This past week, I updated all four of my Win10 Pro computers to Version 20H2.
They all survived.
That is all. Carry on.
Richard
I have been upgrading my Fedora Server in production for the past 5+ years but last time I was trying to upgrade my gaming PC running Windows 10 (to version .2004) it just didn’t work and unrolled failed-to-install updates, literally, over ten times within few months period. It was frustrating.
I was expecting the worst. I started with the computer I use least (it’s mainly for guests), and worked my way up to the one I’m using now, to give myself a chance to assess the damage on the lesser-used machines first.
But there was none. Everything went smoothly. I was shocked. And mind you, I was updating from Version 1909. I skipped 2004.
Richard
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For computers with M.2 SSDs booting 20H2, make sure it’s patched for the chkdsk /f bug that may or may not convert the drive to RAW (don’t have the KB number handy). A reader on some tech blog described the problem technically enough: “That’s like a fire extinguisher that explodes when you use it.” I think this Windows bug gets the Doozy award for 2020.
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Thanks. I wasn’t aware of that. I suspect it was rolled into the update since it came out last week, but I do some digging to make sure.
Richard
Microsoft Windows has had some huge changes to their whole file system, the way they do upgrades, etc… over the years. 
I actually had my upgrade to 20H2 not go well, and there were weird things happening after upgrade, mouse not working completely ( Skipping, slow response), Windows and menus were not all working correctly… 
my laptop has a huge install with Dev tools, Docker, about 40 software apps, etc… So I dreaded it and had to backup and re-install from scratch. 
I’ve been really happy going from Win7 to 10… I have abused the heck out of the Win 10 install and it has been like a Sherman Tank. , and all other previous updates went smooth as silk. 
I actually bought Macrium, and created a hard drive boot area install for it, made a bootable usb drive with Macrium utility, and set my whole system up as needed, and then made another default master image, and have a better backup and restore plan as it took me about 1-2 weeks after reinstalling Windows 20H2 to get everything about back to the way I had it before the crash. 
Macrium has backup scheduling so I set that up as well.
It is a lot of work to maintain a PC when you want it to be a stable work system and not just a surf-the-web system. 
I love Windows 10 except for all the telemetry snooping and the store app installs of junk apps like Candy Crush, etc…
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I started using Macrium years ago and haven’t looked back. I have it make automated weekly full images and daily incrementals of both the system and data drives, with manual incrementals when needed (before major updates, for example).
I’ve had to use Macrium a few times to restore my old HP i7 desktop (now my “guest” computer), and a few times in rapid succession on this AMD Ryzen 5 2600 homebuilt I’m using now (my “personal,” as opposed to “work” computer). I’ve never had to use it on my HP laptop or my Intel i9-9900K homebuilt (my “work” computer).
I forget what the exact problems were on the HP desktop that necessitated the restores. I do remember that they were software-related, and I remember that the restores worked perfectly.
On this AMD homebuilt, the problem turned out to be a failed stick of RAM, of all things, that spectacularly crashed the computer, corrupted the OS, and prevented the restore process from working. So I made the two-hour trip (each way) to Micro Center and replaced all 32 GB of RAM with G.SKILL Ripjaws, which is currently my RAM of choice because I’ve never had any problems with it. I’ve had no problems since.
In between Macrium images, I use GoodSync to sync new and changed user files (documents and so forth) to a USB external drive or the NAS (or both in the case of my work machine), plus online to each machine’s Backblaze B2 bucket. That also goes for certain files on the system drive, such as my Thunderbird profile on my work machine, which is backed up hourly to a USB drive and the NAS.
The combination of Macrium, GoodSync, and B2 makes for easy, reliable, and complete restores. Add Mountain Duck on the laptop to make the B2 files mountable as mapped drives, and it allows for me to travel on a moment’s notice and be able to work remotely anywhere in the Interwebs-connected world, without having to manually move any files over to the laptop.
As for Win10, most of the spyware can be disabled. It’s much easier on Pro because you have the Group Policy Editor, which I don’t think comes with Home. I gave up trying to stop it from installing useless apps, though, because it occasionally causes bizarre dependency problems that no sane person could anticipate. So I just ignore all the silly games and other useless crap that it keeps reinstalling.
Richard
I live in a cave.
I’ve not even heard about 20H2 until this thread. I’ll check it out now. Thanks!
Home editions don’t have Group Policy Editor but there’s a hack that enables it. I did it often with Vista and 7, haven’t had any reasons yet with 10 but I believe it’s still an option. It never made sense that there’s full reign of the registry while Gpedit is off limits.
I know it existed through 7 because I’d enable it for clients when I needed to; but I sold that part of my business before 8 came out, so I don’t know whether it’s still doable.
I personally have always used the Pro versions of Windows, more out of habit than for any other reason now that I’m not on Windows domain server anymore.
It does offer a bit more control over things like updates and the like; but it does nothing about the useless crap apps, and little about the spyware other than making it easier to turn off.
Richard
Make a good backup first. My experience may not be your experience.
Richard
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That is always the first thing you should do if you attempt to upgrade Windows 10 … sadly. 
That’s a good part too. Had it in the past that I told someone how it worked for me with my system and he blamed me that it didn’t work and that he lost files due to that (no backup /etc.). 
But at least it works for you now. Sadly some Windows 10 versions are very annoying (to say the least) if it comes to upgrading them.
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