Microsoft’s April ’18 Update

Not sure where to begin with this one, other than it’s a great example of Microsoft being Microsoft.  My personal workstation just installed the update, and upon rebooting… the splash screen detailing all the changes, options, and services wouldn’t actually load any of the [READ MORE] boxes for me to see what was new with my computer’s Windows installation.  Classic.

I have had several customers whose computers wouldn’t load Windows after the update; after booting, the computer would either hang at a black screen or the Windows 10 login screen, and then proceed no further no matter how much poking and prodding.  No amount of startup recovery helped in any situations; ‘Reset My PC’ even failed for one customer.  A fresh Windows 10 install was the only solution for them.  I always carry my mobile harddrive port for hassle-free backup, so there were no additional issues with restoring their computer.

The problems here are two-fold; with Windows 7, users have the option to opt-out of Windows Updates.  With Windows 10, no such option is available (or would clear itself after every reboot – NOT user-friendly).  So, if a specific update was the root cause of an issue, I don’t have a good answer to the question of “Well, won’t it just update again and lock up my system again?”

The good news is Microsoft knows there are problems and has halted rolling out the April update for devices that meet certain criteria or computers that have certain types of hard drives and processors.  As the investigation continues, I am expecting for them to identify more hardware that is affected and either rework the update patch or block updates all together.

There’s nothing more frustrating than having your computer hang for a windows update, then come back to a black screen and have to have your computer fixed.  Hopefully a solution will be identified sooner rather than later.  In the meantime, for Windows 10 Pro users, there are some solutions that can keep your system up and running by disabling specific services connected to the windows update protocol.

 

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