Now, this icon itself actually represents the Windows 10 Update App, which is only available to users that have turned on the automated update process, as Microsoft itself advises. More specifically, Microsoft requires two basic optional updates to be installed on the system, for both Windows 7 SP1 and Windows 8.1 platforms. Getting these two on board is not a hustle, but even them some readers have reported that the icon is still missing. Without further ado, today we’ll talk about everything necessary to actually get the darn thing working on every desktop computer out there.

Pre-requisites

First things first, let’s check that you have the right updates installed. In order to do so, find your way to Control Panel, and in the little search box located in the upper-right corner, type Update. The next obvious step would be to click on the main menu header, an option which should take you to Control Panel\System and Security\Windows Update.  Now, in the bottom right corner of the screen, click on the Installed Updates option, to see what’s actually installed on the platform. A big list should appear, containing various items, in which our search begins. The packages listed below should be found as installed, simply by typing the name of the update in the upper-right search box.

For Windows 7 SP1 – you’re going to need KB3035583 and KB2952664 updates. For Windows 8.1 – updates KB3035583 and KB2976978 are mandatory.

Now, if you have the items listed above already, you can proceed to the step below. If not, simply find your way to the previous updates menu, and click on Search for Updates. This will force Windows to seek every update available, which should include our two as well. Please remember to also check for Optional Updates, as the ones marked as Important are not sufficient.

Making the Windows 10 Update App icon appear

At this stag, most people should already spot the crafty icon in the Notifications Area. While for some the app is simply hidden and a simple click on the up arrow would reveal it, for some it actually refuses to appear. In that case, the following steps would force the platform to request the update from Microsoft’s servers. Those who are a bit reserved of actually running the following commands, in the fear that something dodgy would be hidden inside, I confess that I’ve actually run the package myself and there are no risks behind. Open a simple Notepad window and copy the text below, as it is. REG QUERY “HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\AppCompatFlags\UpgradeExperienceIndicators” /v UpgEx | findstr UpgEx if “%errorlevel%” == “0” GOTO RunGWX reg add “HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\AppCompatFlags\Appraiser” /v UtcOnetimeSend /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f schtasks /run /TN “\Microsoft\Windows\Application Experience\Microsoft Compatibility Appraiser” :CompatCheckRunning schtasks /query /TN “\Microsoft\Windows\Application Experience\Microsoft Compatibility Appraiser” schtasks /query /TN “\Microsoft\Windows\Application Experience\Microsoft Compatibility Appraiser” | findstr Ready if NOT “%errorlevel%” == “0” ping localhost >nul &goto :CompatCheckRunning :RunGWX schtasks /run /TN “\Microsoft\Windows\Setup\gwx\refreshgwxconfig”

And now, simply book your spot into the final…

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