Question Windows 10 version 1511 update to version 2004

[Zachary A.]

I've heard from many people that you can't update windows directly from 1511 to 1903 let alone the newest 2004. Right now im currently getting my updates ready with my windows 10 update assistance app and it said that my laptop is compatible with the newest 2004 version, and that its downloading the needed files for the update.

my question is, is it possible to do the said update? from 1511 to 2004 using windows 10 update assistance app for windows? many people said u have to update to a certain version first (i.e version 1700s or 1800s) to update instantly to 2004, whereas im still rocking the 1511. but the windows update assistance app said that its possible to do so, but does it have drawbacks?

sorry for my poor english and ignorance. I beg for your reply.

 

[Colif]

see if it works.

The way cumulative updates work has changed since 1511 BUT version updates should work the same.

The update process did change a few years ago.

 

[Zachary A.]

see if it works.

The way cumulative updates work has changed since 1511 BUT version updates should work the same.

The update process did change a few years ago.

well what would be the worst case scenario that it doesnt go well?

 

[Colif]

since i was the person who said it could cause problems...

Because win 10 updater has changed since that version. Your best bet is to download the Windows 10 media creation tool and use it to make a win 10 installer on USB

Once you have the USB, put it in your PC and open file explorer
navigate to USB and run setup
click update this PC and it will update you to latest version of win 10

Yes, I know media creation tool offers to update PC but it might not work, so making USB saves you downloading it twice.

Worst case scenario? WIndows doesn't work... I have seen updates wipe windows altogether.. but that is worse case. I have to admit I only see the problems so I am sure many of them work fine
It just helps to have anything you can't afford to lose, backed up, but that is good advice at any time. I would do that before anything. I have never had any problems with any of them.

 

[Zachary A.]

since i was the person who said it could cause problems...




Worst case scenario? WIndows doesn't work... I have seen updates wipe windows altogether.. but that is worse case. I have to admit I only see the problems so I am sure many of them work fine
It just helps to have anything you can't afford to lose, backed up, but that is good advice at any time. I would do that before anything. I have never had any problems with any of them.

Sorry for the late update, Fortunately, windows updated successfully from version 1511 to 2004 without any problems using windows update assistance tool/app. I'd like to thank you for your tips, since it turns out I was just overly skeptical about the process, when all I had to do was wait and let my laptop do its thing updating. ..

However though, I've noticed my games running WAY slower, like how I usually got 57fps average in csgo max settings now i hardly get to 40. Any thoughts?

 

[Colif]

Try updating drivers, you updated windows by 5 years but maybe some of your drivers have updates that work with newer versions of windows.

 

[Zachary A.]

Even if it is in fact is common sense that newer versions will be heavier than older ones, it couldn't be as BAD as what I'm experiencing. I just updated from windows 10 version 1511 to 2004 recently and the first thing I noticed is the huge performance drop I've gotten in most of my games, I hardly get 40fps in csgo max settings whereas before in version 1511 I am hovering around the 60-80s, (50fps in duels) and never dip in the 40s. however right now im averaging a little under 30 fps and 40fps if im lucky

Any thoughts? Sorry if this is such a redundant thread, I've asked this on an older thread of mine but I'd like to see what are your thoughts.

 

[Zachary A.]

Try updating drivers, you updated windows by 5 years but maybe some of your drivers have updates that work with newer versions of windows.

It's said in windows updates tab in windows settings that everything's up to date, with no drivers available to be downloaded.

 

[Colif]

I don't mean by trusting windows update. It only finds drivers if they been given to Microsoft for testing. You need to go looking or I can...

Can you download and run Driverview - http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/driverview.html
All it does is looks at drivers installed; it won't install any

When you run it, go into view tab and set it to hide all Microsoft drivers, will make list shorter.

Now its up to you, you can look through the drivers and try to find old drivers, or you can take a screenshot from (and including)Driver name to (and including)Creation date.

upload it to an image sharing website and show link here

All I would do is look at driver versions (or dates if you lucky to have any) to see what might have newer versions.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Do a clean install of the latest version. All your problems are likely to be from multiple major "spring and fall" updates. Updating from one build version of Windows 10 is much the same as upGRADING from one version of Windows to another, like going from 7 or 8.1 to 10, and it rarely goes without a hitch.

Some few get lucky, or might be fine on one particular upgrade but not the next one. My advice would be to start fresh with a clean install of Windows followed by an immediate download and installation of each of your required motherboard product page drivers for chipset, audio, network adapter and then your graphics card drivers as well.

How To - Windows 10 clean install tutorial

If you are looking for the Windows 11 Clean install tutorial, you can find that here: Windows 11 Clean install tutorial (Click here) Otherwise, welcome to the Windows 10 Clean install tutorial This tutorial is intended to help you, step by step, to perform a clean install of Windows...

forums.tomshardware.com

 

[Colif]

threads merged as they are same topic and well, he just updated direct from 1511 to 2004. A fresh install might help, but lets see if its not just old drivers first

 

[Darkbreeze]

Even if it IS just drivers, I'd highly recommend a clean install ANYHOW, because as you mentioned, jumping five years into the future without any of the patches or driver updates that would normally have been done along the way is just likely to play havoc with what little mental acuity Windows actually has, so to speak. But it certainly can't hurt to TRY updating all the primary drivers first.

 

[Colif]

Version updates include all the previous updates though, so he isn't missing anything.

I already suggested a clean install in a previous thread he started, this isn't the first one on a similar idea. It took a few threads to convince them to even move off 1511.

 

[Zachary A.]

I don't mean by trusting windows update. It only finds drivers if they been given to Microsoft for testing. You need to go looking or I can...

