https://www.techtarget.com/searchenterprisedesktop/tip/Windows-10-updates-to-avoid-and-how-to-address-them
One of the biggest challenges for Windows 10 admins is keeping current on Windows updates, but sometimes these updates can cause issues with desktop compatibility and stability.
These OS updates are critical to maintaining security of enterprise organizations, but they are notoriously flawed and cause new problems that require additional patches. Windows 10 is no better than previous versions, and there are still issues that come up with Windows updates.
As an IT administrator or advanced Windows user, you should understand the process Microsoft lays out to correct problems with the operating system.
Microsoft provides Cumulative Updates, which could include multiple updates. Microsoft distributes the cumulative updates in two groups:
Component updates may or may not all be in the cumulative updates. Therefore, if you install a new device and problems occur, you should look for specific driver update from Microsoft to ensure they deliver it.
Windows 10 settings permit you to download and install Cumulative Updates within 24 hours of release on Patch Tuesday. This is fine for consumers, but in the enterprise, you should test these OSes in a lab to ensure compatibility with hardware and enterprise applications prior to rolling them out to the users.
You should delay these downloads until you test them and ensure Microsoft has not yet released a subsequent update to fix issues with the newly released update. That said, security updates are critical, and you should always try to apply them promptly to protect assets from viruses and malware. With these conflicting factors, you must test all updates, but the testing must take place promptly after the updates' release.
A great example of the importance of managing these updates is the disastrous May 12, 2020 cumulative update. In spite of Microsoft's pre-release program, which allows select customers to install the updates early and report on issues so Microsoft can fix them, the May 12, 2020 update still had a lot of problems. Organizations that installed this update and experienced the problems associated with the update (Table 1) had to install all the interim updates that Microsoft pushed out or consider one of the uninstall options -- noted later in this article.
The issues caused by the May 12, 2020 Windows 10 update included the following:
While Microsoft published patches to address these issues, the patches then caused the following errors:
The fixes that Microsoft offers typically denote the patch that they relate to, indicating that sometimes Microsoft's patches are part of the problems. In addition, Microsoft acknowledged the problems reported by users for the May 12 update with KB4556799.
Microsoft has multiple versions of Windows 10 and updates may cover one or more versions. This can be quite confusing, but you simply need to remember that once they update the PC to a new version, Microsoft supports that version for 18 months. These different versions can run simultaneously, and Windows will trigger the Windows Update service unless you disable it.
The automatic update tool will figure all the patches and versions out, but if you need a specific update you must find the correct version to install. To determine which Windows version and build are currently installed on a computer, go to the search bar and enter winver (Figure 1).
Microsoft has defined different dashboards for each version. The page for Version 2004 contains release notes, known issues, tips on applying the updates, and more.
Microsoft identifies its patches with a knowledge base (KB) number and each KB identifies the OS number and the OS version that that patch applies to. The page shows, for example, a sample KB doc of the May 12, 2020 update, which in this case is for version 1903 (Figure 2).
Users should identify the updates released after the May 12, 2020 release of OS version 2004, which caused many of the recent Windows update issues (Table 2). Other versions of the data may have different patch numbers for updates. Each item in the KB column includes a links to the KB documents. It is important to study these docs as they include critical information such as:
| Date | KB | OS Build | OS Version | Notes |
| June 9, 2020 | KB4557957 https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4557957/windows-10-update-kb4557957 | 19041.329 | 2004 | Patch Tuesday release |
| June 18, 2020 | KB4567523 https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4567523/windows-10-update-kb4567523 | 19041.331 | 2004 | Interim release |
| July 14, 2020 (regularly scheduled update) | KB4565503 https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4565503/windows-10-update-kb4565503 | 19041.388 | 2004 |
Intended to fix all the previous update issues (Note that the reported problems in Figure 3 were logged after installing this update) |
| July 31, 2020 | KB4568831 https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4568831/windows-10-update-kb4568831 | 19041.423 | 2004 | Interim release -- again identified by Microsoft to fix previous update issues |
| August 11, 2020 | KB4566782 https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4566782/windows-10-update-kb4566782 | 19041.450 | 2004 | Patch Tuesday release |
Some OEMs, including HP, provided their own fixes for issues caused by the May 12, 2020 update. You should check with your OEM for more information.
First, you should identify the updates that the affected computers have received. To accomplish this, follow these steps:
There may be updates that the Windows admin avoids due to various reasons, including if there is a specified delay by an admin, insufficient disk space and network failure. You can manually install the update in several ways:
You may need individual updates for specific drivers or software programs that fail, causing errors in a business application or even blue screen crashes. An internet search for key words or error codes will usually identify the KB patch to fix it. You can also manually download and install these updates with the Windows Catalog.
In some cases, you may want to uninstall a problematic Windows update, such as the May 12, 2020 Windows update. You should consider this step if it is causing unacceptable performance or stability problems and there is no fix in sight. To uninstall an update, there are several options:
Restore points are not automatic; you have to manually create and enable them. Thus, you should create a restore point prior to software or hardware updates. You should delete restore points when you're done with them to save disk space.
12 Nov 2020