Each update requires a restart, can't continue to update other software until this is done.

[tj6TCQ5]

Each product I update is requiring a restart. It won't let me update other version years or other products until the restart. This is a significant pain. In the past, only certain updates to the same product or small subset of version years required restarts prior to continuing the additional updates. 

Just as a note to why this is so painful: Access requires approximately 10 mins after startup to even recognize that updates are needed. Until then, it just says its all up to date with a link to the manual updates (the entire list). 

My company is small, no IT department with only 10 employees, so implementing a an automated system on a network isn't fiscally feasible. From what I've read on the purpose of Autodesk Access, it should function as a tool for small businesses to implement updates easier than the completely manual option.

[danny.polkinhorn]

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@donaldhendrickson7600 wrote:

Given that most of our desktops are equipped with 500GB storage drives, these folders take up valuable space. Could you please confirm whether it is safe to delete them after installation?

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Yes, if an installation is not actively in progress, you can delete the contents of the C:\Autodesk\ folder.

If you create deployments frequently, we use the C:\Autodesk\WI folder to skip downloading installers that are already downloaded.  If you want to save time, maybe just delete folders that are older than 3-6 months.  Deleting them all is also ok.

[donaldhendrickson7600]

Danny,
The next time I set up a desktop with Revit installations and Access initiates updates followed by reboot prompts, I will collect the relevant logs and forward them to you for review.

Thank you for your prompt attention to our concerns... it’s greatly appreciated.

[tj6TCQ5]

There are a number of reasons why it might not register the windows updates until you open up and run a check for updates. One may be which file's versions/dates are being checked before allowing the software update to proceed, or a last modified date, or even the last time the update checker was run. It kind of sounds like Access is looking at the update checker first and not the file versions of the various windows packages. This would be the easiest first check to make since it should immediately tell you if recent updates have not been installed.  Checking versions after this would just be precautionary so that changes don't cause problems.

My original concern was that it was letting me run 1-2 of the Autodesk software updates before requiring another restart. 

As for the stored install files and leftover junk there remains some room for improvement. Autodesk includes an uninstall tool however it's not particularly comprehensive as there are a number of items listed in Window's add/remove software list that don't get removed. Deleting the install files often seems unclear if it is safe, often due to the naming conventions that make some of those files appear as required while others are just a sequence of numbers making no common connection to which software it is for. If you've ever had to do a clean install the instructions lead you to a number of folder locations that many probably don't consider to remove before reinstalling. All of these are not ideal for a small business to manage but Autodesk isn't exactly focused on small businesses.

[Simon_Weel]

Simon and Dean, your comments without context are getting tiring

Your right. I quit.

[donaldhendrickson7600]

Hi Danny,

While updating a desktop this morning, I was prompted to reboot several times throughout the process. I’ve downloaded the necessary tool and attached the log file for your review.

[Cadguru42]

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@danny.polkinhorn wrote:

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Also, Autodesk Access isn't nearly as good as the old Autodesk Desktop App it was supposed to replace. No option to pick where files are downloaded and it creates tons of folders with just giant long names that aren't intuitive to find what's in them. Not even an option to help clean up the files it downloads. Like many Autodesk "modern" products, it is a regression of features that previously existed and mostly worked in older versions.

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That's feedback that is actionable.  I agree that Access is not the Desktop App and we are not at feature parity yet.  Options for download locations should be provided, and we should clean up after installing.  These are all things we are planning.  We're working on new features that ADA did not have, and once that's done, we'll look at these other gaps.  I appreciate your patience on these.

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It's been years since the Desktop App was retired and replaced with Access. Why was replacement software that doesn't have all of the same features forced on users before it was ready? As a whole, Autodesk has a problem with that very issue the past few years. Autodesk releases something new to replace something existing, but it doesn't have the same basic features while forcing the old software to be discontinued. Then Autodesk sits on it for years while it claims to be working to update the new software to get the same features the old had. 

1. Desktop App > Access

2. C3D Part Builder/Content Catalog Editor > Infrastructure Parts Editor

3. C3D Dynamo/Civil3DToolkit pre 2025 > C3D 2025+

4. Sheet Set Manager > Sheet Set Manager for Web

5. C3D Grading > Grading Optimization

6. Map 3d Image Handling up to 2013 > Map 3d 2014+ does not read embedded geoheader units

7. Map 3d up to 2016 > Map 3d 2017+ (Map 3d doesn't even understand that core ACAD has a unit called US Survey Feet for the past 9 years)

8. Old Forums > Latest Forums.

[danny.polkinhorn]

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@Cadguru42 wrote: It's been years since the Desktop App was retired and replaced with Access. Why was replacement software that doesn't have all of the same features forced on users before it was ready?

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The simple answer for ADA and Access was that ADA was built on our old installation technology, and it needed to be re-written on the new tech stack and released quicker than we anticipated due to some critical security issues in ADA.  Our first goal for Access was to update our products, which was by far the most common task in ADA.  Most of the functionality in Access today has been updated quite a bit in the background, and without much fanfare to improve reliability and install success.  There are still some issues like this that come up sometimes that we want to address to improve overall quality, while we work on some significant new features you'll hear about soon.  Our roadmap is full of enhancements and new features that we're executing on.

Hope that helps