Why are Windows installs so random?

It's ridiculously frustrating how performing a clean install of Windows 11 (25H2) feels like playing roulette. It's a thrill, you never know what you'll get!

It starts with the fact that if one uses a flash drive created with the Media Creation Tool, the menu where it says it's downloading drivers only appears during 2 days after Patch Tuesday if another bootable flash drive is created after the following Thursday, give or take.
In simpler terms, it's Patch Tuesday, I create a bootable flash drive and there's a window/menu where Windows explicitly says it's downloading drivers and stuff and it tells you how long till reboot etc. After the Thursday following Patch Tuesday, any bootable flash drives created using the Media Creation Tool will already include that month's cumulative update and the menu/window will not appear again...which is ridiculous since it always showed up on 24H2, even when there were no cumulative updates available. Now, I have to get to the part where I get to choose a name for my PC and wait until Windows pulls the drivers and I have to listen to the laptop fans to know when everything is done Ridiculous stuff.
Then there's the lottery of clicking ''accept and decline''. Sometimes there's some steps, sometimes they don't work well, particularly the last ones involving office. It's not always, but lately, half the time I have to click ''decline'' 2 times when offered Office and sometimes only one ''decline'' loads until I get to ignore the Game Pass.

The ''Restore from Backup'' option which I've never used is also totally random. I'd say it appears 1 every 5 installs.

Then there's the drivers shenanigans introduced by this latest build. Sometimes MyASUS is installed, sometimes it isn't. Same for other apps like Realtek, Dolby Access etc. Not to mention the Intel Graphics Driver that now fails to be recognized by the system half the time when being updated via the Intel Driver & Support Assistant...Not to mention the bug that doesn't allow some ASUS laptops to safely eject mass storage devices which has persisted since November...
And this has happened on different machines with different Windows accounts. It's ridiculous. So much for the ''We're gonna improve Windows quality'' thread by some guy at Microsoft a while back. Gave me a good chuckle.

MCT is never updated on the same day as Patch Tuesday. Typically it shows up about a week after Patch Tuesday.

Here's a batch script which reports the currently served ISO from MCT. Run it to confirm which version it will download.

garlin said:

MCT is never updated on the same day as Patch Tuesday. Typically it shows up about a week after Patch Tuesday.

Here's a batch script which reports the currently served ISO from MCT. Run it to confirm which version it will download.

Click to expand...

That could be useful, thanks, but MCT is usually updated the next Thursday after Patch Tuesday. At least it's been that way for a year or so.

That's precisely why you shouldn't rely on Windows Update to install your drivers. Always make sure you download and install the official drivers from manufacturer to get all features and all "optional" software. Especially for the graphics driver, I don't trust even the manufacturer which might have an older version. I go straight to nVidia/Intel/AMD and IF during installation I get a warning that the hardware is customized, then and only then I download from manufacturer. Windows Update is the last resort when an official driver is unavailable or when I don't have the time to look for it. You don't have to check every day, just once or twice a month for newer drivers. Usually the graphics driver gets the most updates. Also, before a newer driver isn't always better, I suggest to always keep a copy of the previous and the last drivers. Just in case you need to return to the older driver and you cannot do it from Device Manager. Been there done that.