Heads up. The Windows 10 version 1803 update is a VERY sizable update.

[GabeU]

The Windows 10 version 1803 update can very VERY sizable.  For me it was 3GB.  Then, on restart after installation, more updates were downloaded, but because Glasswire hadn't started I don't know how much more data was used.  The update was released on April 30th.

Though this isn't a Tech Support issue I figured it best to post the heads up in this section as it's related to data usage.  If a rep feels it would be better to have this posted in another section, please, by all means, feel free to move it.  

[Liz]

Thanks for info, Gabe! Good to know.

[maratsade]

thanks, @GabeU!  given how long the process usually takes for me (because, Microsoft), I'm going to have to set aside a full day....

[GabeU]

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@maratsadewrote:

thanks, @GabeU!  given how long the process usually takes for me (because, Microsoft), I'm going to have to set aside a full day....

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I haven't really had that problem with Gen5.  Gen4 was absolutely awful when it came to Microsoft downloads, though.  

Just this morning I updated my laptop, and though the file wasn't quite as large as for the desktop, clocking in at 2.7GB instead of 3.0GB, it downloaded rather quickly, taking about twenty minutes.  Installation, OTOH, is still in process.  The first attempt at installation failed (before restart).  The second attempt (it didn't need to download again) seems to be going well.  It was just restarted, so it's in the middle of the actual installation.   

I downloaded the Windows 10 1803 ISO this morning, too, and at 3.1GB it only took about twenty minutes, as well.  I created an installation DVD with that.  

Edit:  Well, the laptop ended up using 3.1GB total for the update, as it updated a slew of the Microsoft apps after restart, as well.  And, as it turns out, the desktop used the same total amount, though the comparison between the two is a little misleading, as the laptop had many more Microsoft apps to update as it's only connected to the net once every month or so, whereas the desktop is connected every day and keeps its Microsoft apps up to date.  After the Windows 10 1803 update, the desktop updated seven Microsoft apps, whereas the laptop updated twenty one Microsoft apps.  So, 3.0GB and 0.1GB for the update and apps, respectively, for the desktop, and 2.7GB and 0.4GB for the update and apps, respectively, for the laptop.  

[maratsade]

My problem is it never takes the first time it downloads -- it takes me several times to get it to stick (edit: which means multiple download attempts).  Then there's the installation process, which is long and laborious.  I never have this kind of issue with Mac updates or Linux updates, which  makes me think the issue is with the way Microsoft does things.

[GabeU]

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@maratsadewrote:

My problem is it never takes the first time it downloads -- it takes me several times to get it to stick (edit: which means multiple download attempts).  

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That's weird.  I wonder if it's a combination of things.  As we all know Microsoft seems to be overly sensitive to higher latencies, at least with some of their servers, but I wonder if other things, in combination with the latency, are causing it to fail.  

Though I think you've mentioned it before, what kind of speeds do you get?  Do you ever have any packet loss issues?  

[GW]

Thanks for the warning Gabe. I looked at the two W10 notebooks and they were up to date as of yesterday and the day before. I ran the check on both and the miserable update burned up 150 mb doing the check and then initializing and then preparing to install before it ever got around to telling me they were ready to download. It didn't appear update was going to have any respect for the metered connections so I disconnected them until morning. Good thing I get up at 4 AM.

[GabeU]

@GW

It's good that you caught it.  Maybe the metered connection ddin't stop it due to the type of update it is, but with something of this size it sure should.  SMH.  And two of them?  Eek!  That's a lot of data without expecting it, that's for sure.  

Do the notebooks happen to have the Pro version?  If so, changing the update settings in the Group Policy Editor works very well.  Before the Fall Creators Update I couldn't set my LAN cable connected desktop to metered, but changing the update settings via the Group Policy Editor worked perfectly.  I was able to set it to notify me before downloading anything, like we used to be able to do with W8.1 and prior.  If you have the Home version you don't have that option, though.  😞  

[GW]

I think they're both home premium. A derivative of whatever came with the gizmos. An Acer and an Asus.

