Why does Win 11 24H2 take so long to download/install?

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Why does Win 11 24H2 take so long to download/install?

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Started 6 months ago by Dragonlair
Latest reply from gergn

Dragonlair
Member

Yesterday, about 2 PM, I powered up my laptop (not the fastest computer, by far). I don't use it a lot. It's more of an emergency backup, but I do power it up and run anti-virus checks and update checked regularly.

I did the normal update check and it found a virus definition update for Defender, a software update for Defender, a .NET update and Win 11 24H2 (which never popped up for this machine before).

Both Defender updates failed initially but the .NET update was pending install when I got to the updates. Win11 24H2 was downloading 0%

Things slowly progressed and the .NET wanted a reboot but we delayed because we KNEW that 24H2 would need a reboot.

After slow movement, sometime after MIDNIGHT (over 10 hours later), 24H2 got to something over 90% installed when Windows decided it was time to reboot - despite our attempts to delay it and it LOST the entire download and almost complete update!

We got things booted and it finally started to download FROM THE START, that Win 11 24H2 update.

It is now after 3 PM. It has finally apparently finished. My husband just asked if I wanted it to check for updates again (planned after any major update). That is more than 24 hours for ONE update! Yes, it's a major update, but why does it take so long to do and reboot itself IN THE MIDDLE of the whole thing?

How do we turn off, ENTIRELY, these forced reboots so we have control? It would have helped by not making it do all the work twice!!!

Posted 6 months ago #
gergn
Member

Normally, I will reboot after the .NET update. After that, the running Windows update download seems to resume where it left off. So, you do not lose much time. If you wait after the Windows update has finished to reboot, you gamble that the installation of the new .NET and the Windows update do not get intermingled. That double update might slow down the complete process in the end.

It often happens that a major Windows update needs more than one reboot. It is certainly true with a new Windows installation. And 24H2 is almost a new installation.

It is not uncommon to see 0% download for a long time. But in reality the download is progressing.

Posted 6 months ago #
gergn
Member

ChatGTP gives this answer to "How do we turn off, ENTIRELY, these forced reboots so we have control?"

Method 1: Active Hours
This is the least technical and helps prevent reboots during certain times.

Go to Settings → Windows Update

Click Advanced options

Click Active hours

Set the hours when you usually use the device (you can set it manually instead of automatic).

Downside: It doesn’t prevent reboots — just delays them during your set hours.

Method 2: Group Policy Editor (for Pro/Enterprise versions only)
This gives you stronger control.

Press Win + R, type gpedit.msc, press Enter.

Navigate to:
Computer Configuration → Administrative Templates → Windows Components → Windows Update → Manage end user experience

Double-click No auto-restart with logged on users for scheduled automatic updates installations

Set it to Enabled → Apply → OK

This will stop forced restarts if someone is logged in.

Method 3: Registry Hack (for Home edition or deeper control)
Be careful with this — back up your registry before making changes.

Press Win + R, type regedit, press Enter

Navigate to:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate\AU

If the AU key doesn’t exist, create it.

Create a new DWORD (32-bit) value named: NoAutoRebootWithLoggedOnUsers

Set its value to 1

This mimics the Group Policy setting and disables reboots if someone is logged on.

Posted 6 months ago #
mikiem2
Moderator

That's why I will ONLY install/update Windows using an ISO. It's even worse when an update fails, and they do fail, because then you've got to download the stupid files all over again. It's been a few years -- I try to install new versions that require a reinstall before they show up in Windows Update -- but I have run setup from the mounted ISO while Windows Update was still downloading files, and that upgrade using the ISO completed successfully.