Can you download and run Driverview - http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/driverview.html
All it does is looks at drivers installed; it won't install any

When you run it, go into view tab and set it to hide all Microsoft drivers, will make list shorter.

Now its up to you, you can look through the drivers and try to find old drivers, or you can take a screenshot from (and including)Driver name to (and including)Creation date.

upload it to an image sharing website and show link here

All I would do is look at driver versions (or dates if you lucky to have any) to see what might have newer versions.

would Driver Easy suffice? the driver app website you provided seems to be out of date (judging from the year it displayed) and I heard that driver easy is a viable choice after couple of minutes of searching around google for good driver "checkers" options.

anyways, driver easy did say that there are 15 drivers available to upgrade, which is quite a lot since windows update itself said that my pc's up to date. Here's the picture of both the windows update and a screenshot from available drivers from drivereasy:

driver easy results:

https://imgur.com/4ynui4T

View: https://imgur.com/4ynui4T


windows 10 updates:

https://imgur.com/2vsebXJ

View: https://imgur.com/2vsebXJ

p.s I already clicked check for updates again just before taking the screenshot

also, the free version of driver easy doesn't let you install the drivers all by the software itself unless you pay for the full version, which is an inconvenience for me since I know only so little about installing them manually.

 

[Colif]

Don't use Driver Easy, don't trust any 3rd party driver installer to get it right. IT might look like a good idea but if it installs wrong drivers, all sorts of things can go wrong. I have used one of them before and it installed the wrong sound drivers and suddenly I had no sound... its not worth the risk.

give me the print out from driver view and I will show you where to get new drivers from... if I can find them.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Don't EVER use ANY third party driver installer or utility. Ever. Manually install the CORRECT drivers from the motherboard and other hardware product pages, directly from the manufacturer, who is the ONLY person you should ever be getting drivers from for anything, except in cases where Microsoft is the only source for drivers on something that is no longer supported by the manufacturer or the manufacturer is defunct.

 

[Colif]

I totally get why people want to use them. How are people supposed to know where to get drivers from? No one ever looks in the manuals that come with their hardware already, and I am not sure they even say where to get drivers from. They might... I haven't made a pc in a while.

So these apps that advertise being able to install all your drivers, or fix all your BSOD problems (another topic, similar problem) look perfect to fix the problem.

How do you educate people about all that, we can only correct the results.

I only know where to look because I have been helping other people find drivers for 5 years or so... much of it is knowing who not to trust. Too many sites offer drivers for download that I wouldn't trust... as DB said, only use makers websites for almost all drivers. There are always exceptions.

Motherboard makers don't keep updating sites for boards after a few years, so some things you need to look elsewhere for like sound drivers or LAN. And finding current drivers for wifi adapters can be fun too.

 

[Darkbreeze]

How are people supposed to know where to get drivers from? How do you educate people about all that, we can only correct the results.

This is exactly why I make it a point to tell them, every chance I get, so that they AND others who come across the information later, will know. If we say a thing often enough, it will begin to become a little bit more like common knowledge.

 

[Zachary A.]

This is exactly why I make it a point to tell them, every chance I get, so that they AND others who come across the information later, will know. If we say a thing often enough, it will begin to become a little bit more like common knowledge.

update:
I just updated to the latest intel hd 520 driver there is to date (from intel website's itself) and did couple of tweaks to optimize my windows 10 performance. (power plan to high performance, disable backgroundapps) still no luck. my fps in csgo hardly reaches over 60 whereas before its averaging stably around the 80s vicinity. I guess this is my fate? there's no way a windows update could affect a pc's performance this huge, though.

 

[Colif]

did you ever show me driver list? I might find something else.

 

[Zachary A.]

Don't use Driver Easy, don't trust any 3rd party driver installer to get it right. IT might look like a good idea but if it installs wrong drivers, all sorts of things can go wrong. I have used one of them before and it installed the wrong sound drivers and suddenly I had no sound... its not worth the risk.

give me the print out from driver view and I will show you where to get new drivers from... if I can find them.

well then what makes driver easy different than the driver tool you suggested? (since its a driver-related software as well) I'm susceptible to insecure sites like the one you provided (not to sound ignorant but the site itself looks sketchy), since I've got some bad history with them. I see driver view only lets you view which drivers you have that are able to be updated but so does driver easy, and the screenshots I sent you for viewing shows the available list of drivers that can be updated as well, which is no different and probably better than driverview's feature. couldnt you find what drivers to search for based on the ss i sent?

 

[Zachary A.]

did you ever show me driver list? I might find something else.

wouldn't this suffice?

https://imgur.com/4ynui4T

View: https://imgur.com/4ynui4T

 

[Colif]

no, thats just what it thinks is outdated. Driverview shows everything and doesn't offer to install any. All it does is runs commands that are built into windows and displays drivers in a nicer fashion than what windows does.

I wouldn't recommend it if it was bad

 

[Zachary A.]

no, thats just what it thinks is outdated. Driverview shows everything and doesn't offer to install any. All it does is runs commands that are built into windows and displays drivers in a nicer fashion than what windows does.

I wouldn't recommend it if it was bad

Alright then, sorry for being so skeptical. Anyways here are the results:

https://imgur.com/2lK0bwO

View: https://imgur.com/2lK0bwO

p.s I already hid all microsoft drivers, so I guess I'll leave it up to you from now. Thanks!

 

[Darkbreeze]

Do NOT hide the Microsoft drivers. Microsoft supplies drivers for EVERYTHING, IF it thinks it knows a better driver. Sometimes (Rarely) it might be better. Often (Usually) it is not better than whatever was the latest driver supplied by the manufacturer of the hardware component. Microsoft can natively supply it's own universal/generic drivers for practically everything, so not showing them might well leave out whatever is causing the problem.