It has been almost two weeks since Microsoft released updates for Windows 10 as part of their October 2018 Patch Tuesday and what a long two weeks it has been. These updates could have been Microsoft’s worst Patch Tuesday in a long time with numerous bugs that not only made Windows 10 PCs unusable, but for some resulted in the loss of personal files.
It got so bad that Microsoft had to pull the Windows 10 October 2018 Update in order to give themselves times to properly figure out what was causing the problems, fix them, and then test the updated build with Windows Insiders.
In this article, we will review the worst bugs associated with these updates and the solutions that are available to resolve them.
October 2018 Update deleted some user’s files
By far the most disastrous bug was in the Windows 10 October 2018 Update that caused user’s data to be deleted during the update process. For these users, the only way to recover their data was from backup, shadow volume copies, through system restore, or through file recovery software.
It got to the point that Microsoft was recommending that the affected computers not be used so that file recovery software would have a better chance of recovering files.
A week later, Microsoft announced that they have determined that deletion of files was related to “Known Folder Redirection” being enabled on the user’s computer. Their explanation is below.
“Prior to re-releasing the October 2018 Update our engineering investigation determined that a very small number of users lost files during the October 2018 Update,” stated the Microsoft announcement. “This occurred if Known Folder Redirection (KFR) had been previously enabled, but files remain in the original “old” folder location vs being moved to the new, redirected location. KFR is the process of redirecting the known folders of Windows including Desktop, Documents, Pictures, Screenshots, Videos, Camera Roll, etc. from the default folder location, c:usersusername, to a new folder location. In previous feedback from the Windows 10 April 2018 Update, users with KFR reported an extra, empty copy of Known Folders on their device,” explains John Cable, Director of Program Management, Windows Servicing and Delivery, Microsoft. “Based on feedback from users, we introduced code in the October 2018 Update to remove these empty, duplicate known folders. That change, combined with another change to the update construction sequence, resulted in the deletion of the original “old” folder locations and their content, leaving only the new “active” folder intact”.
Unfortunately, for those who did not have backups or shadow volume copies to restore from, the only way to fix this issue is to use a file recovery software like Recuva.
Incompatible keyboard driver crashed HP PCs
After installing the latest batch of updates, users found that their HP computers were receiving BSOD crashes that displayed a WDF_VIOLATION error. These crashes were being caused by a incompatible HP keyboard driver (version 11.0.3.1) that was being delivered via Windows Update.
According to a support article, Microsoft has identified the problematic driver and removed it from Windows Update. For those who installed the driver, but had not rebooted yet, Microsoft has released another update that removes the incompatible driver.
“In working with HP, Microsoft has identified an HP driver with known incompatibility with certain HP devices on Windows 10 versions 1803 and 1809. On October 11, Microsoft removed the driver from Windows Update to reduce the number of devices affected. Additionally, we have released KB 4468304 to remove the incompatible driver from devices pending reboot. HP is actively working on this issue.”
For those who had already installed the driver, rebooted, and are now seeing the crashes, you will need to follow the instructions here.
Audio Broken after installing updates
For a short period of time, Microsoft was pushing an Intel audio driver to users by mistake that caused their audio to no longer work in Windows 10 1803 and 1809. When users were affected by this driver, they would no longer hear sound in Windows 10 and the operating system would display a message stating “No Audio Output Device is installed”.
Microsoft has since stopped the distribution of this driver, but if you were affected, you can fix your audio by following the instructions here.
Display brightness issues after installing updates
After installing the Windows 10 October 2018 Update, some users are complaining that their display brightness is reset to a very low number every time they reboot their computer. They then have to manually change it for that session.
It may be possible to fix this by checking for an updated graphics driver, but most people who are affected state that this does not help.
Unfortunately, at this time there is no known fix for this issue.
Microsoft Edge & UWP apps can’t connect to the Internet
With the release of Windows 10 1809, Microsoft Edge and Microsoft Store apps now require TCP/IPv6 to be enabled or they will not be able to connect to the Internet.
To turn on IPv6 in the TCP settings, please follow these steps:
- Open Settings
- Click on Network & Internet
- Click Change adapter options
- Right-click on the adapter that you use to connect to the Internet and select Properties.
- Make sure there is a checkmark next to Internet Protocol Version 6 (TCP/IPv6)
- Press the OK button to exit the properties.
Now test to see if you can connect to the Internet using Edge and your apps.
If you still cannot connect, you may also have to make a change in the registry. Open regedit.exe and navigate to the “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetServicesTcpip6Parameters” key.
Once there, look for a value named DisabledComponents and make sure it is set to 0.
What needs your attention alerts about Intel Audio drivers
Finally, if you are trying to install the latest updates and see notifications that states “What needs your attention” and then shows a driver labeled “Intel Audio Display (intcdaud.sys), KB4465877”, you will not be able to install the latest Windows 10 upgrade.
You are seeing this message because Microsoft has detected an incompatibility with the Intel drivers that could problems with the Windows 10 October 2018 update. If you see this message, Microsoft states you should press back and wait until updated drivers are available before you upgrade your machine again.