Windows will from time to time pop up a message to continue your work while an update progresses, e.g., with 365, and *maybe* originally Microsoft was trying to make updates less intrusive. But nowadays, unless you specifically download a file, say from their update catalog, downloads are sporadic at best, and most always Very low bandwidth. I have a couple copies of Windows, one disposable & one Insider that I use for testing, often firing them up just to update, and it's long been a frustration that the downloads take longer than they should. And you can see what's happening watching the networking display in Task Mgr. -> Performance, with very intermittent traffic always at minimal bandwidth, I assume to save Microsoft money. Backing up that assumption, what I called a disposable copy of Win11 has the switch set to download updates as soon as available, and in the last few months, the 2nd monthly [optional] update has stopped showing up when it's released, but several days later, apparently when there's an opening in the queue. Since Win11 updates started using Checkpoints you can't get around it by downloading & installing updates from the catalog, because those updates will just show up in Windows Update later on. SO sadly the only update delays you can get around are when there's a Windows update that requires a reinstall you can use an ISO.

FWIW... when running Windows setup always turn off check for updates during setup, because it not only takes longer than checking for updates afterward, but it often leads to failure during the setup phase after the initial restart. Reinstalling Windows, or performing a version update/upgrade, one of the things that takes more time is migrating software to the new copy of Windows -- the more software's installed, the longer it will take, so if there are any apps you're thinking of removing, Do It before you run setup. I always make sure I have a current disk image backup before a Windows reinstall/upgrade. If setup fails the automatic rollback can also fail, or when it does work, Windows may be damaged so setup won't work until that backup's restored. Windows setup can also damage the bootloader on the EFI partition, and I've had it also add false copies of Windows to the boot menu based on entries for the firmware [BIOS]. Windows Recovery & the Recovery partition are historically a POS -- another reason I do image backups. Windows setup can install a 2nd [or even a 3rd] Recovery partition -- the only solution that always work in that case is to delete the Recovery partition(s) & reclaim the disk space. I have 2 copies of Windows on the same SSD, and currently they share a Recovery partition that sits between the 2 Windows partitions (!). NO idea how that happened, but that's what Win11 24H2 setup did, and it ***seems*** to be working -- reagentc /info

Posted 6 months ago #
gergn
Member

Perplexity gave me this answer:

Do You Get More or Fewer Reboots With an ISO Upgrade?
When upgrading Windows 11 using an ISO file, you will typically experience about the same number of reboots as with an upgrade via Windows Update. In both cases, Windows will restart several times to complete the installation. There is no significant difference in the number of reboots between these two methods.

Do you agree?

Posted 6 months ago #
mikiem2
Moderator

Yes, I agree.

Files downloaded via Windows update may be newer than the latest ISO, but Windows status when setup performs the restart should be close to identical, with the same files in the same locations. The main difference is with the ISO all the files are there and ready, so you're not waiting for them to slowly download. Windows Update could in theory save disk space and download bandwidth by tailoring the files it downloads to the exact device, but based on the total disk space used by the installation routine's staging folder vs. the size of the ISO, that doesn't *seem* to happen.

After Windows setup running in Windows restarts, and you get that back screen with a progress report, there may be errors followed by a restart in an attempt to recover the setup process. The only thing I've found that effects that is allowing Windows setup to look for updates, which causes sometimes many more problems. I've seen setup progressing from the 1st restart or reboot to the Windows screens without interruption, but particularly when setup is allowed to check for updates, I've seen it restart and recover maybe a dozen times. I've also seen it fail to recover, initiating a roll back to the prior copy of Windows, which is why I originally started using ISOs -- I didn't want to fool with getting Windows Update to try again, wait while it downloaded everything for a 2nd time, and deal with potentially more leftover files/folders afterward. Microsoft's media creation tool works but is slower than downloading an ISO and then putting it on a very fast USB stick using Rufus. I'll mount the downloaded ISO on this PC, running setup.exe, and use that USB stick for everything else.

Posted 6 months ago #
mikiem2
Moderator

neowin[.]net/software/stopupdates10-4720250424/

greatis[.]com/stopupdates10/

Just a quick note in case it interests... stopping/pausing Windows Update was mentioned. Greatis software, the developer behind the UnHackMe app that's on GOTD from time to time, has another app called StopUpdates10.

