Microsoft changed the way Windows Update works for Windows 10 Home users. All updates are automatic: there’s no way to disable or delay updates.

That could be a good thing for many users, since it will help ensure their computers receive the latest security updates with little to no user intervention. But every now and again Microsoft sends out a buggy update which can cause problems… and that’s just what seems to have happened with the first major update to Windows 10.

windows update auto

Last week Microsoft released a Cumulative Update for Windows 10 which was designed to fix bugs and improve performance. For most users, that’s pretty much what it does.

But some portion of users have found that the update doesn’t install cleanly. Instead, a computer tries to download the update and install it. The system reboots a few times and then discovers that it’s unable to fully install the software, so it cancels the process and boots into Windows.

Unfortunately, because automatic updates are mandatory, after you return to Windows, the operating system will try to install the update again, even after failing the first time.

Users have found a way to edit a Windows registry setting to cancel this particular update. But if you don’t want to muck about in the registry, you might just want to wait a while: it’s likely that Microsoft will eventually push a new version of the Windows Update.

Still… this is exactly the kind of thing people were worried about when Microsoft announced it would be pushing updates automatically.

Fortunately Windows 10 Pro and Enterprise users have a little more flexibility about the timing of their updates, making it easier to wait until Microsoft’s latest bug fixes have been thoroughly tested to make sure they don’t introduce new bugs before installing them.

via ZDNet

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14 replies on “Trouble with mandatory updates: Some Windows 10 users experiencing reboot after reboot”

  1. This is an issue I had when I used the Preview. I would just use Windows after until the next week the same would happen again. I just reinstalled my old Vista image earlier last month. I didn’t want to stay on Insider preview if updates were just gonna fail every single time.

  2. The Cumulative Update was last Wednesday and people are just noticing reboots now?

  3. After an update and the system reboots, my screen will go blank and unresponsive. I have to hold the power button down to manually shut down the computer, and then reboot it again. Anyone have the same problem?

  4. The auto updates are a good thing. Even a necessary thing. Otherwise too many people simply never do updates, leaving their machines vulnerable to attack. That wouldn’t be so bad if it was just those people who ended up with problems. But what actually happens is those machines become weaponized and used for DNS attacks and other mischief making.

    All that said it’s fairly un-effing believable that Microsoft didn’t build a fail-safe installation error recovery into the system.

    1. What Microsoft lacks in logic and common sense, they make for it in ‘trial and error’. Unless, of course, they can monetize the gaffes.

  5. Hopefully, MS will walk the whole auto update thing back. Just like the start menu…

  6. I’m not certain of this, but I believe you can stop the endless cycle by selecting “notify to reboot” rather than “automatic” in the settings area shown above. That’s how I set it up on the second Win10 machine, but I haven’t received the notification yet.

  7. Internet speed on everything. Everybody with clue warned about the updates. Nobody expected to see the it happen while the rollout hype was still going on.

  8. This is the type of reason why, unless you have a compelling need to do so, you wait a few months before upgrading.

    1. I’ve had Windows updates brick computers on mature versions of the Windows OS. I suspect it happens all the time and that we’re just hearing about this because Win10 is new.

      That said, I don’t like the fact that you can’t hide updates.

        1. So you have to find and download that troubleshooter whenever you have a problem? That seems like an awkward solution.

          1. It’ll probably be included as standard later, it’s just one of the last minute things they introduced in July, just before the official release… Like the Service Release, and features like being able to move apps to a SD/microSD card, not everything was quite ready for prime time on the 29th but will be included later in future updates…

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