Windows Update 1709

[cnfcomps -]

I raised a topic about using old Outlook 2000 with Windows 10, which stopped working with the first 1709 update.  Someone called Matt -  cnfcomps -  was very helpful, and advised adding two missing registry keys  which were missing from 1709 to enable Outlook 2000 to work.  It did indeed solve the problem, and interestingly Microsoft must have had a number of complaints about this because the latest issue of 1709 now contains those two missing registry keys already.

At the time, on one of my laptops, I had already managed to get things working again by going back to 1703, where Outlook always worked.  Yesterday, without any notice, Microsoft decided to update that machine to 1709 once again !!  Of course, Outlook now no longer works.  I checked for the relevant registry keys and found them already installed in this issue of 1709.  But he machine is now insisting that I re-install Outlook which I am prepared to do, but before I do, I need further clarification.

Matt's instructions differentiated between 32 bit and 64 bit machines, as the respective keys are located in different places, namely HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Active Setup\Installed Components\{7790769C-0471-11d2-AF11-00C04FA35D02}, and HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Active Setup\Installed Components\{7790769C-0471-11d2-AF11-00C04FA35D02} which is where I find the latest version of 1709 locates the key in question.

I do not know however whether this particular laptop  is 32 bit or 64 bit.  The specification in W10 reads : "32-bit operating system, 64 based processor."  So before even try re-installing Outlook, I want to be sure that the key is located in the right location for my particular machine in this latest version of 1709.

Can anyone advise because it is all very confusing ?

Thanks.

[#2 · Accepted solution]

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@shermans wrote:

I do not know however whether this particular laptop  is 32 bit or 64 bit.  The specification in W10 reads : "32-bit operating system, 64 based processor." 

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Its the Operating System that counts, so it's 32 bit. 

The transition from 32 bit as standard to 64 bit as standard came in the early days of Windows 7 but if you originally bought your computer when Windows 7 was new and your manufacturer was being cautious then you will still have 32-bit Windows.  64 bit processors had already been around for some time by that stage.  You cannot upgrade from 32 bit to 64 bit (or vice versa) but you can change from one to the other if you do a clean install.    

[#3]

Thanks, it is nice to know.  The laptop in question is a 10" Lenovo with keyboard, but the display can be removed to use it as a tablet.  I use it mainly as a "Kindle" and occasionally I take it if I am going away instead of taking my normal laptop. I bought it from John Lewis at the end of 2016, bundled with Windows 10.  For all I know, it may have originally been a Windows 7/8 machine upgraded by John Lewis to Windows 10, but I do not know.  All I can say is that it is one of the most useful machines I have, even if I do not use it as often as the others.  It is great for reading the news and much nicer than my Samsung tablet.  Everything works normally like any W10 machine except for the latest issue with Outlook.

As there has been an automatic update to 1709 by Microsoft, I would have thought that the relevant registry keys would have been located in the correct place. No doubt, I could double up by copying them into the /WOW6432node/ folder as well, unless that would be any damage or confuse things.  I think however I will first try to reinstall Outlook to see if that solves the problem.

[#4]

The big problem with the 32-bit versions of Windows 10 is that they are limited to a maximum usable RAM of 4 GB, in practice somewhat less, maybe 3.3 to 3.5 GB.  These days most fully-fledged computers will have more RAM than this.  I guess what you have is a tablet with keyboard and Lenovo held-off on RAM to keep the cost down.  

[#5]

It was not expensive - about £200 but it does what I need it for happily, far better than the Android tablet (probably because I prefer a pc anyway !). As so much of my software is legacy stuff, designed for the days when 256k  RAM was the norm, there is no performance issue for me.  These days, there is so much redundandancy, spaghetti coding and bloatware, it is not surprising pcs need Gbs of RAM. 

Back in the days of Basic, I wrote a weekly payroll package including all the PAYE tax tables for 20 pieceworkers on a hand-held Radio Shack Tandy with 1kb of RAM, a 32 character display and a tally roll printer, all attached to a cassette recorder for storage !  It took about 30 minutes to run the programme and then print out the payslips, but it did the job and was reliable.  I used to cut off all the payslips from the tally roll, put them into a photograph album holder and photocopy them for the client, and then distribute all the little payslips to the employees.

[#6]

@ReedRichards wrote:

You cannot upgrade from 32 bit to 64 bit (or vice versa) but you can change from one to the other if you do a clean install.    

