back to article Day two – and Windows 10 October 2018 Update trips over Intel audio

Barely a day into release and Microsoft has admitted there is a problem with its shiny new OS and chips from Intel. Using Intel Display Audio? No Windows for you! As well as the usual complaints from overenthusiastic users reporting freezes during setup and mysteriously vanishing files or apps, a low rumble of dissatisfaction …

  1. Wolfclaw
    Facepalm

    Upgraded yesterday using USB, no issues found so far on using a Ryzen 2600 and Asus Prime x470 Pro, even the Intel NIC is behaving itself. So glad I decided against an Intel rig, yes AMD not prone to issues, but compared to Intel, life is easier.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      I never update or upgrade on the first week, it's too dangerous.

      1. Grikath

        I simply stick to 7.

        But hey .....Troglodite and all...

        1. DoctorPaul

          Likewise, and the next move will be to Mint

        2. Kris Sweeney

          Windows 7 is no protection

          Running Windows 7 Ult and my audio died with the October update. While recording devices can be installed successfully and stream audio, all audio output devices failed and were marked with an exclamation mark in device manager following a reboot. no combination of uninstall, reboot, reinstall, download latest known good, rinse and repeat has worked.

          Devices have the following explanation as to why the installation fails:

          'Windows cannot verify the digital signature for the drivers required for this device. A recent hardware or software change might have installed a file that is signed incorrectly or damaged, or that might be malicious software from an unknown source. (Code 52)'

          Thanks Microsoft.

      2. Captain Scarlet Silver badge
        Mushroom

        I hate change and the Windows 10 model

        I preferred it when you had an SP1 to deploy on myself and then the rest of the family at SP2

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: I hate change and the Windows 10 model

          See if you can root around and get your hands on a long term branch version of Windows. You still get DX12 etc. etc. but you don't have to put up with the nonsense.

          1. Captain Scarlet Silver badge

            Re: I hate change and the Windows 10 model

            I thought that was only with the Enterprise edition on a volume license?

            1. Waseem Alkurdi

              Re: I hate change and the Windows 10 model

              It is indeed. Only Windows 10 Enterprise has a LTSB.

              If you have Enterprise (say an activation server on-prem) then you do have Enterprise LTSB as well.

    2. big_D Silver badge

      I upgradged a Skylake and Coffee Lake laptops and a Ryzen 1700 desktop. No issues so far, although I did get new Intel drivers pushed at me by the manufacturers over the last couple of weeks.

  2. John 104

    Cancel? Yeah, sure thing, buddy.

    This isn't the first time that we've seen the "Click cancel if you want but we are going to do it anyway," feature.

    1. The Alphabet

      Re: Cancel? Yeah, sure thing, buddy.

      Even the restart option has that "feature" now - if it hangs waiting for something to close and you click cancel it jumps to RESTARTING and reboots anyway.

      1. bombastic bob Silver badge
        Trollface

        Re: Cancel? Yeah, sure thing, buddy.

        s/Cancel/F*** YOU/ <-- what MS needs to do for their 'cancel' button

        1. eldakka
          Facepalm

          Re: Cancel? Yeah, sure thing, buddy.

          s/Cancel/F*** YOU/ <-- what MS needs to do for their 'cancel' button
          that might not work too well.

          Probably want 's/Cancel/F\*\*\* YOU/', or perhaps even better, 's/Cancel/FUCK YOU/' so you don't have to bother escaping the '*'.

      2. herman

        Re: Cancel? Yeah, sure thing, buddy.

        I thought it was Abort, Retry or Fail. What is this Cancel thing. Is it an upgraded Any key?

        1. Wzrd1 Silver badge

          Re: Cancel? Yeah, sure thing, buddy.

          I thought it was Abort, Retry or Fail. What is this Cancel thing. Is it an upgraded Any key?

          Actually, it changes one option to become Abort, Retry or Panic.

      3. Wzrd1 Silver badge

        Re: Cancel? Yeah, sure thing, buddy.

