Microsoft’s First Windows 10 Pushed Update Causing Headaches

The latest (or first after July 29, take your pick) pushed update to Microsoft’s (MSFT) Windows 10 reportedly is giving users migraine headaches by forcing their PCs into the dreaded endless loop of crashes and reboots.

Anecdotal evidence is mounting that the KB3081424 update, which the vendor began pushing out to users last week, in some cases is crashing in mid-download, prompting the system to reboot and the update to roll back to the beginning where it begins again to try to install, the U.K.’s Register reported.

Word surfaced in late July that the Windows 10 Home end user license agreement (EULA) doesn’t offer any choice but to allow Microsoft to install not only security fixes but also a steady flow of feature updates as the operating system’s capabilities improve.

In other words, there’s no “on,” “off,” or the option to “pick and choose” the updates users want. For users, installing Windows 10 means allowing Microsoft to update the OS as it sees fit and adjusting to the upgrade. The only option a user gets is deciding when their system reboots after Windows Update installs new files–now or at a time of their choosing.

So when pushed updates cause problems, users can find themselves stuck in neutral.

Complaints about the KB3081424 update have begun to surface on the Microsoft Community Forum, as the Register reported.

“Downloads, reboot to install. Gets to 30% and reboots. Gets to 59% and reboots. Gets to 59% again and then states something went wrong so uninstalling the update … This happens without fail, every single time,” one user wrote.

“I’ve tried 10 times since the 5th and keep getting the same problem. I’m going out of town for a week. Maybe they’ll fix the update by then and it will work,” said another.

Microsoft still hasn’t offered a fix or a workaround. Some users have resorted to removing a file that controls Windows 10’s systems and programs from the Windows Registry, according to the report. But, obviously, users have to command a certain level of expertise to dive that deeply to fix the problem.

Ahead of Windows 10’s launch, word of a workaround to the pushed updates surfaced. A utility troubleshooter that appeared in the Windows 10 Insider Preview allowed users to rollback installed updates for Windows 10 or hardware drivers that cause system conflicts and block them from reloading.

But there’s been no word since if the utility works in the final version of Windows 10.

For the record, Windows 10 Pro users will be able to switch to the Current Branch for Business (CBB) version of Windows 10 to delay feature updates. And, Windows 10 Enterprise users opting for Long Term Servicing (LTS) will gain full control over their updates.