back to article Ice to see you! Windows 10 fix for freezing PCs finally flung at folks

Microsoft has finally patched its Windows 10 Anniversary Edition to hopefully stop it from freezing some PCs. A bunch of unlucky folks hit the rocks as soon as they installed the anniversary upgrade, and duly lit up Microsoft's support boards. It appears if you have multiple logical drives with app data stored on one of them, …

  1. hplasm
    Devil

    Microsoft doesn't say if the update will fix the other issues-

    - or just add more new ones.

    1. Dwarf

      Re: Microsoft doesn't say if the update will fix the other issues-

      Given past history, do you need to ask ???

      1. Stoneshop
        Headmaster

        Re: Microsoft doesn't say if the update will fix the other issues-

        Given past history,

        Well, present history and future history did have to wait until time travel had been made possible.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Microsoft doesn't say if the update will fix the other issues-

      - or just add more new ones.

      Ah, the one step forwards and slide three back routine that is typical with alpha software. When will MS learn?

      1. ecofeco Silver badge

        Re: Microsoft doesn't say if the update will fix the other issues-

        When? Is this trick question?

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Microsoft doesn't say if the update will fix the other issues-

        Ah, the one step forwards and slide three back routine that is typical with alpha software. When will MS learn?

        That's not the right question, as MS continues to make a profit they couldn't care less about you.

        The real question is when the USERS are going to learn. Given that MS has been selling shoddy software for over 4 decades at great profit, it appears the answer is either "never" or "there's one born every minute". If you persist using MS software despite such a vast body of evidence that it's rubbish you have in my view relinquished the right to complain.

        1. Medixstiff

          Re: Microsoft doesn't say if the update will fix the other issues-

          "The real question is when the USERS are going to learn. Given that MS has been selling shoddy software for over 4 decades at great profit, it appears the answer is either "never" or "there's one born every minute". If you persist using MS software despite such a vast body of evidence that it's rubbish you have in my view relinquished the right to complain."

          Simply put work uses Windows, hence why the user's get Windows on their PC's, they know how to use it and if it's good enough for work, it's good enough for users.

          If M$ Office and more specifically Outlook is ever ported to Linux, then watch companies really look at going the Linux on the desktop route, as no-one seems to have such a fully featured and integrated alternative to Outlook on Linux, sure there's plenty of Office applications but no real Outlook alternative.

          1. tiggity Silver badge

            Re: Microsoft doesn't say if the update will fix the other issues-

            There is no alternative to outllok on Linux.

            No there is not (hurray), just plenty of standards compliant email and calendar clients instead of proprietary nightmare app.

            Outlook use is mandated at wotrk (on Windows) and I hate it - bloaty, slow, buggy search etc.

            1. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              Re: Microsoft doesn't say if the update will fix the other issues-

              Outlook use is mandated at wotrk (on Windows) and I hate it - bloaty, slow, buggy search etc.

              You may hate it, but in my experience it's the most solid lock-in that Microsoft has on people, and that's even after it has the horrid ribbon UI treatment. It's the prime reason people stick with the insanely expensive MS Office - Outlook.

              The harsh reality is that end users want, even NEED that integration so anyone looking for an alternative supplier will have to come up with something that is at least offering the same integration, and I say that as someone who has successfully weaned himself and his companies off Microsoft.

              What I find astonishing is that even after world + dog complains about it being slow, buggy (etc etc ad infinitum), there has been no company that has even attempted to develop an alternative that works better and is OS independent in a way other than being written in (bleagh) Java. Why? There is a need and only one expensive provider so there is clearly a market opportunity - or is Outlook so wrapped up in patents it cannot be done?

              Fix the Outlook problem and you have broken the lock-in. Until then you might as well not bother IMHO as its integration fulfils a clear need (and no, Thunderbird + Lightning is clunky at best, although it may offer a good starting point as Mozilla is apparently keen to turn it into abandonware soon. Forget about KDE Kontakt).

          2. Terry 6 Silver badge

            Re: Microsoft doesn't say if the update will fix the other issues-

            It's Outlook that does it for me.

            As much as I loath Outlook I need something that integrates address book, email and calendar, All synchronised across various devices. And it does that.

            If I didn't need it it'd be 'nux all the way.

  2. TVU Silver badge

    "Ice to see you! Windows 10 fix for freezing PCs finally flung at folks"

    It really is a bit much when the permanently-at-Alpha-stage React OS is actually now more stable and reliable than Windows 10.

    1. Timmy B

      "React OS is actually now more stable and reliable than Windows 10" - Seriously??? I have tried it in various guises and all of them die after 5 minutes of use. What are you running it on as I'd like an install I can use to evaluate properly.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Seriously??? I have tried it in various guises and all of them die after 5 minutes of use.

