Why “Getting updates?”

I have mounted an ISO disk image with the latest stabile version of Windows 11 (26200.7462), generated from a download off uupdump.net. I have launched the Setup app on the mounted image. It is now showing this:


It has been sitting at 46% for at least the last 30 min. What updates are there to look for, let alone find, on a version that’s the latest? How can it take this long, especially without showing progress? In every case that I have seen this, progress eventually goes beyond the 46% mark. I am just baffled by why it would take this long and why this interface element of the install process has not been improved in at least the last two years that I have obersrved this.

Baeolophus said:

generated from a download off uupdump.net

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Why? What's wrong with the one from the Microsoft site?

Letting Windows Update work during upgrading from one version to another is the recipe for disaster. If any updates fail to install you may end with an unbootable computer since some files will be in Windows.old folder and some in the original folder. Been there done that. The best is to disconnect from the internet so Windows Update cannot mess with your system during upgrading. When the upgrade has completed successfully, you can connect to the internet and download any remaining updates.

Baeolophus said:

I have mounted an ISO disk image with the latest stabile version of Windows 11 (26200.7462), generated from a download off uupdump.net. I have launched the Setup app on the mounted image. It is now showing this:

It has been sitting at 46% for at least the last 30 min. What updates are there to look for, let alone find, on a version that’s the latest? How can it take this long, especially without showing progress? In every case that I have seen this, progress eventually goes beyond the 46% mark. I am just baffled by why it would take this long and why this interface element of the install process has not been improved in at least the last two years that I have obersrved this.

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When possible (beforehand) I always turn that option off. It makes no sense. You install Windows. When all is done the Windows update mechanism will always search for updates anyways. It's not necessary to do this during an install. I know this turning off is possible during an In-Place-Installment. Not checked if this is possible when you are doing a new install.

About the delay..... Yes every time your system is updated it will download stuff from Microsoft. Can spent a long time doing so. I always wonder why it's so slow; nearly no CPU usage or drive activity, No network activity. So what's the hold up???? I's spending a lot of time checking stuff. Files are pulled into memory and checked. Outside an install I always monitor the activity; Powershell as admin: Get-Content C:\Windows\Logs\CBS\CBS.log -tail 10 -wait

You can see that your system is quite busy with checking, correcting etc. Gives you some sense what your system is doing. Furthermore; the time when you do it. Microsoft will have some download-farm when a new update is coming out. Suddenly many people are updating their systems from al over the world! Congestion will occur. Microsoft shows us no way how busy they are at the moment. I always avoid those busy times. Luckily when I am awake, America is a sleep. It can be a reason why things can be so slow. But 30 minutes at 46% is a long time indeed. Even I have not never seen this during a new install or a In-Place-Installment. Normally would take a couple of minutes not 30 minutes. (What kind of ISP speed do you have?)

And why are you installing Windows on a MAC? Apple O/S is so much better then...

There are a number of reasons:

A couple of days after "update Tuesday" thus servers will be busy, and of course seasonal factors.
Diagnostic data is sent and you maybe inline for other updates.
It is not just about windows version but security, drivers, applications and more.
Windows update settings, you may have minimised the bandwidth, delivery optimisations, priorities which may slow things when working on other things.
Internet download speed, 30 min + is the norm for me.

I think 30' is not too long. Just go away and do something else. There are many points where you have long delays. Microsoft is throttling updates from their end; I see this whenever I use Windows Update.

spapakons said:

Letting Windows Update work during upgrading from one version to another is the recipe for disaster. If any updates fail to install you may end with an unbootable computer since some files will be in Windows.old folder and some in the original folder. Been there done that. The best is to disconnect from the internet so Windows Update cannot mess with your system during upgrading. When the upgrade has completed successfully, you can connect to the internet and download any remaining updates.

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Disaster? Never had these kind of problems. Even In-Place-Installment (Using the original ISO from MS) does it's job perfectly. It only refreshes the Windows engine completely and leaves all your data alone. That Windows.old directory can later on (when updated to the latest build) be easily removed with cleanmgr. Go to cleanup systemfiles and select the C drive and select Previous Windows Installation and clean. (Is much faster then delete it by hand. You often get message like "you have not enough rights" when delete a file owned by the TrustedInstaller. That is inside Windows the highest user, higher even than Administrator.) Cleanmgr will use the TrustedInstaller user to delete everything. It owns many files in the Windows directory.

It's totally unnecessary to use an 26200.7492 ISO to install Window again. I always use the original ISO from MS. Yes it will install 26200.6584. Once installed the Windows Update will get only the latest build and any needed updates to be at the latest and good build again.

Disconnect from the internet? Possible. Will only work if you install Windows with a local account. If you are using a MS account then the installment will stop there until you connect to the internet again. I had never had to disconnect myself from the internet in order to do something.

Baeolophus said:

What updates are there to look for, let alone find, on a version that’s the latest? How can it take this long, especially without showing progress?

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Updates for setup itself, the servicing stack, the latest cumulative update, language packs, drivers, etc.

