Latest Windows 10 Update Problems and How to Fix Them

Windows 10 is, by and large, a pretty good operating system. Microsoft have gone in hard on keeping their operating systems as unified as possible with forceful (though no longer completely mandatory updates), free upgrades to older Windows users and so on. Unfortunately, a possible consequence of Microsoft’s fast pushing of Windows updates means that some of them cause problems.

There are some improvements. At the start of 2020 Microsoft revealed that drivers pending approval will no longer be released concurrently with Windows 10 updates, but so far this year it seems that updates are just as prone to causing problems as they were before.

KB4566782: BSOD, Green(!) Screen of Death, Performance Issues (Lenovo users worst-affected)While BSOD (or Blue Screen of Death) errors are bad, at least there’s a familiarity to them and a sense that the Windows OS feels designed to do something about them. Green screens of death, on the other hand, are much rarer, and therefore scarier, and that’s what some users are reporting with this recent ‘bug-fixing’ update.

Luckily, GSOD is basically the same thing as BSOD, so it’s not like it’s necessarily more serious, but it’s still a cause for concern much like any broken Windows 10 update. Lenovo users seem to be disproportionately affected by the unwanted side-effects of this August 2020 update.

While we wait for an official fix, some users have reported that disabling virtualization features like Hyper-V- Intel virtualization and Windows Sandbox can help.

[FIXED] May 2020 (2004) Update: “No Internet” Warning

What is a computer without internet? Many users who have downloaded the Windows 10 May 2020 update (v2004) are probably in a good position to answer this philosophical question after the update has been causing the “No internet” indicator to appear, despite the fact that they can continue browsing the web.

Users have been reporting that in the notification tray, the yellow hazard triangle has appeared over the Wi-Fi or ethernet symbol, denoting that there is no internet access. This issue occurs over both wired and wireless connections.

While the internet should still work with this error, various apps like Spotify, Cortana and Microsoft Store might not.

The Fix

While Microsoft sorts this issue, you can fix it in the registry editor like so:

Open the registry editor (Win + R then regedit), back up the registry, then go to the following registry address:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\NlaSvc\Parameters\Internet

Double-click “EnableActiveProbing”, change the “value data” to 1, then click OK and restart your PC.

[FIXED] May 2020 (2004) Update Blocked

This is a strange one. Many Windows users have now received the option to manually install the Windows 10 May 2020 update. But when they click it, they just get the notification that “This PC can’t be upgraded to Windows 10”.

Don’t worry, this isn’t a problem at your PC’s end. It just that there are unspecified “unsupported settings” in this version of Windows 10 that aren’t yet ready to be released to the public. It’s annoying, but it’s simply a case of waiting out the update until it’s ready at Microsoft’s end. Granted, it’s a ‘May’ update and we’re now in July, but that’s the Windows update process for you!

On the bright side, it’s good to see Microsoft withholding an update on account of it not being ready, because a rushed release could lead to similar problems to those listed below.

KB4556799: BSOD, Flickering Screen, Audio Issues, Buggy Fonts

The latest Windows 10 update, KB455699, is meant to improve stability for the latest versions of Windows 10 (v1903 and v1909). While it does that for most users, it also doubles as a Who’s Who of Windows update problems for some – including a Blue Screen of Death, white flickers, changes to system fonts, audio problems

Based on the number of problems it causes, this update is one of the worst Windows 10 updates to date.

Thankfully, Microsoft has made it easier to uninstall Windows 10 updates, and this problem can be fixed by doing that. Scroll down for pointers on how to uninstall Windows updates.

How to Fix and Avoid Broken Windows 10 Updates

Uninstall Windows 10 Updates

You can uninstall smaller Windows 10 updates (to roll back builds, see next heading) by doing the following. In Windows, go to Settings -> Update & Security -> View update history -> Uninstall updates.

In this window, scroll down in the main pane to the “Microsoft Windows” heading, and you’ll see all the KB and security updates for Windows 10, along with the dates they were installed. Simply right-click the one you want to uninstall, and reboot your PC.

How to Roll Back Windows 10 Builds

After every major update Windows 10 gives you a ten-day window to roll back to a previous version of Windows. It’s a useful feature and should give you enough time to judge whether you have a problematic update. Of course, this won’t recover your files if Windows 10 deletes them, but at least you’ll be on a more stable version of the OS.

To do this, go to Windows 10 Settings, then click “Update & security -> Recovery.” Below “Reset this PC” you should see the option to “go back to the previous version of Windows 10.” Click “Get started,” then follow the steps to roll back Windows 10. Again, this option is only available for ten days after a Windows 10 build update.

Check Your Windows 10 Build

Before looking into rolling back and fixing broken Windows 10 updates, you need to check which build of Windows you’re currently on, which will confirm which issues are affecting you. To do this, just go to “Settings -> Update & Security -> View update history.”

In the new window click the arrow next to “Feature Updates” to see the version of Windows that you’re currently using, and click “Quality Updates” to see all the smaller “KB” updates you have installed.

Block and Defer Windows 10 Updates

The first thing you can do to avoid getting the above update problems and more is to take over the control when your Windows 10 updates. This way you can hold off getting updates the moment Microsoft rolls them out, monitor the news for a bit to see if any major errors crop up, then manually do the update yourself.

Recently, Windows Insiders revealed that an update is coming to Windows 10 (around April 2019) which will allow all Windows users (including Home users) to pause updates by up to seven days. In the meantime, if you’re on Windows 10 Pro, enterprise, Education or S, you can postpone updates by going to Settings -> Update & Security -> Windows Update. Here, select the option ‘Choose when updates are installed’ and pick the number of days you’d like to delay it by.

Few things on PC are more frustrating than an update – ostensibly to improve performance – borking your system, but unfortunately Microsoft has form in this respect. Other teething issues with Windows 10 include the Start menu search not working and the Windows Store not working, so we can help you out there too!