I am having problems on one Win 10 Enterprise machine. First it will only run if I right click and run as administrator. Then the script seems to hang at the update selection. Whether I press 1 or 2 I get a blank blue command window until finally I get an error message saying WU-keep-alive.vbs Sytem can't find the file specified code: 80070002 If I close the error message the updater I chose (EG Windows Update Mini Tool) runs. On other machines running Enterprise LTSC just clicking on the link runs flawlessly.
So if I have disabled Windows Update and just install Sledgehammer the only thing it does is updating Windows Defender?
Yes. If you run the script to the first screen and then close it, Windows will never update again until you check for updates with the script or uninstall it, but Defender will update every 6 hours unless Defender is disabled. The WDU task first checks to see if Defender is running or not. If it's running it updates it, if it's not then it just cancels the Defender update and doesn't do anything.
Considering I've never had a report of what you're experiencing, what is different about the setup of your normal enterprise install vs the ltsc install? I can't be sure, but it sounds like something got borked. For instance, the part of the script you deleted that was giving an error is just basic batch script that creates a file (WU-keep-alive.cmd) and it doesn't get much simpler than that and there's not much that would cause an error writing a simple file except a permissions issue or data corruption in the registry or elsewhere or a setting that disables certain operations in batch script. Other than that I have no idea what could be preventing the creation of "WU-keep-alive.cmd". The script writes several temp files that are automatically deleted when the script is closed, so if it was just a batch script or file creation or permissions problem it should be throwing errors several times, and other temp files are created with the script exactly the same way that WU-keep-alive.cmd is created, so I don't know what's going on with the install that's giving you problems.
No idea myself but as Update manager or WUMT runs immediately after closing the error message it seems use able for now.. BTW don't know if I mentioned, the script has to be run as Administrator or else I get a blank blue command window.
Cool, thanks. Do I need to install it, or just run the Sledgehammer.cmd from /portable folder once and forget about it?
Awesome, thank you! I just installed Enterprise, and windows update would start downloading an update and then suddenly stop. I went through everything, sat staring at group policy editor over and over, and couldn't get it to work. Your program worked perfectly, and now I don't see myself going back to the bloated annoying windows updater!
So, I did a thing. I was going through my task scheduler and saw WuMgrNoUAC. Naturally it led me to sledgehammer which I had stowed away and must have mucked with in the past. I ran it thinking it would open a window with options, unfortunately it smashed my windows update. What does one need to do in order to un-do what it did/does? >.< EDIT nm found the uninstall script. unfortunately I ran the recovery script first >.< hoping that didnt wreak any havoc?
Do you mean you ran the sledgehammer script? If you just open it to the first window and then kill it you can't update anymore. It tells you to press a key to continue on the first and second screen, then it shows you the options. But yeah, if you just run it to the first screen it will "smash" or sledgehammer your windows updates because you won't be able to update anymore unless you run the script again or uninstall it. Nah, you're okay. The recovery script just enables the system32 files that the script disables and that's all. It's perfectly fine to run the recovery script and then run the uninstall script because the recovery script reverses the most major changes and the uninstall script reverses everything else. It finishes the job that the recovery script started.
Just a quick update about the sledgehammer project. It may not look like it but it's still being maintained because i test it periodically to make sure it still works as intended. If I had a new release for it today, none of the code in the script that controls updates would be changed because it works perfectly (on v2.6.0). The next update will have reliability improvements with the internet connection test. Maybe removing some no longer needed legacy code for compatibility when upgrading from really old versions. Advanced options will be added for more control such as offline updates. Just a lot of little improvements are planned and I'm looking forward to the next release. I don't know when that will be but it shouldn't be too much longer. I'm leaving other details out because this post could get really long. I think you're going to like it. I want to thank everybody for their input and help on this project, including those who just use it. Everybody has been great. Thanks!
Don't forget updating the tools inside, like WuMgr, please. Currently, I have to do that manually for every machine and it's slightly annoying.
Definitely moving to the latest WuMgr. I know the current 0.9b doesn't offer the update from 1903 to 1909.
Sledgehammer v2.60 is much appreciated and does indeed work well, but can I suggest that you make a quick interim release of v2.61 in the near future? (I'm thinking just use your already written release candidate script.) I've been using your instructions in an earlier arcane post to modify 2.6.0 into 2.6.1, which has the additional options for starting WuMgr. And I've been making the modifications on multiple computers after installing Sledgehammer with your Windows setup program, also adding the most recent WuMgr. Works superbly! It would be great if you'd incorporate the existing 2.61 script with the tool updates in a new release.