14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft published new Windows 10 cumulative updates only a few days ago as part of the November 2020 Patch Tuesday cycle, and naturally, the May 2020 Update, or version 2004, received its very own set of improvements too.
These landed as cumulative update KB4586781 and included security fixes when using certain peripherals and the Microsoft Office security suite, as well as improved security when Windows performs basic operations.
Microsoft originally said KB4586781 came with just two known issues (a third one for Windows Server was added at a later time), but none of them had anything to do with failed installs or BSODs.
And yet, as it turns out, both still happen, and posts online are the living proof in this regard. A Microsoft Answers thread spotted by TechDows, as well as several other complaints published by users on various forums indicate that cumulative update KB4586781 sometimes fails to install, and when it does manage to deploy successfully it actually causes more problems, the worst of which is a fatal crash of the system.
Someone on Microsoft’s forums explains that this cumulative update was offered to their new laptop and after installation, the device ended up hitting a BSOD that made it impossible to use it. By the looks of things, KB4586781 is the only one that could have caused the problems, and several other users confirmed in messages in the same thread that installing this cumulative update causes similar errors on their computers too.
“However, when my laptop was restarted and updated the above windows update, it ran into problems and turned to "blue screen". And then, the laptop switched off itself automatically. I pressed the "On" button of my laptop, it restarted and automatically repaired itself. Then, it switched off itself again. I pressed the "On" button of my laptop 2nd time. Then, the laptop removed the latest windows update of the above. It worked again. I strongly believe there is a serious problem with the Windows update KB4586781,” they say.
The bigger problem is that a failed update keeps trying to install, eventually causing the boot problems over and over again, so the only way to go is to actually block its installation completely.
Others claim that the update just fails to install, this time with no BSOD.
“I have the same issue. the same pack fails to install on a daily basis. But I don't want this update, how can I stop it? I need to work and cannot have another meltdown, I have stabilized my laptop by disabling Norton and Chrome, although errors keep on arising,” someone says. “I hope mine won't go BSOD soon! Keep failing 3 times already for this Windows Update, It tried to rollback the update & luckily my desktop is still able to boot up,” another user adds.
The good news right now is that these problems don’t seem to be very widespread, the likelihood of similar issues hitting your device is quite low. Unless you installed the update already and everything is working correctly, that is.
To determine if this cumulative update is already on your device, just click the Start menu and type winver. The OS build number should be 19041.630 for Windows 10 version 2004 and 19042.630 for Windows 10 version 20H2 – if the build number is anything lower than that, then your device isn’t yet running this cumulative update, and you’ll have to either get it from Windows Update with a check for update or manually from the Microsoft Update Catalog.