active MS Updates - the dreaded file "looping" problem

[renault]

 

If you have never experienced this issue, fantastic, read no further.

 

If you have and have found a solution that works all the time for you, then ditto the same.

 

If you have tried every suggestion, fix and concoction under the sun to no avail you might find

the following of interest.

 

Until 3 updates ago I was in the last quandary.  Endless correspondence with the Zendesk, until I was just

resigned to expecting that every MS2020 update will involve redownloading up to approximately 60 GB of data ,

regardless of the actual size of the update. Trust me, I had tried everything at that point and nothing helped.

 

Oddly enough it was due to a problem (the same problem as with MS2020) with an income tax 
program install that lead to a root cause analysis and solution.

 

The problem:

 

Spoiler alert- I have the Steam version of MS2020, which is how I was able to watch the process in detail.

 

The install proceeds quite normally until one of the "large" files in MS2020 needs
to be updated.  This often happens when you are about 97% complete it seems which
only adds to the frustration when it fails.

 

The update , in this case what MS/Asobo calls a patch file(s) downloads 
but as soon as it has finished decompressing the file(s),  the downloader jumps back to the beginning
of the download and keeps repeating the process.

 

On many different forums I found the suggestion to delete the offending patch file, but
then invariably the MS installer would try to reinstall the original large file which was GB in size.

 

There are "thoughts"  on many forums as to why the MS installer can't work properly.

 

What I discovered was that this behavior has absolutely nothing to do with MS2020 but is a manifestation

of a program that many have on their machine which is actually behaving in the way it was designed to work.

 

I have verified  this behavior both with Malwarebytes support (in my particular case)  and the Zendesk.

 

In fact, buried in the Zendesk help is a list of programs that they suggest  may cause issues
with an update , although they don't explain the specific issue(s) in detail.

 

Scroll down to  "Check your Antivirus or Anti-Malware/Anti Ransomware" for a list of known applications

All versions - Packages installation & decompressing issues - Basic troubleshooting – Microsoft Flight Simulator Support (zendesk.com)

 

In my case Malwarebytes has both Exploit Protection and Ransomware Protection to protect
your machine from possible "bad actors".

 

The way the algorithms work (a simplistic explanation) is that when they see a downloaded
file trying to attach itself to an existing file, they immediately activate and delete the downloaded file.

 

What I have just described is in "MS2020 speak", the downloaded patch file(s) trying to 
attach itself to the large base file exactly as Asobo intended it to work.

 

However, as soon as Malwarebytes sees this happening, it deletes the patch file, the MS2020
downloader then says "no file" and starts the download  again and the process just keeps repeating itself.

 

The solution is very simple. During a MS2020 update, in my particular case, temporarily turn Malwarebytes

completely off until the update is finished. Then turn MWB back on again.

 

As I said , in my case this was both the cause of the looping issue and the solution.

I have downloaded 3 complete updates (6,7 and the most recent one of Jan 6th)  averaging about 100MB/sec

without any issues whatsoever once I discovered what was happening in my particular case.

 

In fact with update 6, just to check,  I turned MWB back on during the process and it began looping on files it was working with in the
pc-fs-base-bigfiles folder.  

 

As soon as the patch file was decompressed, I was watching the process in the folder) the patch deleted and the

download restarted. I then deactivated MWB and it properly finished the update with the patch files i.e. the patch files

all decompressed in sequence and then were added to  the main big file and it was on to the next stage of the download.

 

This may not be relevant to your particular installation, but if you are plagued by  this problem, have checked every other

suggestion and are using an independent Malware program then I sincerely hope that this info may be of help to you as it can

be extremely frustrating.

 

Cheers
Pete

Edited January 7, 2022 by renault