New Build - Clean Install - No Windows Updates

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customized

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New Build - Clean Install - No Windows Updates

#1

Post by customized » Mon Jan 25, 2021 4:38 pm

Hi everyone,

Long time lurker, first time poster.

I just did a clean install of Windows 7 Home Premium to a new SSD, with the hopes of keeping WMC rolling for another few years.

My problem is that I was hoping to install available Win7 patches, but I get a WindowsUpdate_80072efe error when I run Windows Update.

It doesn't appear to be a new error, as there are plenty of suggested fixes for it. I have tried all that I've found to no avail. Same results on different mixes of hardware in 3 different systems. I even tried some of my old ISOs just in case the image I just downloaded from MS had some lockout on it. No dice. Doesn't look like WSUS supports Win7 anymore either.

Has anyone else run into this? Are the Windows 7 Update servers now offline since we're EOL? Are you still getting any updates, or received updates in the past week?

I suppose I can live without patches, but I was hoping to get as modern as possible and still retain the second love of my life: WMC.

I'd appreciate any help. Thanks!

customized

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#2

Post by customized » Mon Jan 25, 2021 4:56 pm

Actually, if I run an old version of WSUS, I think I can patch. That's my Plan A for now.

customized

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#3

Post by customized » Mon Jan 25, 2021 7:13 pm

Second update to the world at large.

My previous instance of WMC gave me 4 years of loyal service. So I had forgotten the steps to build a Win7 machine. Running WSUS is step 1. That gets your installation up to the level that it can again receive Windows Updates. So here, a few hours later I'm back on the track to having a patched machine.

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#4

Post by garyan2 » Mon Jan 25, 2021 7:23 pm

- Gary
Keeping WMC alive beyond January 2020. https://garyan2.github.io

captain_video

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#5

Post by captain_video » Tue Jan 26, 2021 10:10 pm

I downloaded that and tried to install it and it failed the download. I have also done a clean install of Windows 7 Ultimate and I've run into lots of issues aside from no Windows updates. I'm trying to install the latest HDHomeRun software and it fails when trying to install some of the prerequisite apps. It failed the PlayReady installation initially, but I was able to download and install it manually. When I got to the digital cable activation the key was there but it failed activation. When I got to the end of WMC setup it failed the PlayReady update so lots of things not working. I'm trying to find another link for a compiled Windows update to bring it up to speed from the SP1 configuration. I'm hoping that once I'm able to get things updated the rest will fall into place, except maybe the PlayReady update since that's a common problem.

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garyan2

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#6

Post by garyan2 » Tue Jan 26, 2021 10:50 pm

I never actually downloaded from MajorGeeks but it is the first place google popped up for me. Here is where the file is actually coming from and it looks like they have a new version from last month. It is a Russian site so translate is your friend. Maybe have better luck from the source.
- Gary
Keeping WMC alive beyond January 2020. https://garyan2.github.io

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#7

Post by th3luk3st3r » Wed Jan 27, 2021 2:00 am

Sounds like you've got it sorted :)
If it helps though, I've had to do a couple of fresh Win 7 installs and have found the Update Rollup package (https://www.howtogeek.com/255435/how-to ... ce-rollup/) fixes this issue and allows for the future updates to be downloaded from MS. The only inconvenient part is that the Rollup requires SP1 and the April 2015 Servicing Stack update to be installed first, but once those are installed it gets you going again without WSUS ;)

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#8

Post by captain_video » Wed Jan 27, 2021 3:24 am

garyan2 wrote: Tue Jan 26, 2021 10:50 pm I never actually downloaded from MajorGeeks but it is the first place google popped up for me. Here is where the file is actually coming from and it looks like they have a new version from last month. It is a Russian site so translate is your friend. Maybe have better luck from the source.
That link does take you to a Russian site. Google Translate is your friend here. I'm not sure if you can add it to other browsers but I use Chrome so it's probably included. I discovered that you need to place the downloaded file on your desktop and run it as Administrator. I tried running it from a folder inside a drive other than the C: drive and it would tell me the download was complete but I had no idea where it actually downloaded anything to. If it's on your desktop then you can see the actual file icon. The download failed multiple times before the entire file was downloaded. The file from the Russian site is actually a download manager that gets the complete list of Windows updates for Windows 7 and it apparently saves whatever was downloaded from the previous attempts until it completes successfully. If it fails just keep trying until you get the entire executable file on your desktop. I ran the updater as Administrator and it opened up a small window and extracted all of the files are installed them one at a time just like Windows Update would do. There were a total of 46 updates, including Internet Explorer 11. You are prompted to reboot the computer when all of the files finish installing and the updates are handled just like a normal Windows update. Part of the updates are configured during shutdown and the rest are configured when it restarts.

