Windows Update

File under "color us surprised": the KB5001391 update that Microsoft released for Windows 10 recently has been well-received by users.

Feedback about the update shows that people who have installed KB5001391 are happy not only with the fact that it adds News and Interests to the taskbar, but also that it seems to be stable and problem free. Some users are even finding that their system is performing better after installing this particular update.

Microsoft has released a new "C" preview update for Windows 10 ahead of May's Patch Tuesday. With the optional KB5001391 update, anyone running Windows 10 2004 and Windows 10 20H2 can get the new News and Interests feature in the taskbar.

While there are no security fixes in this update, it is still well worth installing -- not just because of the new taskbar feature, but also because of the number of performance, stability and other non-security issues it addresses.

Microsoft has acknowledged that "a small subset of users have reported lower than expected performance in games" after installing one of two recent Windows 10 updates, and issued a rare type of fix.

Gamers complained about dropped framerates and poor performance after installing the KB5001330 update, and the same report came from those who installed the preview version of the same update, KB5000842. Now the company is using a fairly uncommon Known Issue Rollback (KIR) to resolve the problems, just after NVIDIA issued advice of its own to affected gamers.

Anyone testing out the very latest versions of Windows 10 has a new bug-fixing patch to install. With the release of the KB5001391 update, fixes and changes introduced to the Dev channel now make their way to the Beta and Release Preview channels.

This latest patch sees Microsoft taking Windows 10 20H2 up to build 19042.962 and Windows 10 21H1 up to build 19043.962. It includes a large number of bug fixes, and addresses problems with a profile-related Group Policy, and fixes an issue that caused soaring memory usage by the lsass.exe process, as well as high CPU usage that led to system lockups.

It is only a few days since Microsoft released the KB5001330 and KB5001337 updates for Windows 10 which kills off the legacy version of Edge. Having wondered aloud what problems might be caused by the latest batch of updates, we didn't have to wait long for the first issues to rear their heads.

But problems with gaming performance, boot loops and screen flicker are not, it would seem, the end of the story. Users are also reporting problems with DNS resolution and issues with shared folder following the installation of the KB5001330 update.

The writing has been on the wall for legacy Edge in Windows 10 for quite some time. Now, with the release of this month's updates for the operating system, Microsoft has finally pulled the trigger.

With the release of the KB5001330 and KB5001337 update for Windows 10, Microsoft has forcibly removed the old version of Edge and replaced it with the newer Chromium-based version of the browser.

Another Patch Tuesday has rolled around, and this month sees Microsoft releasing a bumper crop of update for Windows 10. In all, April's updates address a total of 108 flaws, 19 of which are considered Critical.

Four of the critical flaws are Exchange vulnerabilities discovered by the NSA, and there are also fixes for no fewer than five zero days. The patches also include fixes for an incredible 89 Important issues.

For Microsoft, March was marred by a string of problematic Windows 10 updates that caused a series of problems with printing and more. As we reach the end of the month, the company has released an optional patch which it will almost certainly be hoping proves less problematic.

The optional KB5000842 update is available for Windows 10 version 2004, and Windows 10 20H2. This monthly "C" release preview update aims to address a number of issues with the operating systems including problems with dark screens and other monitor glitches, and as well as system crashes associated with OneDrive.

Microsoft has released a new servicing stack update for Windows 10. The KB5001205 update is available for version 1909 of the operating system, and it addresses an issue with the Secure Boot feature.

The company says that the update fixes an issue that prevented another update installing. It also includes quality improvements to the servicing stack to help with the overall update experience in Windows 10.

If the recent printing problems caused by a string of Windows 10 updates weren't so disruptive -- and if the poor quality of updates from Microsoft hadn't been an issue for so long -- the situation would almost be funny.

As it is, however, those who have been affected by the bug-riddled updates find themselves extraordinarily frustrated and losing trust in Microsoft's ability to deliver reliable software. With so many updates, patches, bug fixes and workarounds having been released in the last couple of weeks, keeping on top of problems has been difficult. This PowerShell script should get things sorted once and for all.

Microsoft's appalling track record with problematic updates for Windows 10 shows absolutely no signs of abating. If the fiasco that came after this month's Patch Tuesday updates is anything to go by, if anything the situation is getting worse.

Over the last week or so, we have reported about printing problems that followed the release of March's updates, and the subsequent string of patches that not only failed to fix things but, in many cases, actually made things worse. Now the fubar'd fix has been deemed so problematic that Microsoft has taken the decision to pull it.

The printing problems that were caused by a recent update to Windows 10 have rumbled on, and on, and on... and on.

After the initial issue introduced by the Patch Tuesday updates earlier this month, there were complaints about printing problems from users, an acknowledge from Microsoft, a workaround that didn’t really cut the mustard, a fix that didn't help, and then admissions of further printing problems. Now the company has pushed out yet another out-of-band update which it -- and countless Windows 10 users -- will be hoping gets things sorted once and for all.

For years, Microsoft has used KB identifiers (or knowledge base identifiers that take the form KBXXXXXXX) to refer to updates for Windows. As well as being a handy means of identifying a particular update, it also provides an easy way to cross reference the same updates across various pieces of documentation.

But last month Microsoft announced that it is changing the system. The company is not getting rid of KB identifiers, but it is changing the way they are used in release notes and support documentation. In many instances, the KB identifier will be hidden in the source code of web pages -- something even Microsoft concedes is "not ideal".

More complaints are starting to surface about the KB4601319 update for Windows 10. The cumulative update was released last month, and has already been found to cause problems with some webcams.

Now this same update has been found to lead to issues with File History backups. Windows 10 KB4601319 update was pushed to users of the May 2020 Update and October 2020 Update last Patch Tuesday, and it is causing backups to fail for a number of people with a 80070005 error.

These days, it is almost a given that an update for Windows 10 will not only fix bugs and introduce new options, it is also likely to cause additional problems. It is something that Windows users have been painfully aware of for some time, and Microsoft has been working on a solution.

And that solution is KIR, or Known Issue Rollback. The new system enables Microsoft to rollback changes introduced by problematic patches rolled out through Windows Update. KIR only applies to non-security updates.