14 DAY TRIAL // Windows 10 cumulative updates do come in handy because they make it possible for users to bring their computers fully up to date by simply installing the latest version, but it’s no secret that these releases have been causing quite a lot of issues every month.
More recently, however, Microsoft has tried to get in touch with users to determine the cause of the issues they experience, but even so, fixes that would address problems for absolutely everyone were never released.
The same happened this month when Microsoft rolled out KB3189866 to Windows 10 users, but just like before, this cumulative update shipped with a bug that got the installer stuck at 45 or 95 percent. And once again, no fix was released, although we did find a workaround that actually helped the majority of users seeing the error.
In a recent post, Microsoft engineer Nathan Mercer explains that Microsoft is, in fact, paying substantial attention to getting cumulative updates right, despite the criticism.
“Our focus on both quality and dealing rapidly with regressions is our highest priority,” he explained, adding that the company is working together with partners to ensure that cumulative updates aren’t hit with any compatibility issues.
“We do perform our own internal validation with a large number of ISV apps to validate patches; some ISVs also receive pre-release access to these updates to perform their own validation. ISVs can also open support cases with us, just like we will open cases with them when we find issues,” he continued.
Just get in touch with Microsoft
So what are users supposed to do if they experience a problem with a cumulative update? Mercer says that they need to open support cases and someone at Microsoft will work together with impacted users to find a workaround. The majority of users, however, complained that contacting Microsoft support often makes no difference and getting help from company engineers directly often involves waiting for longer that they can afford.
Mercer also says that impacted users and organizations can always remove the update and wait until a fix is released, although we do know that, in many cases, waiting is not an option. Not to mention that nobody knows exactly how much they actually have to wait considering that Redmond doesn’t usually provide specific release dates.
“We could choose to revise the update package, or provide an additional update that could be installed over the top of the offending update. We’ve found over time in our experience on Windows 10 that we’re better able to deliver quality servicing and better able to respond to any issues with this approach,” Mercer adds.
So there you go, Microsoft is making efforts to get Windows 10 cumulative updates right, and hopefully fewer problems would be experienced when the next ones are released. For the moment, however, you'd better try installing KB3189866 manually if you do experience the freezing bug during install.