        Even the restart option has that "feature" now - if it hangs waiting for something to close and you click cancel it jumps to RESTARTING and reboots anyway.

        A shutdown /a worked - for the rest of the shift, it rebooted overnight anyway.

    2. fidodogbreath

      Re: Cancel? Yeah, sure thing, buddy.

      A particularly stunning bit of interface design means that clicking "Confirm" on the warning screen will actually cause the update to install regardless.

      So, the person who designed the GWX prompt still works there.

  3. Baldrickk

    rushed

    Isn't this the update that they rushed out because there was very little in it without going through the usual process?

    Surprise meter has a low reading.

    1. bombastic bob Silver badge
      Holmes

      Re: rushed

      Article: driver problems that "end up sending CPU usage skyrocketing and battery life plummeting."

      I've seen SIMILAR problems within UWP [CR]apps in general, including some of the built-ins. I reported this problem during the insider program.

      There's an internal architectural problem within UWP itself. Applications tend to "CPU spin" on conditions they are waiting for. It could be one of the 'WaitForXXXObject[Ex]' functions, it could be the use of 'Sleep' with a 0 value (for some reason quoting the function call tripped a security blockage) or even 'yield' doing it.

      This problem also exists in POSIX systems when you return immediately from things like 'poll' and loop without using delays. In the POSIX world, though, your polling loop can use 'usleep()' which is in microseconds [no guarantee it'll be "that long", it's somewhat 'advisory'].

      NOW - if _THIS_ is at the core of the problem, then it's a MAJOR ARCHITECTURAL SNAFU and Micro-shaft basically has NOT listened to *ME* on this. I know I'm right because it's measurable and I even posted the measurements, got hammered and discredited and ONE particular fanboi was even getting PERSONAL over it all. [This is how they react when faced with 'OBVIOUSLY WRONG'].

      Hey Microshaft: SEE! I! TOLD! YOU! SO!!!

      And so FINALLY someone wrote a driver with the SAME! KINDS! of assumptions as the main loops in UWP [CR]apps. Yeah, maybe it only showed up IN A VM when I was testing it, but it REALLY means they aren't TESTING AT ALL.

      So yeah - 'rushed' aka "being cheap" and your QUALITY GOES DOWN.

      icon because: to the REST of us (aka 'not Micro-shaft'), it's OBVIOUS.

      1. matjaggard

        Re: rushed

        Ah, Bob, I've not seen your capital letters for a while. Have you been away or have I been reading different articles?

        1. bombastic bob Silver badge
          Devil

          Re: rushed

          "I've not seen your capital letters for a while"

          why, are you one of my fans? Welcome aboard!

          Funny, they do the same thing (capitalization and punctuation for emphasis) over at El Reg. I've seen it on occasion.

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: rushed

            YES.

          2. FlamingDeath Silver badge

            Re: rushed

            "Funny, they do the same thing (capitalization and punctuation for emphasis) over at El Reg. I've seen it on occasion."

            So does the Daily Express, and I only know this because it keeps rearing its ugly head in my Google News aggregate feed, strangely their Planet Nibiru articles keep appearing in the science section. Apparently science means something different now...

            Obligatory Bill Hicks Quote:

            Marketing and Advertising types, KYS

          3. eldakka

            Re: rushed

            I prefer to use italics (aka: emphasis) or bold (aka: strong) instead of UPPERCASE as I find it more readable, and less 'shouty'. Of course, if you want to just piss people off, maybe use subscript to write the entire post in or alternatively superscript.

        2. Jeffrey Nonken

          Re: rushed

          I saw him being completely wrong in response to an article yesterday, so I suspect it's the latter.

          1. bombastic bob Silver badge
            Meh

            Re: rushed

            " completely wrong"

            your opinion has been noted, and rejected.

  4. anthonyhegedus Silver badge

    One way of getting round the problem with edge not working would be to install chrome or Firefox. Isn’t that the first thing you do with Edge, aka the chrome downloader?

