How to display the Windows 10 upgrade icon if it is not visible
Microsoft runs a promotion currently on systems running Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 that advertises the free upgrade to the soon to be released Windows 10 operating system.
Windows 10, which will be released for PC and tablet devices in less than two months, is provided as a free upgrade for most Windows systems.
The upgrade notification is only displayed in the operating system's system tray area if certain updates are installed on the computer.
While that is the only requirement, the functionality seems broken on some systems as the icon would not display on them even if all prerequisites are met.
This was the case for one of my Windows 7 Professional test systems for instance. I double-checked to make sure all updates were installed but the icon would not show up no matter what I tried.
Why reserve?
Since Windows 10 is provided as a free upgrade, there is only one reason to reserve the upgrade using the "Get Windows 10" notification: the pre-loading of the installation files.
If you want to upgrade to Windows 10 the day it is released by Microsoft, you will benefit from pre-loading installation files as servers may overload on the day due to users rushing to upgrade to the new free operating system.
If you can wait, a day, week or months, then there is no reason to reserve Windows 10.
Fixing the display issue
Several methods have been published in the last couple of days that supposedly fix the issue so that the Windows 10 upgrade reservation offer is displayed on PCs running Windows 7 or Windows 8.
First thing you may want to do is make sure that all necessary updates are installed on the system. Once you have done that, you may want to run one method after the other to see if the issue is fixed.
While you can do so manually, you may instead run a small batch script on Windows that does so semi-automatically.
The script is available on Dropbox and all you have to do is download it to your system, extract the archive and run the file win10fix_full.bat afterwards with elevated rights. You do that by right-clicking on it and selecting the "run as administrator" option.
Update: If you receive a 500 error on Dropbox, use the following local download link instead: win10fix_full.zip
Note: Cautious users may want to check the code in a text editor before they run the script. There they will find listed the commands used by the batch file that determine whether all required updates are installed and run commands that attempt to fix the missing icon issue.
First thing you do is tap on (1) which runs an update status check. This checks if all required updates are installed on the system.
If that is the case, try methods (2), (3) and then (4) one after the other to display the upgrade icon in the system tray area.
The batch script explains each method on run so that you know what it supposedly does. The second method (Quick Method #2) fixed the issue on the Windows 7 PC that I experienced it on (it launches the GWX task and refreshes the GWX config afterwards.
What mental age of reader are you targeting with the first sentence? 10?
Why not write an article on how to *avoid* upgrading from W10 to W11. Analogous to those like me who avoided upgrading from 7 to 10 for as long as possible.
If your paymaster Microsoft permits it, of course.
5. Rufus
6. Ventoy
PS. I hate reading these “SEO optimized” articles.
I used Rufus to create an installer for a 6th gen intel i5 that had MBR. It upgraded using Setup. No issues except for Win 11 always prompting me to replace my local account. Still using Win 10 Pro on all my other PCs to avoid the bullying.
bit pointless to upgrade for the sake of upgrading as you never know when you’ll get locked out because ms might suddenly not provide updates to unsupported systems.
ps…. time travelling?
written. Jan 15, 2023
Updated • Jan 13, 2023
This happens when you schedule a post in WordPress and update it before setting the publication date.
Anyone willing to downgrade to this awful OS must like inflicting themselves with harm.
I have become convinced now that anybody who has no qualms with using Windows 11/10 must fit into one of the following brackets:
1) Too young to remember a time before W10 and W11 (doesn’t know better)
2) Wants to play the latest games on their PC above anything else (or deeply needs some software which already dropped W7 support)
3) Doesn’t know too much about how computers work, worried that they’d be absolutely lost and in trouble without the “”latest security””
4) Microsoft apologist that tries to justify that the latest “features” and “changes” are actually a good thing, that improve Windows
5) Uses their computer to do a bare minimum of like 3 different things, browse web, check emails, etc, so really doesn’t fuss
Obviously that doesn’t cover everyone, there’s also the category that:
6) Actually liked W7 more than 10, and held out as long as possible before switching, begrudgingly uses 10 now
Have I missed any group off this list?
You have missed in this group just about any professional user that uses business software like CAD programs or ERP Programs which are 99% of all professional users from this list.
Linux doesn’t help anyone who is not a linux kid and apple is just a fancy facebook machine.
Microsoft has removed KB5029351 update
only from windows update though
KB5029351 is still available from the ms update catalog site
1. This update is labaled as PREVIEW if it causes issues to unintelligent people, then they shouldn’t have allowed Preview updates ot install.
2. I have installed it in a 11 years old computer, and no problems at all.
3. Making a big drama over a bluescreen for an updated labeled as preview is ridiculous.
This is probably another BS internet drama where people ran programs and scripts that modified the registry until they broke Windows, just for removing stuff that they weren’t even using just for the sake of it.
Maybe people should stop playing geeks and actually either use Windows 10 or Windows 11, but don’t try to modify things just for the sake of it.
Sometimes removing or stopping things (like defender is a perfect example) only need intelligence, not scripts or 3rd party programs that might mess with windows.
Windows 11 was a pointless release, it was just created because some of the Windows team wanted to boost sales with some sort of new and improved Windows 10. Instead, Microsoft cannot support one version well let alone two.
Windows 11 is the worst ugly shame by Microsoft ever. They should release with every new W11 version a complete free version of Starallback inside just to make this sh** OS functionally again.
motherboard maker MSI has recently released a statement regarding the “unsupported processor” blue screen error for their boards using Intel 600/700 series chipsets & to avoid the KB5029351 Win11 update:
https://www.msi.com/news/detail/MSI-On–UNSUPPORTED-PROCESSOR–Error-Message-of-Windows-11-Update-KB5029351-Preview-142215
check out the following recent articles:
Neowin – Microsoft puts little blame on its Windows update after UNSUPPORTED PROCESSOR BSOD bug:
https://www.neowin.net/news/microsoft-puts-little-blame-on-its-windows-update-after-unsupported-processor-bsod-bug/
BleepingComputer – Microsoft blames ‘unsupported processor’ blue screens on OEM vendors:
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/microsoft/microsoft-blames-unsupported-processor-blue-screens-on-oem-vendors/
While there may be changes or updates to the Windows 10 Store for Business and Education in the future, it is premature to conclude that it will be discontinued based solely on rumors.
My advice, I left win 15 years ago. Now I’m a happy linux user (linuxmint) but there is Centos, Fedora, Ubuntu depending on your needs.
motherboard maker MSI has recently released new BIOS/firmware updates for their Intel 600 & 700 series motherboards to fix the “UNSUPPORTED_PROCESSOR” problem (Sept. 6):
https://www.msi.com/news/detail/Updated-BIOS-fixes-Error-Message–UNSUPPORTED-PROCESSOR–caused-BSOD-on-MSI-s-Intel-700-and-600-Series-Motherboards-142277
I try to disable the Diagnostics Tracking Service (Connected Devices Platform User Services) but it wont let me disable it, any help will be greatly appreciated.
Tank you for your help