the VM using the VM disk as boot disk -- still keep external ssd / usb storage,
l) install whatever guest tools are available for enhancement of video, network, mouse, etc. on vmware it's install vmware tools, on KVM/QEMU install from fedora (red hat) win-virtio cd, or whatever vbox / HYPER-V needs.
k) reboot the VM if requested.
l) now IMAGE the VM to the external disk.

You've now got your reference VM.

Back on the main physical machine -- restore the VM image to the physical machine.
re-install the boot loader as per step l in the create reference VM

boot the system -- you'll be missing some drivers (perhaps) -- then simply go into device hardware --update driver-> update from this device and restore from the folder "My drivers" -- by checking the include subfolders windows will just pick up the correct one -- but if you created the VM from a physical machine originally then the drivers will already be in the system.

so normal usage -- you've done the time consuming and hard bit.

For updates -- simply update the VM and image it. Then restore to physical machine the only thing you will need to do on the physical machine is re-install the boot loader.

If you want a new build say latest insider build simply set your insider level (IN THE VM) to say canary and run the update. Then image it and copy back to physical machine.

For an up to date Windows to go machine copy either the VM or physical image to the external usb device (image then restore), re-install the boot loader (remember to the CORRECT device !! and there you have it.

Sounds comples -- perhaps the initial time but works a treat afterwards - simple and quick.

Cheers
jimbo

Your view of simple reminds me of Heath Robinson schemes lol.

kelper · Mar 14, 2023

Read what you wrote! The sentence I quoted has two 'not's.

You also wrote, "With VMWare you can add as use a physical disk in advanced." Which seems to have extra word(s).

jimbo45 · Mar 14, 2023

kelper said:
Read what you wrote! The sentence I quoted has two 'not's.

You also wrote, "With VMWare you can add as use a physical disk in advanced." Which seems to have extra word(s).

Anybody can criticise language etc -- but its the content that I'm trying to explain the content. --It works -- and you don't have to use it if you don't like.

"Constructive criticism" is always welcome but just negative posts whithout suggesting an alternative is just B/S -- besides you asked a question which at least I attempted to answer for you.

@cereberus

-- even heath robinson schemes work -- just think of your own country's history -- the Dam Buster bombs for example and the idea of using as the sight for getting the plane down to the required height by using two converging lights -- conceived by an evening to the theatre and watching the stage lighting !!!!. Many successful things are "conceived initially in Heath Robisnon mode".

One of your greatest unsung heroes of WWII in the UK was a GPO engineer "Flowers" who conceived of an electronic switching circuit -- without which none of the other advances on Enigma decoding etc would ever have been possible. --Even Turing wouldn't have had the hardware to implement his algorithms.

Tommy Flowers :

Tommy Flowers - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

In fact even to this day most of the work of "Flowers" is unrecognized in the UK (or world at large) and after WWII ended every reference to his work was either 100% classified or deleted.

Thank goodness some people outside the UK kept this stuff alive so it wasn't all 100% suppressed even though after WWII most Brits regarded Iceland also almost as bad as communistic Belarus or USSR as it was in those days. Today Iceland is a very committed NATO member BTW.

Tommy Flowers should be in any "World book of Fame" in any country that believes in Freedom and Democracy. But I see your Govt is giving people with a 2 Million GBP pension pot a tax break in its budget tomorrow !!!-- Not sure how the average UK worker (or almost anywhere else for that matter) could afford to put 2 Million quid (or equivalent) into a pension pot --unless lucky in "Vegas" --then you wouldn't need it anyway or decent run on " The Cheltenam (Horse race) festival". seems to say it all doesn't it.

Probably the most unsung hero of his decade -- and he invented all this stuff with HIS OWN MONEY and own time as higher authority thought the whole idea was Bonkers.

Cheers
jimbo

garlin · Mar 14, 2023

This solution requires you to have a spare partition/volume equal to the size of your system partition. Let's leave out the argument for sparse or under-provisioned volumes out for now. We're ruling out about 70% of most site visitors who don't have a spare disk.

Then if you want to rollback a patched image that happens to be bad, it requires a backup of the original partition. Therefore we need 3x the partition/volume to make this solution reliable.

johnlgalt · Mar 14, 2023

jimbo45 said:
d) now image your Windows system (not IMAGE not CLONE) to the external HDD

@jimbo45 - please read it AGAIN.

You say now image your windows system (NOT image NOT CLONE)

Read it 30 times if you must, but you basically are saying "Image ... not image."

It's not a matter of criticizing language, it is a matter of providing constructive criticism when your instructions do NOT make sense.

NavyLCDR · Mar 14, 2023

jimbo45 said:
Anybody can criticise language etc -- but its the content that I'm trying to explain the content. --It works -- and you don't have to use it if you don't like.

"Constructive criticism" is always welcome but just negative posts whithout suggesting an alternative is just B/S -- besides you asked a question which at least I attempted to answer for you.

There is a huge difference between criticizing and pointing out a mistake you made in writing your instructions. Perhaps instead of having such a thin skin and getting all uptight about it, a more respectful and useful reply to kelper might have been to say, "Oh, yes, I goofed up, thank you for pointing that out" and then going back and actually correcting YOUR MISTAKE. Then you could correct YOUR MISTAKE to read, "d) now image your Windows system (IMAGE not CLONE) to the external HDD." Instead, you just whined about it and left the sentence in that makes no sense, "d) now image your Windows system (not IMAGE not CLONE) to the external HDD" OK, so I am NOT supposed to IMAGE and I am NOT supposed to CLONE, so exactly what am I supposed to do again?

martyfelker · Mar 18, 2023

I would be interested in following your system IF I really care much anymore about Windows. Maybe next year when Windows 12 rolls around <gin>,. In the meantime VMware WS 17 started working again and I fired up Windows 10 (where I just get the advice that my system can't be upgraded to Windows 11) and Windows 11 which I upgraded to the latest. Linux virtualization may be"better" in some sense than VMware but I have bought and can torment technical support for a few more months. Do you know whether Linux virtualization products can run OS/2 Warp - I'm feeling nostalgic.

Cheeer;s,

mf

PS. Running Manjaro on my Desktop and Ubuntu )with ZFS) on my laptop.

jimbo45 · Apr 6, 2023

martyfelker said:
I would be interested in following your system IF I really care much anymore about Windows. Maybe next year when Windows 12 rolls around <gin>,. In the meantime VMware WS 17 started working again and I fired up Windows 10 (where I just get the advice that my system can't be upgraded to Windows 11) and Windows 11 which I upgraded to the latest. Linux virtualization may be"better" in some sense than VMware but I have bought and can torment technical support for a few more months. Do you know whether Linux virtualization products can run OS/2 Warp - I'm feeling nostalgic.

Cheeer;s,

mf

PS. Running Manjaro on my Desktop and Ubuntu )with ZFS) on my laptop.

@martyfelker

If you can find a suitable disk image for OS2/Warp (4.52) it WILL run on KVM/QEMU (I'm on kernel 6.2.9.X)

Might be do-able in Virtual Box too --- I played with this a long time ago but don't have the disk images any more

cheers
jimbo

Simple way to perform updates for all W11 builds

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