Microsoft releases Windows 10 19H1 Build 18309

According to AdDuplex, the problematic October 2018 Update is currently on just 6.6 percent of all Windows 10 PCs. It’s doubled its share since November, but still pales in comparison to the April 2018 Update which is on 83.6 percent of systems.

Despite this, Microsoft is hard at work on the next big feature update, expected this spring, and has just rolled out the first build of 2019 for Insiders on the Fast ring.

SEE ALSO:

• Python for Windows 10 now available from the Microsoft Store
• Updating from Windows 10 1803 to 1809 could disable the built-in administrator account
• Windows 10 finally overtakes Windows 7

Build 18309 makes it easier to reset a Windows Hello PIN. This feature was originally only available to Windows 10 Home users, but now anyone can use it by clicking the 'I forgot my PIN' link when signing in with a PIN.

In Build 18305, Microsoft announced support for setting up and signing in to Windows 10 with a phone number account. This was also originally only for Windows 10 Home, but is now offered in all editions.

This new build also introduces some Narrator improvements and 11 additional mouse pointer sizes in the Cursor and Pointers settings.

General changes, improvements, and fixes in this build include:

• Fixed an issue where using Hyper-V with an external vSwitch in addition to the default resulted in many UWP apps not being able to connect to the internet.
• Fixed two issues resulting green screens citing an issue with win32kfull.sys in recent builds -- one when using an Xbox controller with your PC, one when interacting with Visual Studio.
• Fixed an issue where changes to Mouse Keys settings in Settings wouldn’t persist.
• Made some small adjustments to the text across various pages in Settings.
• Fixed an issue resulting in XAML context menus across the system sporadically not invoking over the last several flights.
• Fixed an issue resulting in explorer.exe crashing when right clicking a network printer.
• If you press WIN+H to start dictation in an unsupported language, there is now a notification explaining that this is why dictation isn’t starting.
• Added a notification that will appear the very first time you press Left Alt + Shift -- it explains that this hotkey triggers an input language change, and includes a direct link to the settings where the hotkey can be disabled, if pressing it was unintentional. Disabling Alt + Shift will not impact the use of WIN + Space, which is the recommended hotkey for changing input methods.
• Fixed an issue where the cmimanageworker.exe process might hang, causing system slowness or higher than normal CPU usage.
• If you clean install Pro, Enterprise, or Education editions of Windows, the Cortana voice-over will be disabled by default. Screen reader users can still choose to start Narrator at any time by pressing WIN + Ctrl + Enter.
• When Scan Mode is on and Narrator is on a slider, the left and right arrows will decrease and increase the slider. Up and down arrows will continue to navigate to the previous or next paragraph or item. Home and End will move the slider to the beginning or the end.
• Fixed the issue where Narrator could not be turned off when Narrator message box "Another Ease of Access application is preventing Narrator from supporting touch…" was displayed.
• Fixed the issue where Narrator did not read process/applications from Task Manager when "More details" view was selected.
• Narrator now announces the state of hardware buttons such as volume keys.
• Fixed a couple issues related to mouse pointer sizes not increasing/decreasing properly when DPI is set to something other than 100 percent.
• Fixed the issue where Magnifier failed to follow Narrator cursor in Magnifier centered mouse mode if "follow Narrator cursor" option was selected.
• If you were seeing Windows Defender Application Guard and Windows Sandbox fail to launch on Build 18305 with KB4483214 installed, that will be fixed once you upgrade to this build.
• Enhanced Windows Sandbox to better support high DPI displays.
• If you were seeing random yet frequent explorer.exe crashes with Build 18305, Microsoft made a server-side change to resolve this over the break. This same issue is suspected to also be the root cause resulting in some Insiders finding Start would reset back to default in the previous build.
• Fixed an issue resulting in upgrades failing with error code 0x800F081F -- 0x20003 if Developer Mode had been enabled.
• Fixed the issue where the Task Scheduler UI may appear blank even though there are scheduled tasks. For now, you’ll need to use the command line if you want to see them.

Known issues in this build are:

• The hyperlink colors need to be refined in Dark Mode in Sticky Notes if the Insights are enabled.
• The Windows Security app may show an unknown status for the Virus & threat protection area, or not refresh properly. This may occur after upgrade, restart, or settings changes.
• Launching games that use BattlEye anti-cheat will trigger a bug check (green screen).
• USB printers may appear twice in the Devices and Printers under Control Panel. Reinstalling the printer will resolve the issue.
• Microsoft is investigating an issue where clicking your account in Cortana Permissions isn’t bringing up the UI to sign out from Cortana (if you were already signed in) for some users in this build.
• Creative X-Fi sound cards are not functioning properly.
• When attempting to update this build some S Mode devices will download and restart, but fail the update.
• Night light functionality is impacted by a bug in this build.
• When you open Action Center the quick actions section may be missing.
• Clicking the network button on the sign-in screen doesn’t work.
• Some text in the Windows Security app may not currently be correct, or may be missing. This may impact the ability to use some features, such as filtering Protection history.
• Users may see a warning that their USB is currently in use when trying to eject it using File Explorer.  To avoid this warning, close down all open File Explorer windows and eject USB media using the system tray by clicking on 'Safely Remove Hardware and Eject Media' and then selecting the drive to eject.
• In certain cases, in may look as though this build downloads and installs successfully but in fact didn’t. If you think you hit this bug, you can type "winver" in the search box on your taskbar to double-check your build number.

Photo credit: charnsitr / Shutterstock