Windows Critical Update message?

[Joe Biker]

Hi all,been perusing these forums for awhile and impressed with the knowledge base on here!..please forgive me if this has been posted elsewhere already but I haven't found a specific answer for my question yet..so possibly someone on here can steer me in the right direction an/or shed some light on my issue.
Turned on my 520 yesterday and a message popped up saying "Critical Update Available" for download over WIFI...NO info on what this update is,or what this update contains or it's size.
I clicked on yes install and it "prepared" to install and took almost 2 hours at which point it said there wasn't sufficient space for the update (it showed it needed 947.?? mb but I had 1.2 gigs free on my phone.
So,two questions..what is this update? windows10? or just an update for 8.1?
and why didn't it install with enough room available?
and I guess the third would be should I download it? whatever the hell it is?

Please advise!

Cheers

 

[gpobernardo]

It most probably is only an update for Windows Phone 8.1... since the full Windows 10 hasn't been released yet (it seems to be under construction and polishing through the Technical Preview Program).

Try freeing up at least 2GB of space before trying to install the update again... better if you had 3GB of free space.

Yes, you would most likely want to download it... since updates can and most probably will make your phone "perform better".

Once you are able to download the update, before installing it you will be given the details of the update. You could see what OS version and/or Firmware version will be installed on your device. You could, if you want, let us know what you find before installing the update.

And welcome to Windows Central, Joe.

 

[Indistinguishable]

Hi there - A critical update usually just means that Microsoft is pushing software/firmware to your phone. They started using that verbiage back in October of 2014.

It's likely Wp8.1/denim if you don't have that. Is it "Windows Phone 8.1 (8.10.14234.375)"?

 

[Joe Biker]

Wow!...thanks to you both for such a quick response!!..muchly appreciated and thanks you for the warm welcome.
That's a relief to here that it's NOT 10 for all of the trouble I see folks having with the install.I have everything right now installing to my sd card including "new downloads"..do updated such as this default to the phone or do I need to change the "new downloads" to go to my phone instead?
This may have been why it failed to install?...
I might go back to a tin can and a string..this is giving me a headache!

update...I have CYAN installed,so maybe it's the DENIM update you speak of...will free some space and give it a try..hope it's worth the effort in the end.

Cheers

 

[gpobernardo]

No problem, Joe, you're welcome!

If I remember correctly, if you have set your SD Card as your default location for apps, photos, music (etc), then that setting should be carried over through the OS/Firmware update process. Once your phone has been updated, the settings should not have changed. However, even if you have set the downloads to be stored in your SD Card, I think the OS update files are saved to the phone by default and regardless of the setting.

Let us know what happens.

 

[tritiums]

It's the Denim update, I got it on my 520 today as well. Yay for finally having proper access to Cortana in Canada, without the need for fiddling with region and language settings.

 

[Joe Biker]

Well gpobernardo,the update went through without a hitch..says Denim yada yada in the extras&info,Cortana works..BUT the live tiles as shown in the update videos are not what are showing up on my screen..the tiles are identical as Cyan..please don't tell me that I have to do the dreaded "hard reset"!!
Not sure I have it in me to re-download everything and set-up all over again.Is this live tile issue a common occurrence with this update?

My apologies for a gazillion questions..these are our first "smart" phones so I'm finding it quite the learning curve.Thanks for the great info and suggestions...sincerely appreciate it all!:wink:

 

[gpobernardo]

Thanks for the update.

I don't think you need to perform a (you're right that it's dreaded) hard reset. Are you referring to the Live Tile folders? Try dragging one of the tiles onto another tile. You should be prompted to create a "folder" where you can place more than one tile... and the folder would be expandable/collapse-able.

No problem, glad to be of help.

 

[Joe Biker]

It's the Denim update, I got it on my 520 today as well. Yay for finally having proper access to Cortana in Canada, without the need for fiddling with region and language settings.

Yes,I'm enjoying Cortana as well..although I would like to have it as a British voice rather than English US ..but doesn't recognise the British dialect I guess..or is this another thing I'm overlooking?.LOL

 

[Joe Biker]

Thanks for the update.

I don't think you need to perform a (you're right that it's dreaded) hard reset. Are you referring to the Live Tile folders? Try dragging one of the tiles onto another tile. You should be prompted to create a "folder" where you can place more than one tile... and the folder would be expandable/collapse-able.

No problem, glad to be of help.

Yup..that's what I had to do..cheers again!

 

[tritiums]

Yes,I'm enjoying Cortana as well..although I would like to have it as a British voice rather than English US ..but doesn't recognise the British dialect I guess..or is this another thing I'm overlooking?.LOL

To get the UK version of Cortana I think you have to set your region as UK and the language as English (UK).