After the system reboots and finishes configuring the updates, another window opens and the system is scanned for installed updates followed by more files being extracted. This makes sense since some prerequisite files need to be installed before some updates can be applied. Two additional updates were installed and then the system rebooted again to configure them. It rebooted once more following the configuration followed by another window and more updates being extracted and installed. There are two progress counters at the bottom of the window. The one on the left shows the percentage complete of the current update being installed. The one on the right shows the completion percentage of all updates being installed during this phase. If an update requires a reboot following installation it is noted in the window next to the update. When all updates are complete, the system reboots automatically.

After the third group of updates have been installed the installer does a disk cleanup to remove extraneous installation files and free up some disk space. One more reboot and we're in the Windows desktop.

I reinstalled the HDHomeRun software and selected the repair option and it was finally able to install the troublesome Visual C++ app that kept failing on me before. I went into Windows Media Center and ran the digital cable activation and this time it activated properly. I went through the entire TV signal setup again without a hitch. I'm in the process of running EPG123 for the first time and it's hung up on task 8 for building series images. I'll let it run and see if it gets unstuck. I haven't done a fresh install for quite some time so I expect a few hiccups along the way.

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#9

Post by garyan2 » Wed Jan 27, 2021 4:23 am

Wow, I don't remember it doing all that rebooting. I had only done it once several years ago... mainly I use it to slipstream the updates into a new Win7 installation ISO. I actually do it for all versions of Win7 to include 32-bit and 64-bit and make an AIO installation ISO. That takes about 7 hours to complete but I can install anytime and be up-to-date from the get-go.
- Gary
Keeping WMC alive beyond January 2020. https://garyan2.github.io

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#10

Post by captain_video » Wed Jan 27, 2021 12:56 pm

The update pack was much faster to install than the usual Windows Updates that I had to suffer through with every fresh installation in the past. It includes only the essential updates and weeds out the unnecessary ones. I would easily spend the better part of a day just downloading and installing Windows updates before I could even begin installing any other software. The only problem I had with the update pack was the number of download failures that required numerous attempts to complete. You just have to keep at it until the entire pack is downloaded and then you're golden.

Considering that installing the motherboard drivers required a reboot after installing each one of them, with but a few exceptions, the number of reboots performed with the update pack was a drop in the bucket by comparison. The vast majority of the updates were installed in the initial batch. I think the 2nd batch only installed two updates and the third one installed three. This is why having an SSD for the C: drive becomes so important. Boot times are way faster than standard rotational drives. Overall installation of the upgrade pack probably took less than an hour to complete.

I managed to get EPG123 installed once I just let it sit for a while. It just got hungup on Task 8 but it eventually kicked off and finished the update. The guide data populated WMC on the very first attempt so I was elated. It doesn't always go that smoothly when performing an update of a previously installed version. I had to go in and add some missing OTA channels. Two of them are repacked channels that were assigned to different frequencies so I sometimes forget which frequency goes with a particular channel. I used to rerun EPG123 from scratch every time and let it rebuild the guide data, but I finally realized I was wasting a lot of time doing that. I opened up the client and just did a manual transfer of the guide data that was downloaded and compiled the first time.

My next task is to clone the drive so I have a complete backup that I can reinstall from should I need it.

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#11

Post by captain_video » Wed Jan 27, 2021 4:56 pm

Further update. After cloning the hard drive and booting from the cloned drive everything seemed to be working until I tried to watch a live TV show. WMC was not responding and I forget what the exact error message was, but it turned out that the ehrcvr and ehschedule apps in WMC were stopped. I went into the Services menu and attempted to restart them but it said I did not have the permissions to do that. I decided to uninstall WMC from the Control Panel and then reinstall it after a required reboot. I rebooted again after the reinstall just to be safe and now I am able to watch live TV and make recordings once again. I can only assume that the two WMC services somehow got hosed when the updates were installed, but it seems to be working now. I have a show scheduled to record later today so I'll see how that goes.

So far so good, at least with the WMC functions. For some reason I am no longer able to access the HTPC folders across my network. It keeps asking me for login credentials when I never set up a password on that PC plus I changed it so that no password would be required to access it. I've set up file and drive sharing on the PC but I can't get to it from my Windows 10 desktop PC. I have it connected to a Homegroup in Windows 7 but it's not showing up on my other PC. I can see the PC on the network but I can't get into the shared folders. I have another Windows 10 HTPC that runs JRiver Media Center and Channels DVR, but I have never been able to access that one across my network either. It's extremely frustrating.

OK, I got the network sharing issue with the Windows 7 HTPC worked out. It turns out that you can't set up network sharing unless the PC that's being shared has a password setup. I left the password field blank during the installation even though I allowed everyone to access the PC without using a password to log on. I changed the password from blank to an actual password and was able to access the PC across the network. Still no luck accessing the Win 10 HTPC though.

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#12

Post by customized » Tue Feb 16, 2021 9:47 am

Have you added a credential in Control Panel > Credential Manager (on the Win7 machine)? I'd add one for the Win10 PC name as well as its IP address.

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#13

Post by movienut50 » Mon Mar 29, 2021 9:56 pm

Do a google search on this "Create An Integrated Up To Date Windows 7 Install Disc" The site has Raymond in the name. works very well and doesn't take that long

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