    1. LenG

      Edge?

      What is Edge?

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Edge?

        "What is Edge?"

        The faster browser than Chrome thats not quite as much spyware by design. And with u-block origin its very nice to use.

        1. bombastic bob Silver badge
          Coat

          Re: Edge?

          "What is Edge"

          a) U2's guitar player?

          b) The main character in 'Star Ocean: The Last Hope'?

          c) something that "edgers" strive for?

          (coat, please)

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: Edge?

            More likely a subliminal reference to the "edge" of the firmament, which in the flat earth would be surrounding the antarctic and above our heads all the time.

            You can see why it hasnt caught on, doesnt necessarily make it any less true however.

        2. N2

          Re: Re: Edge?

          The faster browser than Chrome thats not quite as much spyware by design. And with u-block origin its very nice to use.

          AC, That's some fairly powerful stuff you are snorting.

          1. slartybartfast

            Re: Edge?

            Apparently the security settings in Edge (do not track, block third party cookies etc.) are the least effective of the main browsers. I read this in an article browser comparison (sorry don't have a link to the site). It stated in Edge, many of them simply don't work, especially 'block third party cookies'.

            1. Wzrd1 Silver badge

              Re: Edge?

              Edge, Microsoft's enhanced, faster browser. So good that it breaks Microsoft S/MIME in Microsoft Outlook Web Access and Citrix listener. And ever so helpfully adds itself back to the quick launch bar.

        3. JohnFen

          Re: Edge?

          "thats not quite as much spyware by design"

          Oh? Why do you think that?

          1. matjaggard

            Re: Edge? Snorting?

            It might have been Kool-aid.

          2. Thunderpants

            Re: Edge?

            "thats not quite as much spyware by design"

            It might not have as much spyware by design (dunno, I've not really looked into it) but I can say having installed it on a VM yesterday, it's on a par with Google for shoving advertising down your throat.

            Congratulations - you've installed the upgrade successfully - by the way, here's MSN spam spam.

        4. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Edge?

          While Edge problems are unlikely to trouble the vast majority of users, who only venture into it to download a competing browser

          You're kidding. I sideloaded Firefox from a USB stick.

          1. Hans 1

            Re: Edge?

            You're kidding. I sideloaded Firefox from a USB stick.

            I use Invoke-WebRequest from Powershell .... used to use ftp.exe before that ... I sometimes have Edge start, though, when silly me forgets that Outlook does not honor Windows settings and uses Edge to open links .... then again, I do not click many links in emails ... and it never gets time to load the page in question, so I am safe ... I think ...

            1. Yes Me Silver badge

              Re: Edge?

              What's "Outlook"?

              1. Anonymous Coward
                Anonymous Coward

                Re: Edge? What's "Outlook"?

                The one piece of software that keeps Windows on my desktop.

                Twenty-five years of emails, appointments, calendar items (never forget the Mother In Law's birthday) and contacts, all in an integrated package.

                1. Ken Moorhouse Silver badge

                  Re: Twenty-five years of...

                  There are people using Outlook that can use it year in, year out, without problem. It's when the user happens to trigger one of the design flaws of Outlook is when the troubles begin. Going "oversize" was the most obvious of those triggers, but MS have now raised that bar, making it statistically less likely.

                  MS use the "foie gras" technique of storing messages in the repository. Only after the message has been stored is the user made aware that the message store has gone over size and special tools need to be applied to it in order for it to resume working - tools (provided by MS in lieu of a means to prevent the problem happening in the first instance) which can result in loss of data. Other mail clients check boundary conditions *before* inserting messages into the message repository.

                  Well-meaning malware-checkers can also interfere with Outlook's mode of operation. To ensure Outlook doesn't do anything naughty malware checkers monitor Outlook so tightly that loss of messages and freezing are common-place.

