Microsoft releases KB4571744 update to fix lots of Windows 10 problems

Microsoft has released a new non-security update for Windows 10 version 2004. KB4571744 for Windows 10 May 2020 Update was previously delayed, and it is designed for testing purposes; it will be included in a future cumulative update.

But what is notable about the KB4571744 update is the sheer number of issues it fixes. Among the problems the update addresses are issues with blurry screens, problems with Windows Update itself, and it also fixes an issues that resulted in SSDs being defragmented too frequently.

See also:

• Microsoft releases two new PowerToys builds and adds new 'Video conference global mute' utility
• Microsoft blocks the installation of Windows 10 version 2004 on laptops with LTE modems
• Microsoft pushes out KB4023057 yet again to force Windows 10 feature updates

KB4571744 is an optional update for now, and it can be downloaded from Windows Update or Microsoft Update, via the Microsoft Update Catalog, or by using Windows Server Update Services (WSUS).

If you do not manually install it now, you should find that it is delivered to you automatically next Patch Tuesday. Whether you grab it now or not depends largely on whether you feel willing to act as a guinea pig for what is an undeniably huge update.

Microsoft pulls out the following highlights of the update:

• Updates an issue that might prevent ActiveX content from loading.
• Updates an issue that might cause apps that use the custom text wrapping function to stop working in certain scenarios.
• Updates an issue to reduce the likelihood of missing fonts.
• Updates an issue that prevents users from reducing the size of a window in some cases.
• Updates an issue that causes the touch keyboard to close when you touch any key.
• Provides the ability for Dolby Atmos for Headphones and DTS Headphone: X to be used in 24-bit mode on devices that support 24-bit audio.
• Updates an issue with a blurry sign in screen.
• Updates an issue with Windows Update becoming unresponsive when checking for updates.
• Updates an issue that causes File Explorer to stop working when you browse directories of raw images and other file types.
• Improves the tablet experience for convertible or hybrid devices in docked scenarios.
• Improves the user experience of the Windows Hello enrollment pages for face and fingerprint setup.
• Updates an issue that prevents you from unlocking a device if you typed a space before the username when you first signed in to the device.
• Updates an issue that causes applications to take a long time to open.
• Addresses an issue that prevents apps from downloading an update or opening in certain scenarios.
• Updates an issue that causes Microsoft Office applications to close unexpectedly when using a Korean IME.
• Updates time zone information for the Yukon, Canada.

The full list of improvements and fixes reads as follows:

