[SOLVED] ICE MoneyPak (GREEN DOT) Removal

[LilBambi]

Yes...as the others have said, it would have been offered as an optional update in this case. The problem was, it sounds like this user wasn't installing any updates. If they had installed everything, then SP1 would have been offered. And most people don't expect SP1 to show until all previous updates have been installed. So why did Microsoft mention this update in their article, and not all of the other prerequisistes? Well, quite a few people have misgivings about driver updates supplied through Windows Update and hide them.

Personally, I do not understand this. Maybe I've just been lucky, but I've found Windows Update driver updates to be very stable, and when I used a USB wireless card, they were the only stable drivers I could find as the manufacturer's caused me BSODS.

As for why this driver become unstable after SP1, I will admit that I do not know. However, my guess would be was that it was doing something against the documentation in some circumstances, and Microsoft had to close that loophole down, perhaps because it was being exploited by malware in some way.

I hear ya Richard. Now it would be silly not to install the drivers offered by Windows Updates, but that has not always been the case with Windows.

I have used Windows since Microsoft Windows 3.1.1 (Windows for Workgroups) which I loved, well technically since 3.1 and had a copy and tested out 1.0 and 2.0 as well but hated those; they were not ready yet. But I dearly loved Windows for Workgroups, as well as Win98SE after somewhat of a disappointment with Win98 not being as good as Win 3.1.1, and Win XP I loved once SP1 came out.

I am old enough that I actually started using IBM compatible computers in the old MS Dos days for several years before Windows came out eventually making use of QEMM and the first DOS version of McAfee Antivirus (McAfee was good in those days), as well as running many things from command line and batch files, and I loved WordPerfect for DOS, and of course some great DOS EGA styled graphical games once I got an EGA ( that sounds so silly with the wonderfully advanced video cards of today, LOL!) video card instead of the more limited CGA only video card I had played text only and early ascii graphics games. But I digress.

Over all those years in Windows, I have had great luck with Windows Update drivers in Windows 7 and even Vista (I really hate the slowness of Vista even after SP1), and often in Windows XP, but over all those years, I have had a few disasters happen with drivers provided by Windows Update and in one particular nightmare case after updating the driver from Windows Update, Windows wouldn't even boot. This was back in Win98SE and I ended up having to rip out the driver by the roots back to the Standard VGA device, and try to boot again and for a while, I wouldn't install any drivers provided by Windows Update except network cards and monitors even in Windows XP. Anyway, that happened in every OS between Windows 3.1 and Windows XP in some rare cases, particularly before SP1 came out, which led me to be concerned about some drivers provided in Windows Update even though generally they were safe to install.

The ones that seemed to rarely ever go awry were network drivers, and the ones from IBM and monitor drivers. Also if they had never installed drivers from the manufacturer on the installation for video cards which actually worked quite well as Windows XP became more mature and by then, they worked well most times anyway. But before that, there were times when it was a disaster for me and others.

Having said all that, in this particular case, I believe this particular user, I think he must have gotten to a certain point in getting his updates and could go no further without SP1, but of course, SP1 was not being offered and the video driver was not offered as a critical update, only as an optional update which he never saw.

I asked him if he was installing Windows Updates and he said yes, whenever it showed up down by the clock, and when it said they were ready he would click to install them, but he said he hadn't seen any for a while. As you know, you don't have to 'see' the installs as they are installing (when chosen like that, the windows update window goes back to the system tray during install until/if it needs a reboot), nor under those conditions, would he even see the other 'optional' updates that may be offered if you just allow it to install the Critical Windows Updates offered automatically.

So basically, he only got whatever critical updates Microsoft occasionally offered for things he already had installed like Internet Explorer 8, etc. But of course, could not get anything newer than SP1 because of that video driver update that was needed but incompatible with SP1 which was preventing it from being offered and it was only offered as an optional update, so he never saw it in his system tray for Windows Updates.

After I made sure all his drivers were updated via Hardware Device Drivers, then installed the full SP1 from Microsoft manually, and all went well.

NOTE: I did not wait to see if SP1 would be offered again, as soon as I checked all the drivers, and installed the driver for the IBM video card, I went ahead and installed the SP1 I had previously manually downloaded.

 

[Digerati]

I usually go to the OEM website to get the updated driver

Me too. Even for graphics drivers and this is because the OEMs often brand, tweak and/or modify the product, and thus the drivers.

As for WU, I never migrated to Vista so I cannot speak of that. But with Windows 7, that was the first Windows where I allowed Windows to automatically download and install updates on most of my systems. Typically, I had it download, but let me choose which updates and when they will be installed. But W7 was, is so robust, I never had any problems letting it update itself. I cannot say the same with XP.

So far, W8 seems to be even better - during installation, it easily recognized my mouse and keyboard (though admittedly, they are from MS so that may not be fair), and my Gigabyte GTX650ti graphics card then downloaded and installed the latest drivers, and even setup my second monitor as soon as the updated driver detected it.

 

[LilBambi]

I hear ya Digerati. Windows 7 and Windows 8 both are quite good at driver updates these days since the manufacturers are providing them with the drivers directly in many cases; even some printers show up automatically if you wait to connect them till you get all the Windows Updates up there before connecting the printer. They just show up. Not all printers, but I was amazed to see several just show up after Windows Updates were done.

 

[Digerati]

Yeah, I have an HP OJ6500 Wireless all-in-one printer/copier/fax/scanner on my network and W8 detected it and properly setup drivers for it. All I did was print a test page to make sure it worked. And it did. Very nice. So, under the hood, W8 is great. Just having a hard time dealing with and getting used to the new UI. And I think a BIG problem for Microsoft is there are many, many Windows users who are like me and really have no desire to learn the new UI - I boot right to the desktop and avoid the new W8 "Start Screen" as much as possible. I know many who do the same, and many more who refuse to migrate to W8 only because of the new UI. MS needs to listen to their customers BEFORE changing how things have been done for over 20 years.

 

[LilBambi]

Yeah, I have an HP OJ6500 Wireless all-in-one printer/copier/fax/scanner on my network and W8 detected it and properly setup drivers for it. All I did was print a test page to make sure it worked. And it did. Very nice. So, under the hood, W8 is great. Just having a hard time dealing with and getting used to the new UI. And I think a BIG problem for Microsoft is there are many, many Windows users who are like me and really have no desire to learn the new UI - I boot right to the desktop and avoid the new W8 "Start Screen" as much as possible. I know many who do the same, and many more who refuse to migrate to W8 only because of the new UI. MS needs to listen to their customers BEFORE changing how things have been done for over 20 years.

Yes, there is a LOT to like in Windows 8 under the hood. Totally agree about the UI.