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Can someone please direct me to an informative site explaining and giving step-by-step procedure to what "clean install" mean and how one can achieve that.

I have 2011 Dell laptop currently with W10 1709 and it has 64 based processor but it only has 4GB of RAM and I continually have issues with x64 based system cumulative updates. 

Thanks in advance

Moderator's note by Mike (Mav): Quote fixed.

[#7]

If you go to Settings - System - About you can see which version and build of windows your computer is running.  In my case it is version 1709 Build 16299.248.  If I look in the registry for the two keys referenced:

• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Active Setup\Installed Components\{7790769C-0471-11d2-AF11-00C04FA35D02}
• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Active Setup\Installed Components\{44BBA840-CC51-11CF-AAFA-00AA00B6015C}

I find:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Active Setup\Installed Components\{7790769C-0471-11d2-AF11-00C04FA35D02}

IHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Active Setup\Installed Components\{44BBA855-CC51-11CF-AAFA-00AA00B6015F}

The first is the same key whilst the second is one letter different, which means completely different AFAIK.  Unless I made a mistake, both keys have been inserted since early January.

If I export the first key I get:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Active Setup\Installed Components\{7790769C-0471-11d2-AF11-00C04FA35D02}]
@="Address Book 7"
"IsInstalled"=dword:00000001
"Version"="10,0,16299,15"

The version of this key given by Matt is:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Active Setup\Installed Components\{7790769C-0471-11d2-AF11-00C04FA35D02}]
"Version"="6,0,2900,5512"
@="Address Book 6"
"IsInstalled"=dword:00000001
"Locale"="EN"
"ComponentID"="WAB"
"StubPath"=hex(2):22,00,25,00,50,00,72,00,6f,00,67,00,72,00,61,00,6d,00,46,00,\
  69,00,6c,00,65,00,73,00,25,00,5c,00,4f,00,75,00,74,00,6c,00,6f,00,6f,00,6b,\
  00,20,00,45,00,78,00,70,00,72,00,65,00,73,00,73,00,5c,00,73,00,65,00,74,00,\
  75,00,70,00,35,00,30,00,2e,00,65,00,78,00,65,00,22,00,20,00,2f,00,41,00,50,\
  00,50,00,3a,00,57,00,41,00,42,00,20,00,2f,00,43,00,41,00,4c,00,4c,00,45,00,\
  52,00,3a,00,57,00,49,00,4e,00,4e,00,54,00,20,00,2f,00,75,00,73,00,65,00,72,\
  00,20,00,2f,00,69,00,6e,00,73,00,74,00,61,00,6c,00,6c,00,00,00

which is different.  So even if the key is there now (courtesy of Microsoft), perhaps the contents are wrong?

[#8]

Thanks for this.  It may hold the clue to the riddle.  I am tied up now until tomorrow but I will look at this in detail.  At first glance, it is a bit confusing because the second key is not just one letter different (C to F) but the number in the first sequence is 44BBA840 whereas in yours it is 44BBA855.  Interestingly, in my version I have both 840 and 855 !

I will write again later, but thanks so far.

Nick

[#9]

@shermans, it doesn't matter how different the second key is.  If it is at all different then it is completely different.  Somewhere that key is referenced and if the reference is not found then that is that; the computer will never choose the closest alternative.

[#10]

Thanks to everyone who has tried to help me with this irritating problem.  I have found a final solution which has been to upgrade to Outlook 2013 at a very nominal financial cost - I emphasise "financial" because the cost to my blood pressure over this has been significant !  Outlook 2013 does at least enable me to re-format all my old *.pst folders which in Outlook 2000 are in ANSI format and can now be converted to Unicode, which then enables me to archive them all in MailStore.  I have now installed Thunderbird which I intend to use as my principal mail client instead of Outlook.  Both MailStore and Thunderbird are fully Windows 10 compatible, which means I can now upgrade to Update 1709, and thereafter will no longer have to worry.  By using MailStore (Freeware) for all my historic data, I can search, read, print and do whatever I want with the old emails and folders, although it entails a lot of work to merge them.  As Thunderbird is also Freeware, and the features are as good as Outlook, it is also a cost-effective solution.

Outlook 2013 is Windows 10 compatible but even though it is a lifetime license, I do not trust Microsoft updates not to undermine the software again as it has with the older versions of Outlook in the future.  So once bitten, twice shy and Thunderbird is a safer long term bet.

Thanks again for all your efforts to help.