                  Though this isn't Outlook's fault per se, it is because of such things as the capability Outlook has of being able to be "driven" by third-party apps that cause malware checkers deep distrust of Outlook.

                  So by all means use Outlook, but complacency is bad: take regular backups of your PST's, and keep the PST size small.

              2. Wzrd1 Silver badge

                Re: Edge?

                What's "Outlook"?

                Microsoft Outlook, also known as Microsoft Outrage. E-mail client that borks itself and its profile at random times, in really exotic ways.

                Typically, after receiving a "feature upgrade".

                Does anyone remember NT4 service pack 6? Followed by service pack 6a. Followed by a string of hotfixes...

          2. Yes Me Silver badge

            Re: Edge?

            "I sideloaded Firefox"

            Waterfox rocks, if you don't like the Firefox nannies.

        5. Zippy´s Sausage Factory

          Re: Edge?

          @Anonymous Coward

          The faster browser than Chrome thats not quite as much spyware by design. And with u-block origin its very nice to use.

          How's the weather there in Redmond? Nice enough to sit outside on your astro-turf?

        6. fidodogbreath

          Re: Edge?

          thats not quite as much spyware by design

          If you don't count the spyware built into Windows 10 itself, I suppose.

      2. Ken Moorhouse Silver badge

        Re: What is Edge?

        Something you will find on a Surface.

        Soon they will be selling their Hardware in your local Corner Shop.

    2. jelabarre59

      One way of getting round the problem with edge not working would be to install chrome or Firefox. Isn’t that the first thing you do with Edge, aka the chrome downloader?

      Don't even need Edge for that. Just install Chocolatey, then from an elevated command prompt, type "choco install -y waterfox".

  5. iromko
    WTF?

    mapped network drives

    The problem with mapped network drives not reconnecting automatically is there in Windows 10, like forever. I believe I saw it occurring even before upgrade to Win10 when I had Win8. So that's hardly a new thing.

    1. chivo243 Silver badge
      Holmes

      Re: mapped network drives

      Win7 maps network drives like local drives. Hello M$? Do you get it?

    2. Richard 12 Silver badge

      Re: mapped network drives

      Navigating via UNC paths has been broken in Windows 10 for at least a year.

      If the share needs a username or password, Windows 10 Explorer will never ask. It just dies.

      Luckily you can fix it temporarily via the command line.

      It's good that Windows users are all totally happy on the command line, right?

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: mapped network drives

        Hmm.. Checks Windows is 1803.

        Types UNC path in Windows Explorer.

        Does nothing in CMD.

        Browses share.

        Seems okay here, you know that data isn't the plural of anecdote, right? Maybe reinstall Windows?

    3. Michael Wojcik Silver badge

      Re: mapped network drives

      The problem with mapped network drives not reconnecting automatically is there in Windows 10, like forever.

      And, oddly, whenever my Win10 machine reboots (at least weekly, thanks to Microsoft's limitless store of incompetence and malice), it tells me it couldn't reconnect to mapped drives even though there aren't any. I always set my mappings to non-persistent, typically by doing a "net use /persistent:no" before I ever map any.

      But Win10 is such a pile of garbage that I can't be bothered to investigate. There are far more obnoxious issues to worry about, such as the machine's failure to get its updates from our corporate SCCM servers (instead it continues to insist on pulling them directly from Microsoft), and its failure to keep my default application choices across reboots. That latter problem has been documented by hundreds of people in various MS forums and such, and so far Microsoft's response has been "ha ha, fuck you guys".

      1. Wzrd1 Silver badge

        Re: mapped network drives

        But Win10 is such a pile of garbage that I can't be bothered to investigate. There are far more obnoxious issues to worry about, such as the machine's failure to get its updates from our corporate SCCM servers (instead it continues to insist on pulling them directly from Microsoft), and its failure to keep my default application choices across reboots.

        Indeed, we blocked and DNS poisoned the Windows Update site, pull our updates from SCCM and fix SCCM client weekly...

