14 DAY TRIAL // Windows 10 version 2004, or the May 2020 Update, is still being rolled out to users across the world gradually, which means that some devices are still waiting to get the new release.
This approach allows Microsoft to find bugs in the early stages and prevent them from hitting more devices, and it’s all possible with upgrade blocks that suspend the rollout for certain configurations.
Such an upgrade block was announced in late May (when Windows 10 version 2004 was officially released) for some computers with NVIDIA graphics cars, and it was all because of incompatible drivers.
In other words, because of old drivers that were running on some devices, Windows 10 version 2004 wasn’t published on Windows Update.
And naturally, the one thing that users needed to fix the whole thing was just to update the drivers to a newer version that was optimized for Windows 10 version 2004. Microsoft explained that trying to upgrade to Windows 10 May 2020 Update with a driver version older than 358.00 could lead to a fatal crash on Windows 10 devices.
“Nvidia and Microsoft have found incompatibility issues with certain versions of Nvidia display adapter drivers and Windows 10, version 2004 (the Windows 10 May 2020 Update). Windows 10 devices with affected Nvidia display driver versions might receive a stop error with a blue screen or other issues during or after installing the update to Windows 10, version 2004. The affected drivers are any version lower than 358.00,” Microsoft said back in May when it rolled out the new feature update.
Needless to say, while Microsoft configured an upgrade block, which prevented users from installing the new release via Windows Update, some decided to turn to alternative methods to do the whole thing, such as the stand-alone ISOs. And while this does allow to install the May update on a device targeted by an upgrade block, this obviously wasn’t recommended because of the Blue Screen of Death error that I told you about earlier.
“New drivers now available.”
NVIDIA has finally come up with new drivers that are fully optimized for Windows 10 version 2004, so what you need to do to be offered the new feature update is to just install the latest release. You can find the newest Nvidia display drivers on this page.
“To mitigate this issue, you will need to check with your device manufacturer (OEM) to see if an updated driver is available and install it,” Microsoft explains.
While the bug is now listed as “mitigated,” Microsoft says it is still working on a fix, and it would be shipped to devices in mid-August. Most likely, the new drivers would be pushed to Windows 10 devices on August 11 as part of the next Patch Tuesday cycle, at which point Microsoft can safely remove the upgrade block for everyone and begin shipping the May update to more devices.
“Microsoft is working on a resolution and estimate a solution will be available in mid-August. We recommend that you do not attempt to manually update using the Update now button or the Media Creation Tool until the safeguard is removed,” the company says.
If no upgrade block is in place, you should technically be able to download Windows 10 May 2020 Update from Windows Update. The new release is available as an automatic update on devices approaching the end of support but is also offered to those who manually check for updates on computers currently running Windows 10 version 1903 and 1909.
The Media Creation Tool also helps users upgrade their devices and create bootable media using the latest Windows 10 release.