Fix Windows update errors - How to fix Windows update for Windows 7

We've heard a number of people report that Win7, when freshly installed, take a long time and a lot of memory to apply the first round of updates. The 'check for updates' part of the sequence taking more than 30 minutes ... in some cases several days!

This is due to a bug* in Windows Update (WU), which causes the processing ("checking" or "searching")  stage to take far too long, when there are a great many updates to process. The bug is resolved with the new WU client delivered in the KB3172605 update. However, the bug still applies while you are installing KB3172605, making it take a long time ... unless you use this procedure.

The procedure below is the result of a lot of experimentation. It is the speediest way we have yet found, for getting Windows fully updated.

A trick we have learned:

1. Download the appropriate (x64 or x86) versions of these three updates: KB3020369, KB3172605, and KB3125574.
1. Microsoft Update Catalog links: KB3125574, KB3172605, KB3020369
2. Disconnect from computer from the internet to stop the following steps from searching online for updates
3. Open an elevated PowerShell prompt and run the following commands, which will allow the next updates to install quickly:
   1. stop-service wuauserv
   2. remove-item c:\windows\softwaredistribution\WuRedir
4. Double-click and run the KB3020369 update (previously downloaded). Should take less than 2 minutes to run, and will not require a reboot.
5. Now double-click the KB3172605 update you previously downloaded. Follow the prompts. Reboot when it says to. (This step should take about 1 minute).
6. Double-click and run the KB3125574 update (previously downloaded). Should take about 12 minutes to run. It will require a reboot that takes 5 minutes to complete. 
7. Begin WU (Windows Update) after completing the above steps. A list of 60+ available updates should be returned within 5 minutes.
8. Finish updating normally ... rebooting when it says to. You will probably need to reboot and re-check for updates at least two more times.

In my own tests, using this method, I was able to take a Win7 SP1 Ultimate (64bit) system from fresh installed to fully updated in about 1.5 hours. The WuRedir directory (which I remove in step 2) will be rebuilt by Windows along the way, and the WU service will be restarted on its own.

For other WU issues, start with this omnibus troubleshooting article.

Fix Windows corruption errors by using the DISM or System Update Readiness tool

Some folks advocate using wsusoffline, which requires some preparation work. Of you may be interested in this PowerShell Windows Update Module. Or this other one called PSWU.

We hope to add more to this article. Please send suggestions to mota.

*Microsoft have not formally said much about this bug. I was tipped off when I heard Microsoft Premier Field Engineer Clint Huffman talk about it in this podcast.

A possible alternative

Microsoft released a convenience rollup (certainly not a service pack) See post for details.  Read all of it, the details, the pre-req's etc before starting.  We haven't tested this approach.

• Simplifying updates for Windows 7 and 8.1
• Article on applying it from howtogeek

via http://www.freenode-windows.org/resources/vista-7/windows-update

How to turn multiple PSX .BIN files into one using CDMAGE

 If you're like me and want to emulate some good old PSX games and happen to stumble upon some roms that have multiple .BIN tracks here is a guide to turn them into a single .BIN file that will load with retroarch.

Step 1: Unzip your Rom like so:

Step 2: Download CDMAGE

https://www.emuparadise.me/links-and-downloads/General_CD_Utils/CDmage_1.02.1_Beta_5/20

Step 3: Open Cue file in CDMAGE

Step 4: File->Save AS new .cue

Step 5: Use these settings

Step 6: Enjoy your single .BIN PSX ROM

Full Speed PSX finally here on New 3DS / New 2DS XL (Metal Gear Solid, Crash Bandicoot, Final Fantasy IX, Vagrant Story, Resident Evil 2, etc.) RetroArch – Convert PlayStation 1 BIN/CUE to CHD

There was a lot of attention in 2019 when the UNAI renderer was added to PCSX Rearmed, as it meaningfully improved the ability of 3DS owners to play PSX classics.

Unfortunately, as anyone who tried it out could attest, the performance was still extremely spotty. 2D games generally performed better but overall playability varied significantly from title to title.

Over the past six months, the situation has improved dramatically. Incredibly, there has been very little attention despite the huge improvements. The latest nightlies now run most PSX games at full speed, including demanding titles like Metal Gear Solid!

To get started, you will need to download a recent nightly of the PCSX Rearmed Retroarch core. Then you will need to enable the following settings.

• Compress your game to either CHD or PBP. CHD is the superior solution.

To do this conversion you need chdman.exe which can be found inside the MAME Official Windows Binary packages located here – mame0201b_64bit.exe was the latest release when I did the conversion.

Extract chdman.exe from mame0201b_64bit.exe into the same folder as your PSX BIN/CUE files. Then you can just run one command to convert everything to CHD:

1	for %i in (*.cue) do chdman createcd -i "%i" -o "%~ni.chd"

• Switch Audio Driver to DSP_Thread. This step is very important. Threaded audio was only added in the past few months and provides a meaningful performance boost. You will need to restart Retroarch to realize this setting change.
• Enable Audio Synchronization.
• Disable Video Synchronization (unless you are playing a 2D game). You will not notice a negative difference in 3D games.
• In Quick Menu -> Options, set CD Access Method to Async. You will need to restart Retroarch to realize this setting change.
• In Quick Menu -> Options, set Threaded Rendering to Async. This is extremely important. Threaded Rendering option was only added in the past few weeks.
• In Quick Menu -> Options, enable Advance GPU UNAI/PCSX4All Settings.
• In Quick Menu -> Options, Enable High-Res Downscaling. This option will only show up once you show Advanced GPU UNAI/PCSX4All Settings and then close and reopen the Quick Menu. M

For good measure you may want to Restart Retroarch after making the last changes.

via https://blog.thirdechelon.org/2018/10/retroarch-convert-playstation-1-bin-cue-to-chd/