Should you install preview rollups for Windows?
Microsoft releases previews of monthly rollup updates for the operating systems Windows 7, Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 and Windows 2012 R2 on the third Tuesday of each month.
The company announced the switch from the classic updating scheme to monthly rollup updates for Windows 7, Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows Server 2012 R2 in late 2016.
These preview updates are not installed automatically through Windows Update and they won't get installed on the majority of Windows devices because of that. The preview rollups are published to WSUS and available via Windows Update as optional updates and they may also be downloaded from the Microsoft Update Catalog website.
The preview updates are non-security in nature and Microsoft will roll them out on the second Tuesday of the coming month as part of Patch Tuesday.
Note: The preview rollups contain non-security updates that Microsoft plans to include in the coming month's rollup update for the operating system and previous rollups.
The updates may be installed on any supported version of Windows and there are good reasons for installing them when they become available and for not installing them.
Should you install preview rollups for Windows?
Should you install the monthly preview rollups or should you wait? Short answer: unless you have a reason for installing the non-security patches early, you should not.
System administrators, technicians, software developers and other professionals may install previews to test the updates on computer systems before they are made available on the second Tuesday of each month. It is ideal for testing scenarios where you want to make sure that computers you manage are not affected adversely by updates.
Home users may want to install these updates as well provided that they resolve issues that they face.
If a preview update fixes a bug that affects you negatively, you may want to install the preview update to get it resolved then and there, and not three weeks later when the updates are rolled out to the majority of devices.
You may only make the decision if you know what the updates improve on the system. Microsoft releases a -- partial -- changelog whenever it publishes new monthly preview updates.
I suggest you pay a visit to the update history pages to find out about the changes and decide whether you need that update as early as possible.
- Windows 7 SP1 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 changelog
- Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2 changelog
Preview updates may fix issues and make other changes that you like or need but they may also introduce new issues. It is important that you check the "known issues" section of the changelog to make sure that the updates don't introduce new issues that you may be affected by.
The January 2018 preview rollup update for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2, for example, introduced a issue which caused in smart card-based operations issue on affected systems.
Now You: Do you install preview updates on Windows?
Related articles
- Don't rush to install the Windows 10 Creators Update
- KB4015552, KB4015553 April Previews for Windows 7 and 8.1
- Windows Server 2019 Preview is out
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