• Addresses an issue with pinned Add-ins that cause Microsoft Outlook to become unresponsive.
• Provides the ability to sync the Microsoft Edge IE Mode unidirectional session cookie when an administrator configures the session cookie.
• Addresses an issue with rendering PeerDist-encoded content in Internet Explorer and Microsoft Edge.
• Addresses an issue that might prevent ActiveX content from loading.
• Addresses an issue that displays a black screen to Windows Virtual Desktop (WVD) users when they attempt to sign in.
• Addresses an issue that might cause apps that use the custom text wrapping function to stop working in certain scenarios.
• Addresses an issue with Start menu apps and tiles in virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) environments. The issue occurs after you sign in to the VDI environment a second time and use a Remote Desktop User Profile Disk in a non-persistent virtual desktop pool.
• Addresses an issue that generates an error when printing to a document repository.
• Addresses an issue that prevents Visual Basic 6.0 (VB6) applications from using ListView in MSCOMCTL.OCX after upgrading to Windows 10, version 1903 and later.
• Addresses a runtime error that causes VB6 to stop working when duplicate windows messages are sent to WindowProc().
• Addresses an issue that causes a stop error when the initialization of the graphics adapter fails.
• Addresses an issue to reduce the likelihood of missing fonts.
• Addresses an issue that prevents users from reducing the size of a window in some cases.
• Addresses an issue that causes the touch keyboard to close when you touch any key.
• Addresses an issue that adds an unwanted keyboard layout as the default after an upgrade or migration even if you have already removed the layout.
• Addresses an issue the prevents applications from closing even though programming code directs them to close.
• Addresses an issue that causes attempts to take a screenshot of a window using the PrintWindow API to fail.
• Addresses an issue with a memory leak in ctfmon.exe that occurs when you refresh an application that has an editable box.
• Addresses an issue that truncates a potential list of characters (candidates) when you type characters in the Simplified Chinese (Pinyin) input method editor (IME). When this happens, Chinese characters do not appear.
• Addresses an issue that prevents the first key stroke from being recognized correctly in the DataGridView cell.
• Addresses an issue that causes an application that uses msctf.dll to stop working, and the 0xc0000005 (Access violation) exception appears.
• Addresses an issue with Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE) that causes a memory leak when multiple clients connect to the same server.
• Addresses an issue that prevents Cortana Smart lighting from working as expected if you shut down the machine while Fast Shutdown is enabled.
• Provides the ability for Dolby Atmos for Headphones and DTS Headphone: X to be used in 24-bit mode on devices that support 24-bit audio.
• Addresses an issue that prevents the IME user dictionary from being used when leveraging folder redirection with user profiles.
• Addresses an issue that causes Microsoft Office applications to close unexpectedly when using a Korean IME.
• Addresses an issue that displays incorrect folder properties in File Explorer when the path is longer than MAX_PATH.
• Addresses an issue with a blurry sign in screen.
• Addresses an issue with Windows Update becoming unresponsive when checking for updates.
• Addresses an issue that prevents the correct lock screen from appearing when the following policies are set:
  • Policy "Interactive Logon: Do not require Ctrl+Alt+Del" set to "Disabled"
  • HKLM\SOFRWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\System
  • DisableLockScreenAppNotifications = 1
  • DisableLogonBackgroundImage = 1
• Addresses an issue that causes File Explorer to stop working when you browse directories of raw images and other file types.
• Improves the tablet experience for convertible or hybrid devices in docked scenarios.
• Improves the user experience of the Windows Hello enrollment pages for face and fingerprint setup.
• Prevents accounts from a different tenant from signing in to a Surface Hub device.
• Updates time zone information for the Yukon, Canada.
• Addresses stop error 0xC2 in usbccgp.sys.
• Addresses an issue that causes the Event Viewer Microsoft Management Console (MMC) to stop working when the secondary monitor is above the primary monitor. An out of bounds exception appears.
• Addresses an issue that prevents the migration of the Windows Remote Management (WinRM) service startup type.
• Addresses an issue with object performance counters.
• Addresses an issue that prevents Microsoft User Experience Virtualization (UE-V) settings from roaming to enable the signature files that are used for new messages, forwarded messages, and replies.
• Addresses an issue that prevents users from setting the REG_EXPAND_SZ keys in some automated scenarios.
• Addresses an issue with the EnhancedAppLayerSecurity node in modern device management (MDM) that prevents its setting from being applied correctly to client devices.
• Addresses an issue that causes a memory leak in the LsaIso.exe process when the server is under a heavy authentication load and Credential Guard is enabled.
• Addresses an issue that might cause a delay of up to two minutes when signing in or unlocking a session on Hybrid Azure Active Directory-joined machines.
• Addresses an issue that prevents hash signing from working correctly when using the Microsoft Platform Crypto Provider for Trusted Platform Modules (TPM). This issue might also affect networking software, such as virtual private network (VPN) applications.
• Addresses an issue that continues to display the previous username hint in the smart card sign in box after a different user has used the machine with domain credentials.
• Addresses an issue that causes communication with the TPM to time out and fail.
• Addresses an issue that sometimes prevents AppLocker from running an application whose publisher rule allows it to run.
• Addresses an issue in which AppLocker publisher rules might sometimes prevent applications from loading software modules; this can cause partial application failure.
• Addresses an issue that causes the promotion of a server to a domain controller to fail. This occurs when the Local Security Authority Subsystem Service (LSASS) process is set as Protected Process Light (PPL).
• Addresses an issue that prevents you from unlocking a device if you typed a space before the username when you first signed in to the device.
• Addresses an issue that causes a system to stop working and generates a 7E stop code.
• Addresses an issue that causes applications to take a long time to open.
• Addresses classification failures caused by the wrong User Principal Name (UPN).
• Addresses an issue in cluster scenarios that causes handles to .vmcx and .vmrs files to become invalid after storage failover. As a result, live migration and other virtual machine (VM) maintenance activities fail with STATUS_UNEXPECTED_NETWORK_ERROR.
• Addresses an issue with interrupt targeting that might cause an interrupt to arrive at an incorrect processor.
• Addresses an issue that causes delays during shutdown when running the Microsoft Keyboard Filter Service.
• Addresses an issue that causes a machine to request a new IP address after authentication.
• Addresses an issue that causes the Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS) to download data while a device is in cellular mode without explicit user permission.
• Addresses an issue that prevents Always On VPN (AOVPN) from automatically reconnecting when resuming from Sleep or Hibernate.
• Addresses an issue that causes AOVPN user tunnels to use an incorrect certificate.
• Addresses an issue with AOVPN that occurs when user and device tunnels are configured to connect to the same endpoint.
• Addresses an issue that causes VPN apps to stop working in some cases when they attempt to enumerate VPN profiles.
• Addresses an issue that causes the Optimize Drives dialog to incorrectly report that previously optimized drives need to be optimized again.
• Addresses an issue that fails to turn off the host memory buffer (HMB) when you force the shutdown of a device. As a result, solid-state drives (SSDs) do not delete HMB contents.
• Addresses an issue that prevents apps from downloading an update or opening in certain scenarios.
• Addresses an issue that might cause a stop error (0xC00002E3) at startup. This issue occurs after installing certain Windows Updates that were released on or after April 21, 2020.
• Addresses an issue that might cause stop error 7E in nfssvr.sys on servers running the Network File System (NFS) service.
• Addresses an issue with Server Message Block (SMB). This issue incorrectly logs the Microsoft-Windows-SMBClient 31013 event in the Microsoft-Windows-SMBClient/Security event log of an SMB client when an SMB server returns STATUS_USER_SESSION_DELETED. This issue occurs when SMB client users or applications open multiple SMB sessions using the same set of Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) connections on the same SMB Server. This issue most likely occurs on Remote Desktop Servers.
• Addresses an issue that causes SMB to incorrectly use the original, cached non-Continuous Available handle to a file. This handle becomes invalid after a network error or storage failover. As a result, applications fail with errors such as STATUS_UNEXPECTED_NETWORK_ERROR.
• Addresses an issue that causes the loss of written data when an application opens a file and writes to the end of the file in a share folder.
• Addresses an issue with some apps, such as Microsoft Excel, that occurs when using the Microsoft Input Method Editor (IME) for Chinese and Japanese languages. You might receive an error, or the app might stop responding or close when you attempt to drag using the mouse.

As has been the case for numerous update, Microsoft indicates that there is a known issue when using the Microsoft Input Method Editor (IME) for Japanese or Chinese languages after installing  KB4571744. Advice about how to mitigate against the issues can be found here.

Image credit: Walter Cicchetti / Shutterstock