Microsoft Pulls Windows 10 Update Amid Serious Bug Reports

News
By Avram Piltch, Andrew E. Freedman
published

Microsoft just hit the pause button on its new October 2018 update, also known as Build 1809. After some users reported that their documents were deleted as part of the update and others complained of driver issues, the software giant has stopped the update so its developers can work on fixes. 

The company first posted the news on one of its support pages. 

"We have paused the rollout of the Windows 10 October 2018 Update (version 1809) for all users as we investigate isolated reports of users missing some files after updating."

Microsoft advises users who have had an issue to call its support lines or access online help. The company says that users who have not installed Build 1809 yet will not get it via automatic update and it advises anyone who has created an installation disk using the Windows download tool not to install it to any new computers. 

Microsoft launched Build 1809 on Tuesday, but almost immediately some users began reporting that, after the updated completed, files in the user directory were gone, including documents, photos and music. MSPoweruser first reported the news.

On Reddit, a thread in r/Windows10 (the Windows 10 community on the platform) compiled several reports of the issue. Others were discussing the issue on Twitter and in Microsoft's own forums. 

Some users suggest that folders and documents backed up to OneDrive are the ones most likely to make it through the update. However, we didn't have files backed up to OneDrive and experienced no problems on four different laptops we updated to Build 1809 this week.

Additionally, ZDNet reports that some devices may see issues with certain Intel audio drivers (intcdaud.sys, versions 10.25.0.3 – 10.25.0.8) that "may result in excessive processor demand and reduced battery life," according to a Windows support document.

If you already installed Build 1809, Intel says a fix for the audio driver problem is available in version 10.25.0.10, which is included with Intel Graphics Driver version 24.20.100.6286. Intel suggests that all users with 6th Gen or newer processors update to that graphics driver before updating.

There's no word yet on when Microsoft plans to resume the rollout or how many users lost their files. We will update this article if more details become available.

Avram Piltch
Avram Piltch
Avram Piltch is Tom's Hardware's editor-in-chief. When he's not playing with the latest gadgets at work or putting on VR helmets at trade shows, you'll find him rooting his phone, taking apart his PC or coding plugins. With his technical knowledge and passion for testing, Avram developed many real-world benchmarks, including our laptop battery test.
92 Comments Comment from the forums
  • jimmysmitty
    The missing files issues looks to be more if people do something non standard with those folders. If they leave them as they are it looks like nothing changes from previous upgrades.

    That said anyone who is installing a full blown OS upgrade to their system and did not do some sort of backup before hand are at fault. People seem to like to "forget" to backup then blame anyone else when they should have just done a backup and everything would have been just fine.

    I personally have my user folders on a different drive. That way if I decide to reinstall I don't ever have to worry about losing anything.
    Reply
  • InvalidError
    21374493 said:
    That said anyone who is installing a full blown OS upgrade to their system and did not do some sort of backup before hand are at fault.
    There is one large hole in that argument: unless you go out of your way to disable automatic updates, Windows 10 doesn't ask permission before updating and rebooting, it simply picks a time window where you aren't typically using your computer.
    Reply
  • USAFRet
    But the plug in that large hole is...why isn't there an actual backup anyway?

    Completely disregarding a major OS update..every time you press the power button, you should have a backup of anything critical.
    Reply
  • bgunner
    While I did not loose any files by upgradeing my keyboard software for my G.Skill MK780R MX no longer works. There will be more issues to pop up with this update so be ready to report on them also.
    Reply
  • Ivanpua
    windows 10 is becoming a not suitable OS for workstations...
    Reply
  • rxc
    Unfrtunately, the vast majority of computer users have no idea what is involved in doing a backup. My wife, who is semi-literate, thought that since she was saving her documents to the desktop, they were saved and safe. The spring update wiped out all of the data in the user folder, so she lost everything. Her bad - she did not want me to set up her new computer, saying that she could do that herself (maybe a reflection of the current trend towards empowerment). I could not recover anything. I have now given her a thumb drive to do real backup, but I suspect that it will never be done.

    The bigger problem is that MS is pushing these updates, and that the owner of the machine cannot really control when they are installed. Yes, you can delay them, for a while, but it requires considerable effort to monitor the update scheduler, which is an abomination. The owner should decide when the updates get installed, not MS.
    Reply
  • levijonesm
    Forced updates, combined with serious bugs like these, are becoming quite burdensome. We are being used as beta testers.

    I have set my WIFI connection as "metered" and limited the bandwidth used in Windows Update (under -> Delivery Optimization -> Advanced) to 5%, which is the minimum allowed, in an attempt to delay the update as much as possible.
    Reply
  • tim.hotze
    Even a POSSIBLE issue with OneDrive should give people pause, since for many users, that IS the backup (or one of the ways files are backed up). Although I occasionally will back up my whole disk, for the most part, OneDrive is my day-to-day backup, so anything that affects data there WILL cause some data loss for me. (I guess I could go to another computer that hasn't been on since my main PC was updated, disconnect it from the network so it won't sync files, copy the OneDrive folder somewhere, then turn it on and re-sync, but chances are, I'd still lose at least a couple days' worth of stuff that way).
    Reply
  • Peter Martin
    If you’re not back your stuff up well too bad. stuff happens
    Reply
  • jimmysmitty
    21374540 said:
    21374493 said:
    That said anyone who is installing a full blown OS upgrade to their system and did not do some sort of backup before hand are at fault.
    There is one large hole in that argument: unless you go out of your way to disable automatic updates, Windows 10 doesn't ask permission before updating and rebooting, it simply picks a time window where you aren't typically using your computer.

    I agree with this. Except this update is not being pushed out to people yet and most people who have gotten this update have decided to push it themselves.

    I also checked the report and it seems it is people who do non-standard things with their user folder, i.e. they change the location or something else. I just pushed it to my work system and it was fast and everything was as it was when I started it. In fact everything feels snappier now which I was not expecting.

    Still point is valid, as USAFRet said there should always be a backup update or not. One on site and one off site at least to avoid situations like these. What if their SSD/HDD failed?

    21374849 said:
    Forced updates, combined with serious bugs like these, are becoming quite burdensome. We are being used as beta testers.

    I have set my WIFI connection as "metered" and limited the bandwidth used in Windows Update (under -> Delivery Optimization -> Advanced) to 5%, which is the minimum allowed, in an attempt to delay the update as much as possible.

    This is easier:

    Change the Setting of the Group Policy Editor

    The Group Policy feature is not available in the Home edition. So, only when you run Windows 10 Professional, Enterprise, or Education, you can use the Group Policy Editor to change the settings to prevent Windows 10 from automatically updating. The group policy editor will notify you of new updates without automatically installing them.

    Press the Windows logo key + R then type gpedit.msc and click OK.
    Go to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows Update.
    Double-click Configure Automatic Updates.
    Select Disabled in Configured Automatic Updates on the left, and click Apply and OK to disable the Windows automatic update feature.

    Note: If you need to update your Windows version later, you can repeat the steps above, then select Enabled to turn on this feature, so that you can continue to download the updates.

    We use it at work for that very purpose as we prefer not to have a hundred people calling about updates taking forever (it seems to go pretty fast on SSDs but takes 2-4 hours on HDDs) or things not working.
    Reply