Windoze really chaps my hide. Two more days until the Hughes reset and I'm almost out of anytime data. I could save a bunch of data by connecting my phone to the Asus and run my business over the LAN but the instant I hook that up to the notebook it's gonna smell the fresh meat on the LTE connection and start downloading that hyooge update in a new york second. Scratch 3 GB off that allowance that just rolled over yesterday. I hate Windoze. It's getting about time to bite the big one and scrap all the M$ garbage and go Linux. Especially since M$ is gonna kill off W7 soon. No way I could ever live with W10 on my main computer.

[GabeU]

@GW

Lots of people are contemplating exactly what you are, or have already done so, and I don't blame them.  Though I don't have it installed at the moment, I've fiddled with Linx Mint, and it's pretty good.  I'd just have to get used to the different way programs and such are installed and the way some settings are changed and/or enabled.  The terminal and all that.  

With that said, I don't really have much of a problem with Windows 10, other than being a guinea pig for updates.  

[GW]

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@GabeUwrote:

@GW

Lots of people are contemplating exactly what you are, or have already done so, and I don't blame them.  Though I don't have it installed at the moment, I've fiddled with Linx Mint, and it's pretty good.  I'd just have to get used to the different way programs and such are installed and the way some settings are changed and/or enabled.  The terminal and all that.  

With that said, I don't really have much of a problem with Windows 10, other than being a guinea pig for updates.  

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I've used Linux off and on for over 20 years. I think my problem may be I try to force Linux to run on another physical drive in dual boot rather than put it on C: in an extra partition. I always let windows retain sole possession of C. It never ends well. Eventually I have to stay up all night fighting off the crash from **bleep** to save my stuff.

Another problem has always been too many windows programs I depend on. As it is now I really don't have all that much that requires windows. The hardest thing to give up right now that I can think of would be my Acronis True Image auto backup program and the encryption stuff I use. And then things always get squirrelly with my mail trying to make Thunderbird keep it straight when running part time in Linux and part time in windows. Eh, maybe I'll try it again soon. I need a little adventure in my life

I don't think I've ever gotten around to using Mint but I do have several iterations of it saved in my archives. Both Cinnamon and Mate. The most recent is 18.3 Cinnamon I downloaded in January.

[GabeU]

@GW

Ugh, fire ants!  That unit needed "debugging."  LOL.  😛

When I was a heating and AC tech we would sometimes see contactors that had burned out due to insects, with ants being the most common.  We'd sometimes see cockroaches in the switches in old relays in air handlers/furnaces and boilers, as well.  Nasty little buggers.  

I had Linux Mint with Mate (ver. 17.1) on an older desktop and it worked very well.  No issues.  I used Mate as the desktop only had 512MB of memory.  I ended up installing Windows XP on it so I could play some old games that don't work with W8.1 and W10.  I had Linux Mint with Cinnamon (ver. 18.1) on a separate HDD in this desktop, though I didn't have it set up as a dual boot.  I would have to physically change the SATA cable from one drive to the other when I wanted to use Mint, but it was still pretty good and it worked well.  

Linux Mint is definitely more user friendly, in my opinion, than Ubuntu.  I've tried Cinnamon, Mate and Xfce, but not KDE.  

[GW]

This update is amazing. It's hard to believe M$ can screw up so much stuff.

I woke up at 2 and launched the updates for both W10 computers. They sucked down a total of 5.7 GB but still didn't complete all the downloading before the end of bonus time at 8. They needed another 250 MB after that.

One computer was finished with the entire procedure in 5½ hours while the other needed a breathtaking 10 hours to get done.

Even better is the New & Improved W10 informs me the Home Group has been removed from this newest iteration which decimated a substantial portion of my network. M$ should be required to pay us for putting up with this garbage.

[maratsade]

I think it's something with the way Microsoft goes about the updates.  It's no big deal, just irritating, because it's the only OS that does this. The Mac updates have been much bigger at times, and they work beautifully.  Microsoft is cranky.   I don't have packet loss issues, and the speeds I get are around 25 to 30 Mbps, sometimes more.  I totally blame Microsoft.  LOL

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@GabeUwrote:

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That's weird.  I wonder if it's a combination of things.  As we all know Microsoft seems to be overly sensitive to higher latencies, at least with some of their servers, but I wonder if other things, in combination with the latency, are causing it to fail.  

Though I think you've mentioned it before, what kind of speeds do you get?  Do you ever have any packet loss issues?  

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[GabeU]

@maratsade

You've got Gen5, right?  