    4. kitekrazy

      Re: mapped network drives

      "The problem with mapped network drives not reconnecting automatically is there in Windows 10, like forever. I believe I saw it occurring even before upgrade to Win10 when I had Win8. So that's hardly a new thing."

      Not only do I want to me those developers who continue to mess this up I want to beat those developers/

  6. Destroy All Monsters Silver badge
    Pint

    "Professional IT in 2018"

    "Nobody can't into anymore and Linus has retreated into a safe space."

    "More on this sorry story after ... this message...."

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    You remaining folk that still run Windows...

    Sweet...

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: You remaining folk that still run Windows...

      Meanwhile AC's wife and family boot up Win10 because that's all the shops sell... Listen, I use Mint, but SO & Family are forced to use Windows because Employer + Schools force it upon them.

      1. JohnFen

        Re: You remaining folk that still run Windows...

        "SO & Family are forced to use Windows because Employer + Schools force it upon them."

        I'm forced to use Win 10 at work, but nothing is forcing me to use it at home. The same is true for your SO and family.

      2. FromTheRoot

        Re: You remaining folk that still run Windows...

        Games and compatibility is my sole reason.

      3. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: You remaining folk that still run Windows...

        "Meanwhile AC's wife and family boot up Win10 unlock their smartphone because that's all the shops sell they use"

        As much as I hate it, that's more accurate.

    2. Potemkine! Silver badge

      Re: You remaining folk that still run Windows...

      Having constant 'kernel panic' after trying to update a CentOS6, I feel the irony...

      1. Avatar of They
        WTF?

        Re: You remaining folk that still run Windows...

        What in all that is holy is 'kernel panic'???

        1. Potemkine! Silver badge

          Re: You remaining folk that still run Windows...

          What in all that is holy is 'kernel panic'???

          The pinguinista version of BSOD.

    3. Michael Wojcik Silver badge

      Re: You remaining folk that still run Windows...

      It's a work machine, and must be joined to the corporate domain. I can do what I want in VMs running on it (and I do, to some extent, but both VMware and VirtualBox occasionally give me problems with network bridging), but the host OS has to be Windows.

  8. Multivac

    Oh FFS.....

    Work laptop updated the other day, wireless keep dropping out, fan is thrashing like a hair dryer.

  9. Dave K

    And yet still MS believes that this constant stream of disruption and issues is what users and businesses want from an OS...

    1. AndrueC Silver badge
      FAIL

      They seem to think that software developers will tolerate it from Visual Studio as well. That's also on a rapid release cycle and is become rank. Nothing serious, mind, just:

      * Sometimes can't reopen a source file after it's been closed.

      * Builds stalling because of a file saving/locking race condition (possibly fixed in a forthcoming release).

      * Debugger sometimes just gives up and will go no further.

      * Sometimes just freezes and takes Task Manager with it often along with Explorer.

      So it's becoming an IDE that doesn't always allow files to be edited, doesn't always build projects, can only debug for a while and sometimes leaves you no option other than force rebooting the computer.

      Way to go Microsoft :(

      1. hoola Silver badge

        It's the future

        This is all about "Agile development", an excuse to push out software and updates with a minimum of testing but it is a success because it was quick. Just fix anything major like the logo being in the wrong place, and hope the users find the rest. Then fix all that in a few releases time whilst in the process break another load of functionality. It has been brewing for a few years now and now that it is in the mainstream, all the shortcomings are floating to the top.

        If this sort of rubbish was deployed even 10 years ago people would be up in arms but because this is all on-trend and funky, we are just forced to accept it. Unfortunately there is very little anyone can do about it. At some point another equally special "technique" will be invented by some management consultants and so the cycle continues.

      2. Michael Wojcik Silver badge

        They seem to think that software developers will tolerate it from Visual Studio as well. That's also on a rapid release cycle and is become rank.

        Oh, yes. Venomous Studio 2017 is remarkably terrible. Painfully slow when it runs at all, and less stable than an elephant on a pogo stick.

