diff -u b/core/includes/install.core.inc b/core/includes/install.core.inc
--- b/core/includes/install.core.inc
+++ b/core/includes/install.core.inc
@@ -460,7 +460,7 @@
   }
 
   elseif ($task['type'] == 'batch') {
-    if (!$install_state['interactive']) {
+    if (0 && !$install_state['interactive']) {
       $batch = $function($install_state);
       if (!empty($batch['operations'])) {
         // Build a dummy 'context' array to avoid exceptions.
diff -u b/core/modules/simpletest/lib/Drupal/simpletest/TestBase.php b/core/modules/simpletest/lib/Drupal/simpletest/TestBase.php
--- b/core/modules/simpletest/lib/Drupal/simpletest/TestBase.php
+++ b/core/modules/simpletest/lib/Drupal/simpletest/TestBase.php
@@ -636,9 +636,11 @@
     // Save further contextual information.
     $this->originalFileDirectory = variable_get('file_public_path', conf_path() . '/files');
     $this->originalProfile = drupal_get_profile();
-    $this->originalUser = $user;
+    $this->originalUser = clone $user;
+//    $this->originalSessionID = session_id();
 //    $this->originalSession = isset($_SESSION) ? $_SESSION : NULL;
-    $this->originalGlobals = $GLOBALS;
+//    $this->originalCookies = $_COOKIE;
+//    $this->originalGlobals = $GLOBALS;
 
     // Save and clean the shutdown callbacks array because it is static cached
     // and will be changed by the test run. Otherwise it will contain callbacks
@@ -733,8 +735,10 @@
 
     // Restore original user session.
     $user = $this->originalUser;
+//    session_id($this->originalSessionID);
 //    $_SESSION = $this->originalSession;
-    $GLOBALS = $this->originalGlobals;
+//    $_COOKIE = $this->originalCookies;
+//    $GLOBALS = $this->originalGlobals;
     drupal_save_session(TRUE);
   }
 
diff -u b/core/modules/simpletest/lib/Drupal/simpletest/WebTestBase.php b/core/modules/simpletest/lib/Drupal/simpletest/WebTestBase.php
--- b/core/modules/simpletest/lib/Drupal/simpletest/WebTestBase.php
+++ b/core/modules/simpletest/lib/Drupal/simpletest/WebTestBase.php
@@ -580,16 +580,18 @@
   protected function setUp() {
     global $user, $conf;
     $language_interface = drupal_container()->get(LANGUAGE_TYPE_INTERFACE);
-    //Get old batch id and token
-    $batch = batch_get();
-    if(!empty($batch['id'])) {
-      $this->batch_id = $batch['id'];
-      $this->old_token = drupal_get_token($this->batch_id);
-    }
-    else {
-      $this->batch_id = NULL;
-      $this->old_token = NULL;
-    }
+
+    // When running tests through the Simpletest UI (vs. on the command line),
+    // Simpletest's batch conflicts with the installer's batch. Batch API does
+    // not support the concept of nested batches (in which the nested is not
+    // progressive), so we need to temporarily pretend there was no batch.
+    // Backup the currently running Simpletest batch.
+    $this->originalBatch = batch_get();
+
+//    if (!empty($this->originalBatch['id'])) {
+//      $this->originalToken = drupal_get_token($this->originalBatch['id']);
+//    }
+
     // Create the database prefix for this test.
     $this->prepareDatabasePrefix();
 
@@ -654,19 +656,12 @@
         ),
       ),
     );
-    // When running tests through the Simpletest UI (vs. on the command line),
-    // Simpletest's batch conflicts with the installer's batch. Batch API does
-    // not support the concept of nested batches (in which the nested is not
-    // progressive), so we need to temporarily pretend there was no batch.
-    // Backup the currently running Simpletest batch.
-//    $parent_batch = batch_get();
-
 //    $parent_session = $_SESSION;
 //    $parent_get = $_GET;
 
     // Reset it and invoke the non-interactive installer.
-//    $batch = &batch_get();
-//    $batch = array();
+    $batch = &batch_get();
+    $batch = array();
 