You can turn off all or some of this with the DynamicUpdate switch.

hader said:

Disaster? Never had these kind of problems. Even In-Place-Installment (Using the original ISO from MS) does it's job perfectly. It only refreshes the Windows engine completely and leaves all your data alone. That Windows.old directory can later on (when updated to the latest build) be easily removed with cleanmgr. Go to cleanup systemfiles and select the C drive and select Previous Windows Installation and clean. (Is much faster then delete it by hand. You often get message like "you have not enough rights" when delete a file owned by the TrustedInstaller. That is inside Windows the highest user, higher even than Administrator.) Cleanmgr will use the TrustedInstaller user to delete everything. It owns many files in the Windows directory.

It's totally unnecessary to use an 26200.7492 ISO to install Window again. I always use the original ISO from MS. Yes it will install 26200.6584. Once installed the Windows Update will get only the latest build and any needed updates to be at the latest and good build again.

Disconnect from the internet? Possible. Will only work if you install Windows with a local account. If you are using a MS account then the installment will stop there until you connect to the internet again. I had never had to disconnect myself from the internet in order to do something.

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Probably most Windows 11 compliant computers are not affected, but an unsupported computer will fail before the first restart due to a hidden online compatibility check. Also I don't trust the setting not to download updates during upgrading, not even drivers. I disconnect from the internet to make sure nothing interferes.

spapakons said:

Probably most Windows 11 compliant computers are not affected, but an unsupported computer will fail before the first restart due to a hidden online compatibility check.

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i come from the Apple macOS world. What’s an unsupported computer? I assume it’s one cobbled together from components. What unsupported motherboards are there, then?

The hardware does not meet the requirements for a newer supported Windows release.
Typical examples include:

• No TPM 2.0 (required for Windows 11)
• Unsupported CPU generation
• Insufficient RAM or storage for current releases

Just like older Apple computers!

Right on, same as with macOS, like macOS 26 not supporting a lot of Intel-based devices.

kelper said:

The hardware does not meet the requirements for a newer supported Windows release.
Typical examples include:

• No TPM 2.0 (required for Windows 11)
• Unsupported CPU generation
• Insufficient RAM or storage for current releases

Just like older Apple computers!

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In other words the OS is hacked to run on such systems.

That’s a pretty loose usage of “hacked.” There are known ways of getting Windows to install on unsupported hardware, provided by the makers of Windows.

Baeolophus said:

i come from the Apple macOS world. What’s an unsupported computer? I assume it’s one cobbled together from components. What unsupported motherboards are there, then?

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Official Microsoft requirements for all Windows 11 versions are at least 8th generation Intel Core-i3 or higher CPU and at least second generation AMD Ryzen CPU, minimum RAM is 4GB, the system much boot in UEFI mode (not the older Legacy BIOS mode), it must have TPM 2.0 protection module or equivalent function in software and support Secure Boot (not necessary to be enabled, just be present).

However, if you bypass compatibility check during installation or upgrade to a newer version, then the absolute minimum requirements for Windows 11 21H2, 22H2 and 23H2 are any 64-bit CPU that can also run Windows 8 64-bit and Windows 10 64-bit. This means all 64-bit CPUs with the exception of the first generation of AMD 64 CPUs which lacks specific instructions and runs either Windows 7 64-bit or Windows 8/10 32-bit. To run Windows 11 24H2 and 25H2 the CPU must support SSE4.2 instructions and this means at least first generation Intel Core-i3 and equivalent AMD. Older Intel CPUs, such as Core 2 Duo don't support SSE4.2 and cannot run 24H2 and 25H2. To be 100% sure you can use CPU-Z to check the available instructions on a specific CPU, or just Google its specs.

So basically unsupported computer in these forum is any computer capable of running at least Windows 11 21H2 (first version in 2021) but not officially compliant.

MacOS, Apple generally and Chrome OS systems all have limited support for older systems. I think Microsoft is at least as supporrtive as other OSes

kelper said:

MacOS, Apple generally and Chrome OS systems all have limited support for older systems. I think Microsoft is at least as supportive as other OSes

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Not sure about Chrome OS, but Apple every three versions of the OS deliberately excludes the older generation Macs and MacBook. Next version will exclude the older Mac and MacBook models currently supported in present version. The next after that will exclude one more year etc. So if you buy a new Mac model in 2025, it should support Mac OS versions up to 4-5 years later, then it cannot be upgraded. Yes, there are some workarounds, but they not always work and are very complicated for the average user, while in Windows 11 is as simple as using Rufus or similar utilities to bypass compatibility check. Also Windows 11 24H2 and 25H2 can be run on all Core-i3 generations (1st to 14th) and the newer Intel Core Ultra (aka 15th generation) and equivalent AMDs. Apple is nowhere close to that. Another advantage of using Windows, apart from broader hardware and software compatibility and ease of use. Yes, Mac OS is easy too, but not as easy as Windows. Sometimes you have to resort to Terminal to do advanced stuff while in Windows the PowerShell is only used by experts.

Baeolophus said:

What’s an unsupported computer?

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Baeolophus said:

In other words the OS is hacked to run on such systems.

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Absolutely not. By Micrsosft/Windows standards itself, and with so many legitimate/legal third party options, Microsoft has allowed it's ersatz attempt at enforcing security to be bypassed. No "hacking" is required.

In fact, it's so easy to bypass MS's requirements (manually or with 3rd party options) that Windows installation program could almost be considered open-source software

I wouldn't say the OS is hacked as this implies changes to the code. They just bypass a small part of the code checking compatibility, they don't change the code as is the case of the respective Mac hack to install Mac OS on older Macs.