        I try to use VS only for debugging .NET code. I have bash+gvim+msbuild (or whatever build engine a particular project uses) for an "IDE".1 I have windbg for debugging native code on Windows; it's a lot clunkier than, say, gdb, but it has decent features and generally works correctly. I don't need Intellisense because I am capable of reading documentation. I don't need a bunch of "designers" at all, thank goodness.

        But even in my very limited use of VS 2017, it hangs or crashes at least half the time. I frequently resort to instrumenting my code because it's faster than getting the VS debugger working. Earlier VS versions were annoying, but they were far more reliable.

        1My Integrated Development Environment is the entire OS. Why would I want something less than that?

        1. Richard 12 Silver badge

          Intellisense is a great idea though

          Shame it doesn't actually work most of the time.

          An autocomplete that saves me having to type the whole text out, a thing that shows the documentation in-line and can quickly show where a thing is declared, defined and used would be extremely useful. If it worked.

          My personal bugbear with Visual Studio is that plugins/extensions regularly freeze the whole thing up. The Perforce plugin is particularly heinous.

          Yet all the other IDEs I use somehow managed to prevent plugins from being able to do that.

          Although Arduino's constant utilisation of an entire CPU core is odd. UWP version is worse...

      3. Wzrd1 Silver badge

        So it's becoming an IDE that doesn't always allow files to be edited, doesn't always build projects, can only debug for a while and sometimes leaves you no option other than force rebooting the computer.

        Well, with Microsoft, a bug with seniority is a feature.

    2. bombastic bob Silver badge
      Unhappy

      what users and businesses want from an OS

      actually, I think Micro-shaft stopped CARING what users and businesses want a LONG time ago... (around the time Windows 'Ape' released).

      7 was the last version that was made with users and businesses in mind. Everything else SINCE then has been "what Micro-shaft wants to cram up our asses". 7 deliberately became the version that addressed our concerns [not theirs]. Not all things that ended up in 7 were better than XP. But mostly, it was an evolutionary change, and better than Vista. For the most part, the users were 'sated'.

      I've heard that the difference between a psychopath and a sociopath is that a psychopath does not know what he is doing is wrong.

      I think Micro-shaft knows DAMN WELL what they're doing, and they continue to do it, deliberately.

      Embrace. Extend. Extinguish. EX-TER-MIN-ATE!

      Their goal: When there is only ONE choice available, it will be Win-10-nic! And, _YOU_ will be the commodity!

      ('predatory practices' indeed...)

    3. Updraft102

      I don't think MS actually thought at all about what Windows users wanted. It only thought of what it wanted, and what it could get away with.

      1. jgarbo

        Always considered Microsoft less a software company, more a protection racket. You buy their stuff, you're stuck with it, you pay up.

    4. trapper

      Beta

      Yes, a perpetual beta with new gnarly parts added every few months. By and by MS may go full-Adobe and offer Windows OS-As-A-Service for a monthly fee. Q: If you drag your Windows folder to your Recycle Bin, will Win10 do an Ouroboros and swallow itself? Whee!

  10. Howard Hanek
    Happy

    Question

    I see from the captioned picture that El Reg's staff have decided upon what represents an average Window's user. It falls short though not depicting the horror filled expression that they so often show.

  11. James Anderson

    Her Indoors

    Has permanently lost WiFi on her venerable think pad as the Intel Fi we is no longer supported. Plus there is no option to revert to the previous release.

    Thanks been trying to persuade her to switch to Linux Mint for a couple of years now.

    1. Mark 110

      Re: Her Indoors

      "Thanks been trying to persuade her to switch to Linux Mint for a couple of years now."

      Now is your time!!!!!

    2. JohnFen

      Re: Her Indoors

      "been trying to persuade her to switch to Linux Mint for a couple of years now."

      Tell her that you will no longer provide tech support for Windows. Then she'll either switch or take her computer problems elsewhere. That's what I did with my friends and family years ago, and it worked out great for me!

