14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft has a long history of botched updates, and some of the fixes that it rolled out in the past months didn't fix anything but instead broke down the systems for many people out there.
And it turns out that the same is happening right now as well, but only on computers running security software developed by Avast.
Reports posted on Avast's forums and on the official Microsoft Community page point to November 2014 update rollup for Windows RT 8.1, Windows 8.1, and Windows Server 2012 R2 as the main source of the issue, and uninstalling this particular patch is pretty much the only way to deal with the issue.
Users whose computers were broken down by this update explain that, in most of the cases, their systems failed to boot or to install other fixes until Avast was completely uninstalled.
Details from both Microsoft and Avast are really scarce at the moment and it's yet unclear what exactly went wrong with the update, but right now it seems that quite a lot of users are experiencing the same problems. At this point, the Avast forum thread measures more than 19 pages full of complaints.
Avast has already issued a fix
A software developer at Avast confirmed the problems on the company's official forum and said that a new fix was available for users of the antivirus and Internet Security solutions.
“We have been able to simulate the problem in our lab and I think we fixed this issue. This Windows updates calls new memory related functions which are not fully compatible with Avast,” he posted.
Despite the patch, some users are getting pretty much the same problems, so more information from the two companies is clearly needed to deal with these issues.
What's in the November update
The November 2014 update rollup for Windows 8.1, which has often been referred to as Windows 8.1 Update 3, includes a large pack of improvements supposed not only to fix bugs in the operating system, but also to add new features and options for PC users.
For example, the update brings additional hardware support, refreshed language packs, improved Web Services for Devices printer support during network switches and improved manageability.
Just like all the other Windows updates, this particular release is being shipped to all PCs via Windows Update, so in case you're already running Windows 8.1, the patch might be there on your computer. In case you're experiencing problems with Avast, removing the application is now the only workaround.
