Windows 10 spring update

Question

Hi,
I just updated to Windows 10 Spring update the other day, (and the subsequent dotnet update), and since, my Paratext has been quite glitchy. Half the time when I open Paratext, there is either a long delay before any text shows up, or it never shows up.
I wanted to see if anyone else was having that issue, or if it was more my computer specific.
Thanks
BEH

PS I uninstalled the dotnet update, and it seems to work better.
However, I just opened Paratext on my laptop that has the same update, and it seems to be fine.
The computer that is glitching has the .81 paratext update, and the other one has the .77 one.

Answer 1

I wanted to give an update of what I have found on this.
I looked at the Task Manager, and see that the issue seems to be with the Ransom Ware protection of MalwareBytes AntiMalware.
I noticed that with the Ransom Ware protection enabled, between Paratext and Malwarebytes, they consume about half of my CPU power. If I either shut down the Ransom Ware protection, or close down Paratext, then the CPU usage goes back to normal.
I also noticed that if I open Paratext with the RW protection running, and it doesn’t show the text, as soon as I turn off the RW protection, the text windows populate.
This has only happened since I updated to the Spring update, but the issue seems to be with MalwareBytes.
The latest update (83) seems to have taken care of the malwarebytes issue, thanks.
BEH

Comments

I few days ago the spring update was rolled out in Danish (Windows 10 1903). Paratext 8 and 9 became sluggish as you describe, but I do not run the Malware you mention. I did notice that the sluggishness happened when a browser was running, either Chrome or Edge. I did not uninstall the dotnet update since I was not sure how that would interfere with Paratext 9. As a temporary measure I went back to the earlier Windows Build (1803). Does anyone know more about this problem? By going back I lost part of Paratext 9. The icon image is no longer there, but the program seems to work. Paratext 9 could not repair itself nor reinstall on top of the old version and it refused to uninstall the old version. Maybe I need manually to delete Paratext 9 folders if I can find them?.

Answer 2

@BEH, @Iver+Larsen, did you find out any more? I’m just an ordinary user; I was thinking of moving to Windows 10 1809, but your experience makes me cautious.

Comments

I was waiting to get some good advice from people who know more, and I am not sure whether there is a difference between an English version of the update and a Danish one. I would not think so. Has anybody else experienced a similar problem, or was it just me? I returned to the earlier 1803 because I have not had problems with Paratext on this version. I should add that it was not 1809 that gave me problems but 1903. which is from May 2019. Version 1809 is from November 2019 and 1803 from April 2018. I apparently did not get the update from 1803 to 1809.

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To distinguish them from monthly updates (that fix security issues and other bugs), Microsoft calls each 6-monthly download a “Feature update”. I think other people sometimes call it an “upgrade” as another way to make it sound more substantial.

It took me a while to realise that the numbers refer to year and month, e.g. “1803” means March 2018. They seem to have decided that this number will only ever refer to March or September, even though they are released (for English) about a month later.

Actually, I wasn’t aware that they were released even later for other languages. I’ve used a program called WSUS Offline Update to download Windows updates, and, while for some versions of Windows and Office you have to download the updates for each language separately, the downloads for Windows 10 are “Global”. That said, WSUS Offline Update only downloads the monthly updates, not the feature updates, presumably because Microsoft provides their own tool for installing the latter offline. So maybe the feature updates are language-specific.

All the tech sites that I’ve looked at on this issue recommend delaying these feature updates because it takes Microsoft time to iron out the bugs in them. If you have Windows 10 Pro, then you can do this in the Settings app (that’s what the new-look Control Panel is officially called). It seems that Microsoft’s policy is that if you haven’t paid the extra for Pro, then you pay instead by being the guinea pigs – being the first people to trial each feature update.

Not sure why you didn’t get 1809. If you want a Feature update before Microsoft rolls it out to you (as I said, not recommended by most tech websites), then checking for Windows updates manually is the way to get it. I’m not sure if there’s a way to get 1809 from Microsoft now that 1903 is out, but you might be able to download the ISO from a third-party site.

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I did put the Windows 1903 update on a test machine here and we used it for a while without any problem.

So, as of now we don’t know what caused the problem with the update on some machines.

John+Wickberg

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I’ve been using 1903 for a few months with no problems or slowdown. I’d agree that people should delay for a few months before installing these biannual ‘feature updates’. 1809 had huge problems and so for many people that update was altogether skipped (and essentially rolled in to 1903).

As with most Windows problems, it’s hard to track down exact causes since there are so many different hardware configurations and other software that can affect things. But I think we can safely say that 1903 and PT9 (or other PT versions) aren’t fundamentally incompatible.

As for the issue of PT9 not being correctly installed after downgrading, I’m wondering if editing the Registry to remove the entries about PT9 would allow @Iver+Larsen to reinstall it correctly. You’d definitely want to back up the Registry before doing that.

Answer 3

Good to know. I was given a link to an installation file for 9.0.62.1 which solved the problem of reinstalling 9.0.63.1. I’ll wait a bit and then update to 1903. I am told they will stop supporting 1803 in November.

Comments

Since Microsoft continue to tell me that my older version of Windows 10 will stop being supported, I allowed the update to 1903. After the update both Paratext 8 and 9 would not open. First Paratext told me that my Paratext code was no longer valid, but later it opened to the window with my name and code, both looked correct, but the OK button was grayed out. When I tried to paste the correct long code again into the window, the OK button was still grayed out, so I was stuck. I tried to reset Paratext 9.0.100.1, uninstall and re-install, but nothing helped. Finally, I went back to the previous version of Windows 10 and the problem was solved. Now both P8 and P9 work again. I realize that this does not happen on most computers, but I was curious if anyone has an idea about the cause? .NET framework 3,5 and 4.8 were also updated, but I do not know if that means anything. I have no idea which other update change caused the problem.

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Well, my problem was not quite solved. I have been doing things by trial and error and may have messed things up. One thing which may have been a problem is the Windows Defender Firewall Settings, so I tried to allow Paratext 8 and 9 through. However, before doing that I got the message that my code was no longer valid and I should get a new code form the registry. I did that, but there are still problems. If I reset and start paratext, it asks for a code, and only one of the two codes will allow me to press the OK button. Once I get inside Paratext and go the registration information, the other code seems to be the one working, so I am quite confused. I got Paratext 9 to be able to do S/R with the new code, but I cannot get Paratext 8 to do a S/R with either code.
For the Firewall, I am not sure if it is enough to allow paratext.exe (for both 8 and 9) through or if there is something else that also need to be allowed. Initially I saw two lines in the Firewall list for both Paratext 8 and 9. Although I can do S/R in Paratext 9, it would be nice if I could also get it to work in Paratext 8, since I find Paratext 8 easier to work with than Paratext 9, Any advice?

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As a follow-up the problem was solved. It turned out that for some strange reason Paratext 8 had switched to a server called Quality Assurance. There may have been other problems, but at least both Paratexts are now working properly after coming back to the correct server.

Answer 4

I use a little tool called update killer. It creates an on/off button and is a real time saver. https://www.thewindowsclub.com/windows-10-from-updating-using-kill-update