        Whooosh.. :)

  3. Len Goddard

    Dodged the bullet

    Judging by the somewhat hazy description I would have fallen foul of that. Fortunately I have Win10 Pro set up not to take functional upgrades for 3 months. Gives time for all the poor saps using Win10 Home to beta test it for me.

    1. joed

      Re: Dodged the bullet

      And I'm entertaining the idea of setting up an LTSB or Pro Education even if I had to resort to likely dodgy KMS activators. Who should I trust more? MS or Russian hackers?

      1. a_yank_lurker

        Re: Dodged the bullet

        @joed - The Russian hackers, you know what they are doing and they more ethical than Slurp

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Dodged the bullet

      Judging by the somewhat hazy description I would have fallen foul of that. Fortunately I have Win10 Pro set up not to take functional upgrades for 3 months.

      I've dodged many of those bullets over the years, effortlessly, since I'm no longer using anything made by either Microsoft or Adobe...

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Childcatcher

    WTF?

    "It appears if you have multiple logical drives with app data stored on one of them, the system gets super confused when you try to log in."

    "It's just that lots of people have a fast SSD to boot from and a fat slower spinning disk to store their documents – and that's what upsets Windows 10."

    If this is true then it is laughable that it was released in that state. Those are not corner cases but an arrogant lack of pre-release testing.

    1. Gray
      Holmes

      Re: WTF?

      MS said: "And if you can't manage that, you'll have to contact Microsoft directly for help."

      "Sure, Mrs. Jones, no problem! Just pull the power cord from the wall socket; count to 30, and plug it back in. That should do it. No need to call back. Have a nice day ... goodbye! (This call may have been monitored to ensure your Microsoft User Experience.)

    2. gobaskof

      Re: WTF?

      You portioned your system to put core OS files on one partition and data (including app data) on another? This way what ever happens to the OS you can replace it while keeping your data. Standard practice for the competent computer user...

      "The competent computer user" - no wonder it broke Windows 10, no one expects a competent computer user to have Windows 10.

    3. CrAy-Z

      Re: WTF?

      I would say it was some kind of corner case. I know this because I have the arrangement described and have not seen any issues. I was on the insider builds - so if it was across the board I would have seen it too?

      Is a weird one though and points out that there is still a massive gap between the testing and the reality!

      1. Jeffrey Nonken

        Re: WTF?

        "I would say it was some kind of corner case. I know this because I have the arrangement described and have not seen any issues."

        And we should treat a single unsupported assertion as statistically significant because... ?

        Anyway, I think he was suggesting that having a separate data drive might not be a corner case, rather than the failure itself.

        I, of course, know that it's not a corner case because I have separate boot and data drives.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: WTF?

          I also boot from an SSD, but have all data on my old HDD. I even have a junction point set up to point the Steam install at the old cache on the HDD as I didn't want to download everything again.

          No issues after installing the update. It doesn't look like it is just OS disk + Data disk = FUBAR. more like OS disk + Data disk + ??? = FUBAR

  5. PaulR79

    "A small fraction"

    Oh how I loathe this and similar terms. A small fraction of millions is still a lot of upset people and making them seem insignificant in any way by referring to them as "a small fraction" will not do you any favours when you've royally fucked their systems. I know it won't change anything to rant.

  6. ecofeco Silver badge

    Safe mode?

    Hahahahahaha! Safe mode. Win 10 will not boot to Safe Mode unless you manually enable it... from the desktop in normal mode.

    You might be able to from diagnostic start up screens, but I haven't seen that work yet.

    So basically, no Safe Mode.

    The list of basic failures of this update is un-damn-believable.

    1. phuzz Silver badge
      Gimp

      Re: Safe mode?

      Can you get to the login screen? If so, hold down shift as you click on the power icon, and select 'Restart'. Windows should then restart to the diag menu.

      This really is a stupid way to reach safe mode, but it does exist, and works most of the time. Your other option is to boot a Win10 install CD/USB.

      1. ecofeco Silver badge

        Re: Safe mode?

        In my situation, when Safe Mode is needed, it's usually because the login in screen can't be accessed. The diagnostic screens still appear and are usable, but if they can't resolve the issue then I need to access Safe Mode.

        I've tried this several times now and Safe Mode just doesn't seem to work. MS tech notes say that Safe Mode must be enabled manually from a regular desktop or should be accessible from the Diagnostic Restart once the proper option is selected. If I can get to the regular desktop, then my problem is halfway solved in the first place and I can continue repairs, but Safe Mode from the Diag screen just doesn't seem to work.

        As for the alternative boot media, the client usually doesn't have one as Win 10 was installed via download.

        I haven't seen anything yet where I might be able to make a universal boot media USB or DVD, so I don't know if that's possible.