     // @todo The above has been replaced with changing install_run_task() in
     //   install.core.inc to not invoke the Batch API at all for install tasks
@@ -677,20 +672,26 @@
     //   the current user. drupal_get_token() returns a different value after
     //   test execution, so the batch finished page does not load.
 //    $session_id = session_id();
-    $originalSession = isset($_SESSION) ? $_SESSION : NULL;
-    $originalGlobals = $GLOBALS;
-    $request = request();
+
+//    $originalSession = isset($_SESSION) ? $_SESSION : NULL;
+//    $originalGlobals = $GLOBALS;
+//    $request = request();
+    $originalConf = $conf;
     
+    $user = drupal_anonymous_user();
+    drupal_save_session(FALSE);
     install_drupal($settings);
 
 //    session_id($session_id);
-    $_SESSION = $originalSession;
-    $GLOBALS = $originalGlobals;
-    request($request);
+
+//    $_SESSION = $originalSession;
+//    $GLOBALS = $originalGlobals;
+//    request($request);
+    $conf = $originalConf;
 
     // Restore the original Simpletest batch.
-//    $batch = &batch_get();
-//    $batch = $parent_batch;
+    $batch = &batch_get();
+    $batch = $this->originalBatch;
 
 //    $_SESSION = $parent_session;
 //    $_GET = $parent_get;
@@ -728,7 +729,6 @@
 
     // Ensure that the session is not written to the new environment and replace
     // the global $user session with uid 1 from the new test site.
-    drupal_save_session(FALSE);
     // Login as uid 1.
     $user = user_load(1);
 
@@ -815,13 +815,13 @@
     // Close the CURL handler.
     $this->curlClose();
 
-    if(!empty($this->batch_id)) {
-      //Regenerate batch token after install_drupal created a new session_id.
+    // Regenerate batch token after install_drupal() created a new session_id.
+    if (0 && !empty($this->originalBatch)) {
       db_update('batch')
         ->fields(array(
-          'token' => drupal_get_token($this->batch_id),
+          'token' => drupal_get_token($this->originalBatch['id']),
         ))
-        ->condition('token', $this->old_token)
+        ->condition('token', $this->originalToken)
         ->execute();
     }
   }
only in patch2:
unchanged:
--- a/core/includes/session.inc
+++ b/core/includes/session.inc
@@ -348,6 +348,12 @@ function drupal_session_started($set = NULL) {
  */
 function drupal_session_regenerate() {
   global $user, $is_https;
+
+  // Nothing to do if we are not allowed to save the session.
+  if (!drupal_save_session()) {
+    return;
+  }
+
   if ($is_https && variable_get('https', FALSE)) {
     $insecure_session_name = substr(session_name(), 1);
     if (!isset($GLOBALS['lazy_session']) && isset($_COOKIE[$insecure_session_name])) {
@@ -417,6 +423,11 @@ function drupal_session_regenerate() {
 function _drupal_session_destroy($sid) {
   global $user, $is_https;
 
+  // Nothing to do if we are not allowed to save the session.
+  if (!drupal_save_session()) {
+    return;
+  }
+
   // Delete session data.
   db_delete('sessions')
     ->condition($is_https ? 'ssid' : 'sid', $sid)
@@ -464,6 +475,11 @@ function _drupal_session_delete_cookie($name, $secure = NULL) {
  *   User ID.
  */
 function drupal_session_destroy_uid($uid) {
+  // Nothing to do if we are not allowed to save the session.
+  if (!drupal_save_session()) {
+    return;
+  }
+
   db_delete('sessions')
     ->condition('uid', $uid)
     ->execute();
@@ -506,7 +522,7 @@ function _drupal_session_garbage_collection($lifetime) {
  *   FALSE if writing session data has been disabled. Otherwise, TRUE.
  */
 function drupal_save_session($status = NULL) {
-  $save_session = &drupal_static(__FUNCTION__, TRUE);
+  static $save_session = TRUE;
   if (isset($status)) {
     $save_session = $status;
   }