Posted 6 months ago #
checkerapp
Member

Honestly, the download timHonestly, the download times for 24H2 feel like cooking a 12-hour brisket

Posted 3 months ago #
gergn
Member

24H2 was not so bad as the automatic upgrade to 25H2 preview on my retired laptop last week.

Posted 3 months ago #
mikiem2
Moderator

It should not matter, but I've found the last couple of months that using wired Ethernet rather than WiFi helped. It should Not make a difference. I'm sitting less than 20 feet from the router, have good WiFi speeds, and the download speeds using either method are well below the WiFi max, but I get more network activity, more time spent downloading using a wired connection (?).

It also seems Win11 is spending more time checking the files already installed, so the bare minimum is downloaded with or for each patch. Slower CPUs and slower storage thus can take quite a bit longer. I used to get around that by downloading the patch from Microsoft's catalog, but with their new signatures Windows Update didn't see that it was installed, and so installed the update a 2nd time.

One thing that continues to be a problem is the Windows\ SoftwareDistribution\ Downloads\ folder. If it contains any files the Windows Update process can get confused -- I've seen it contain over 40k files, which in itself is a large enough amount to cause problems, particularly on slower CPUs with less RAM. If an update seems to have stalled, or when one fails, I pause updates, restart, then delete that folder, which has worked for me anyway.

RE: 25H2, the latest ISO is build 27881 from June. An RTM 25H2 ISO shouldn't be too far off now.

Posted 3 months ago #
gergn
Member

RE: "It should not matter, but I've found the last couple of months that using wired Ethernet rather than WiFi helped. It should Not make a difference. I'm sitting less than 20 feet from the router, have good WiFi speeds, and the download speeds using either method are well below the WiFi max, but I get more network activity, more time spent downloading using a wired connection (?). "

Ethernet was originally developed for communication where packets from different senders could interfere with each other. To handle this, each sender listens to its own transmitted packet to confirm it was sent correctly. If the transmission is successful, the next packet is sent. If your computer is the only device using the wired Ethernet connection, packets are delivered immediately, with no risk of collisions.

However, when multiple devices are connected to the same network, data packets can collide. In such cases, each sender waits a random amount of time before attempting to resend the packet. The more users on the network, the lower the effective transmission speed can be.

If your computer is the only one physically connected to your router via a cable, your speed will be optimal. In contrast, WiFi networks are more prone to interference, especially when many nearby WiFi networks operate on similar channels. This can cause packet collisions and reduce speed.

There are tools available that can help you identify which WiFi channels nearby networks with the strongest signals are using. By switching your router to a less crowded WiFi channel, you might improve your connection's performance.

For example, in my case, only one neighbour uses WiFi in the morning, but in the evening, many more WiFi networks appear around my house, leading to increased interference.

(with thanks to Perplexity for a clearer and more grammatically correct version of my original text)

Posted 3 months ago #
mikiem2
Moderator

Thanks!

Posted 3 months ago #
gergn
Member

A few days ago I installed a fresh W11 25H2 on a three year old laptop that did so badly on older Windows versions, that I replaced Windows by Zorin OS. But the new installation of Windows 11 25H2 runs fine. I had to install the Wifi driver manually, though.
The laptop recognised my router and I logged into it, just out of curiosity. I was amazed it now supports four Wifi's instead on one. Thanks to fibre?? I could add an extra 2.4 GHz wifi, an extra 5 GHz wifi, and one for guests. The guest channel limits the upload. So my guests have to be satisfied with the maximum I can set: 50 Mbps upload. The other three have around 300 Mbps upload capacity. The download speeds on all four wifi's is 200 Mbps.
The guest channel has a jitter of only 1 msec, while the other channels have 5 of more msec. So it seems logical to switch my iPhone to the guest channel, to improve telephony over Wifi at home. Mobile telephony is now much cheaper than land line telephony ...

Posted 1 month ago #

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