May updates also causing issues with security software

May 23, 2019 05:13 GMT  ·  By

The May 2019 monthly rollup for Windows 7, along with the security-only update released on Patch Tuesday, causes issues with antivirus software.

While Microsoft has already acknowledged problems with security products developed by McAfee, Sophos also released an advisory to confirm that monthly rollup KB4499164 and security-only update KB4499175 could cause devices to hang on boot.

If you believe you’ve heard of such an issue before, it’s because the April 2019 monthly rollup for Windows 7 also broke down antivirus software, once again making computers unable to start.

“We have had a few customers reporting that following on from the Microsoft Windows 14th May patches they are experiencing a hang on boot where the machines appear to get stuck on ‘Configuring 30%,’” Sophos explains.

Investigation under way

The security vendor claims Sophos Endpoint Security and Control and Sophos Central Endpoint Standard/Advanced are the impacted products. In a May 22 update, Sophos adds that it’s still working with Microsoft on a fix, with no ETA as to when it could be released. Microsoft hasn’t acknowledged problems with Sophos security products.

“We have been continuing to work directly with Microsoft to resolve this issue as quickly as possible. Progress has been made in identifying the root cause and we will continue to update this KBA when new information becomes available,” Sophos says.

The workaround right now is to remove the Windows Update in Safe Mode to be able to boot as normal.

“If you experience issues removing this in Safe Mode please set the “Sophos Anti-Virus” Service startup to be “Disabled” and then attempt to remove the update after coming out of Safe Mode,” the company says.

As for McAfee security products, Microsoft explains it’s investigating issues with this vendor as well, but once again, an ETA as to when a full fix could land isn’t yet available.