        Even so, this is far too complicated when the simple F8 should not have been eliminated.

        1. phuzz Silver badge

          Re: Safe mode?

          Assuming you have access to a working Windows box, you can download the Media Creation program from here, which will allow you to create a USB installer (or an ISO), and either use that to get into safe mode, or just to do a clean install.

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Trollface

    WTF!

    <hysterical rant about MSFT\>

  8. Medixstiff

    And this is why with every version of Windows from XP onwards, I always selected "Check for updates but let me decide whether to download and install them"

    Because the number of times M$ released dodgy updates that screwed things until a patch came out a week later, made it a smarter bet to wait two weeks to see if there were problems and even longer once one stuffed something up.

    1. phuzz Silver badge

      I waited a week, and still ran into this bug.

      Ended up doing a wipe and clean install, which because my files were on a separate disk, was pretty easy.

  9. Dave Ross

    I couldn't even get the update to install, it got to 35% complete and the machine restarted each time I tried. Meh, at last I don't have problems with it freezing I guess...

    1. Roland6 Silver badge

      That's because you need to start from a 'clean' machine!

      The only way I restored a tablet to full operation was to do a full factory reset, including user data. Do a full update on whatever build of Win10 was installed then update the build to the Anniversary edition and apply it's updates.

      It was only after doing this that I had a tablet that was fully functional; albeit without any of the pile of third-party applications previously installed and with all my settings lost.

      The sad ting is that this is the second time I've had to do a full reset, just to get a failed Win10 update to work on this tablet. Advised customer to fork out for an iPad as the update and restoration process is simpler.

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    It took Microsoft almost one bloody year

    ... to release a firmware update for the Surface Pro 3 battery bug

    Moral of the story: never be an early adopter of anything from Microsoft. Hardware, software or software updates.

    Also, since SatNad had ascended the Redmond throne Microsoft had culled plenty of jobs to cut costs. Obviously those lower down the IT food chain find themselves unemployed, including but not limited to software testers, patch makers etc. Not too hard to figure out.

  11. Florida1920
    FAIL

    Windows 10 was "free"

    And worth every cent!

    1. Len Goddard

      Re: Windows 10 was "free"

      and not worth what you paid for it ...

  12. Throatwarbler Mangrove Silver badge
    Windows

    No problems here

    Hey, I just wanted to pop in and say that Windows 10 has been rock-solid for me across all devices I use it on. Haven't noticed a single stability issue.

  13. Terry 6 Silver badge

    Safe Mode!

    Among the many threads of annoyance in Microsoft's various versions of their software it's the loss of functionality and control over the last few years that is making me most angry.

    * It's not so much that the Ribbon is a mess. It's that they removed the option to customise the various menus and remove the stuff we'd never use. (You can only hide a whole menu then recreate your own version)

    *It's that they buried users' own documents in with the system's settings (where they should never be) and used a pretend folder that only appears to contain them.

    *It's that they removed "Insert from scanner" in Office

    *It's that they've hidden creating System Restore points like it was a dirty secret.

    *It's that they have removed local backup/save in Onenote 2016 (Unless you have a 365 subscription)

    *It's that they first removed the Start menu, then brought it back in way that makes it virtually impossible to keep tidy and organised.

    *There's the strange partitioning tool that will only allow shrinking from one side of a partition so that you can't grow into it from the opposite non-adjacent side of the next.

    *And then this Safe Mode nonsense

    Over these last few years it has almost seemed as if MS execs sit round in a little committee to decide which bits can make the users lives a bit easier, then remove them.

    1. Terry 6 Silver badge

      Re: Safe Mode!

      I had to add to the comment above.

      I just discovered that my default Documents folder had been hijacked by Microsoft and moved into the One Drive folder. And the "Location" button now wasn't available in the Properties of this new folder, preventing it being moved back to where I wanted it.(Which wasn't the original default My Documents folder either BTW).

      I had to Google for a registry edit to move it back.

      Bastards!

  14. wired2thebrink

    the broken fix

    getting MODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED with driver NETIO.SYS at address NETIO.SYS+12890.

    now each time after the "FIX" update. have 2 SSD drives as primary raid and a USB 500gb backup usb drive. First time the error occured it had the effect of dismounting my raid array.

    apart from the irony of the so called fix breaking my system , I also have to use a MAC to download and burn the w10 ISO to recover the raid.

    Happen twice so far on shutdowns/restarts, will shortly be uninstalling it if the problem persists.Important to note had no issue with the Aniversary update like other had so the fix can break things with people withouht issues.

POST COMMENT House rules

Not a member of The Register? Create a new account here.

  • Enter your comment

  • Add an icon

Anonymous cowards cannot choose their icon

Other stories you might like