[maratsade]

Yes, Gen5. Beam 68! 

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@GabeUwrote:

You've got Gen5, right?  

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[GabeU]

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@maratsadewrote:

Yes, Gen5. Beam 68! 

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@GabeUwrote: 

You've got Gen5, right?   

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Ahhhh.  That's right.  I should have remembered the beam 68 thing.  

I think my brain is overheating.  LOL.  Two days ago it was snowing in the morning and now it's 80 degrees in my house.  I've got to put my window AC in, but I haven't even cleaned it yet!  😛  I've got to replace the screen over it, too. 

I have to put window screen over the side and top louvres as the AC sits in a window that is right near another window that has a lamp sitting in front of it.  The light from it draws moths at night, and I learned that the hard way.  The first year I had the AC in that window I started having problems with the compressor cutting out on a high pressure limit towards the end of the season.  I took it apart and found out that the condenser coil was absolutely caked with dead moths.  They were getting so close to the unit, drawn by the light, that they were getting sucked into the louvres, then blown through the fan and onto the coil.  There was a clear spot, right in the center of the coil, that was about three inches in diameter.  This was the only place that air could blow through it.  LOL.  It was clear there due to that being where the center hub is on the fan blade.  I really wish I would have gotten a picture of that!  

[maratsade]

The weather has been crazy and very hot.  We went from winter to summer.  Insane!

The moth thing sounds gross -- is there anything that can be done to prevent the moths from getting sucked in there? 

[GabeU]

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@maratsadewrote:

The weather has been crazy and very hot.  We went from winter to summer.  Insane!

The moth thing sounds gross -- is there anything that can be done to prevent the moths from getting sucked in there? 

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I put the window screen over the louvres and it keeps them out.  We also have Eastern Cottonwood trees around here.  They have this cotton type stuff that floats around and that can get sucked in, too, but the window screen stops that, as well.  

I actually wrap the entire outside portion (sides and top) of the AC with the window screen and use the screws that run along the bottom of each side that hold the cover on to hold the window screen on.  I bought some washers and use them with the screws.  It helps to keep the screen from pulling off of the screws.  There are three screws on each side that hold the cover and screen, and it works perfectly.  I just drive the screws right through the screen.  The air intake louvres are on the sides and top, so it's easiest to do it this way.  To try to put screen just over the louvres would be difficult.  I don't put screen over the back, of course, as that's the exhaust rather than the intake.  

Since doing this the only bug I've had inside the unit was a wasp which must had crawled up through the bottom drain hole.  

[GabeU]

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@maratsadewrote:

The weather has been crazy and very hot.  We went from winter to summer.  Insane!

The moth thing sounds gross -- is there anything that can be done to prevent the moths from getting sucked in there? 

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This...

I got sick of the humidity so I took it apart, cleaned it from last year's use, and installed it in the window.  Right now it is cooling my house down and has reduced the humidity by 15% so far.  SOOOO much better.  I HATE humidity!  😛 

[GW]

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@GabeUwrote:

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@maratsadewrote:

Yes, Gen5. Beam 68! 

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@GabeUwrote: 

You've got Gen5, right?   

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Ahhhh.  That's right.  I should have remembered the beam 68 thing.  

I think my brain is overheating.  LOL.  Two days ago it was snowing in the morning and now it's 80 degrees in my house.  I've got to put my window AC in, but I haven't even cleaned it yet!  😛  I've got to replace the screen over it, too. 

I have to put window screen over the side and top louvres as the AC sits in a window that is right near another window that has a lamp sitting in front of it.  The light from it draws moths at night, and I learned that the hard way.  The first year I had the AC in that window I started having problems with the compressor cutting out on a high pressure limit towards the end of the season.  I took it apart and found out that the condenser coil was absolutely caked with dead moths.  They were getting so close to the unit, drawn by the light, that they were getting sucked into the louvres, then blown through the fan and onto the coil.  There was a clear spot, right in the center of the coil, that was about three inches in diameter.  This was the only place that air could blow through it.  LOL.  It was clear there due to that being where the center hub is on the fan blade.  I really wish I would have gotten a picture of that!  

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I feel your pain. A couple years ago fire ants invaded the outdoor compressor unit of our heat pump and shorted out a relay.