[Njtechdiv] Windows 10 uninstalling buggy updates

[Mario Brusco]

Windows 10 will now automatically uninstall buggy updates
https://www.komando.com/happening-now/554278/windows-10-will-now-automatically-uninstall-buggy-updates?utm_medium=nlutm_source=notdutm_content=2019-03-13

By Francis Navarro

The past year was not particularly great for Windows Updates. From the 
rushed patches to fix the Spectre/Meltdown chip flaws  to the disastrous 
rollout of the Windows 10 October 2018 Update, Microsoft's Windows 10 
were quite problematic, to say the least.
https://www.komando.com/happening-now/458995/windows-10-meltdown-patch-has-a-fatal-flaw

https://www.komando.com/happening-now/507012/should-you-finally-download-the-newest-windows-10-update

It was a weird, strange dance - updates pulled back because of issues, 
emergency patches rolled out to fix problems caused by another emergency 
patch, actual advisories from Microsoft to hold off installing the 
updates - those were confusing times for Windows users.

Updates are supposed to fix problems not cause more problems, right? 
Well, tell that to the multitude of users who had their files deleted, 
computers bricked or systems blue-screened-to-death by yet another buggy 
Windows 10 Update.

To prevent these patchy situations (and maybe a subtle admission that 
there actually is a problem with its update process), Microsoft is 
introducing a new feature in Windows 10 that will help you recover from 
a disastrous update.
https://support.microsoft.com/en-au/help/4492307/windows-10-why-were-recently-installed-updates-removed

Windows 10 Update will now try and clean up its own mess

Microsoft is quietly rolling out a new Windows 10 feature that will 
automatically uninstall any Windows Updates that are problematic. This 
feature is meant to help systems recover from buggy updates that have 
compatibility issues, especially specific ones that prevent them from 
booting up.

Here's how it's supposed to work: When Windows 10 fails to boot up after 
an update, it will automatically attempt to uninstall recently installed 
updates, all without the need for user interaction.

When this happens, your Windows 10 machine will display this message 
after a successful recovery: "We removed some recently installed updates 
to recover your device from a startup failure."

Although this will only be triggered after other automatic recovery 
attempts have been tried, meaning this will be used as the last resort, 
it's still a welcome change that will save many Windows 10 users from 
troubleshooting a "bricked" machine via Safe Mode or Windows Recovery.

Windows will also block updates automatically

Here's another new feature. If a buggy update was automatically 
uninstalled due to a startup failure, Microsoft will then block any 
problematic updates from installing automatically on the machine for the 
next 30 days.

According to Microsoft, this move will give the company and its partners 
time to "investigate the failure and fix any issues." After 30 days, 
Windows will try automatically installing updates again.

But what if startup issues occur even after that time frame? Judging by 
how this new system works, I guess the process starts all over again 
with the buggy updates automatically uninstalled and the 30-day grace 
period reset back to zero.

Remember, Microsoft already made changes to its update process, and it 
will only push out an update to your specific machine if its data shows 
that it won't cause any issues. If they detect that there are lingering 
problems, such as driver and application incompatibilities, an update 
won't be installed on your particular Windows 10 computer.

How about manual installs?

It's quite nice of Microsoft to let Windows 10 clean up its own mess, 
but what if updates were uninstalled in error? In these cases, Microsoft 
points to its instructions on how to update drivers in Windows 10 or 
install quality updates manually:

• Update drivers in Windows 10
https://support.microsoft.com/en-au/help/4028443/windows-10-update-drivers

• Install quality updates
https://support.microsoft.com/en-au/help/323166/how-to-download-updates-that-include-drivers-and-hotfixes-from-the-win

So what do you think? Is this new feature a genuine move from Microsoft 
to help out its Windows 10 user base? Or is it an admission on its part 
that its recent Windows 10 updates are terribly inconsistent?

Shouldn't the company focus more on actually improving its updates than 
pushing out Band-Aid fixes like this? Drop us a comment and let us know!

Back up your data!

Nowadays, applying updates can be nerve-wracking affairs. You just never 
know if there are any system-breaking bugs that made it to any 
particular update. This is why it's important to make sure you have a 
complete backup of your machine at all times.