      1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge
        Joke

        Re: Her Indoors

        "That's what I did with my friends and family years ago, and it worked out great for me!"

        If living alone in a 1 bed flat with no friends or family is what floats yer boat...

        1. a handle

          Re: Her Indoors

          I stopped supporting friends Windows computers years ago, much more time with my friends now :-)

        2. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Her Indoors

          "That's what I did with my friends and family years ago, and it worked out great for me!"

          If living alone in a 1 bed flat with no friends or family is what floats yer boat...

          My PC is my friend, you insensitive clod!

          1. DropBear
            Trollface

            Re: Her Indoors

            "My PC is my friend, you insensitive clod!"

            ...just as long as you're not calling "him" Wilson...

        3. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Her Indoors

          If living alone in a 1 bed flat with no friends or family is what floats yer boat...

          It's a millennial's dream. Most of them share a 1 bed flat with three other people, with no friends or family.

        4. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Her Indoors

          If living alone in a 1 bed flat with no friends or family is what floats yer boat...

          Some days that sounds very appealing...

  12. FRANKLIN_DELANO_ROOSEVELT

    Still using bomb proof Windows 7. Windows 10 leaks like a sieve.

    1. Mark 85

      While it may be bomb proof at this point (Win 7 here also), how long will that last before they try pushing via "update" to install Win10? Or, they just downgrade Win 7 to something like Win 10?

      1. bombastic bob Silver badge
        Unhappy

        I think GWX is finally gone; however I'll keep a lookout anyway. Who knows it might be resurrected...

        In windows 7 I can STILL say "pack sand, 'windows update'" and only manually install things I actually want to install.

        that's why they shut that ability OFF in Win-10-nic - no more choice except THEIR choice.

  13. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Hello Volkswagen...

    ...are you really sure you want to integrate Microsoft's code with your vehicles?

    https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/10/01/volkswagen_microsoft_azure

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Hello Volkswagen...

      Plausible deniability. Next time VW decide to poison humans and animals in rigged emissions tests, they can blame it on Microsoft

      https://www.irishtimes.com/business/transport-and-tourism/dark-cloud-that-is-dieselgate-has-just-got-darker-1.3372717

  14. beep54
    Mushroom

    What?

    No one was surprised by this?

    1. Mark 110

      Re: What?

      Theres always edge cases!!

      Sitting here typing this on my 12 year old gaming rig (yeah try playing a game now) which got the update this morning and everything is coolio. Its not like any other OS publisher ever encounters update snafus.

      I do find the Intel driver ones particularly embarrassing for both Intel and MS however.

      1. JohnFen

        Re: What?

        "Its not like any other OS publisher ever encounters update snafus"

        True, but Microsoft is the only one that forces you to encounter update snafus. These problems would be a lot more forgivable if Microsoft both engaged in robust testing prior to release and didn't force everyone to take the updates.

      2. Chairo

        Re: What?

        I do find the Intel driver ones particularly embarrassing for both Intel and MS however.

        The amusing bit is that intel doesn't even release linux drivers for some atom chipsets. So if your windows OS suddenly fails due to driver issues, the machine is effectively bricked.

  15. Steve Davies 3 Silver badge
    Coat

    I blame the lack of testing

    What? They didn't test it before release?

    Coat with a full hip flask in the pocket. It is going to be a long weekend/week/month for people in support.

  16. steviebuk Silver badge

    Edge is also...

    ...the best way to get infected. Not the most secure as they keep claiming. I uploaded a YouTube vid of a link I knew was bad of a fake Office 365 login page. Chrome and Firefox actively blocked on Windows 10. Both IE and Edge allowed access to the site and allowed you to fill in your credentials.

    Shocking.

    Will they ever go back to the new way of releasing Windows 10 updates? It clearly isn't working and is creating more issues than fixing it seems. And will we ever get back the option to ignore updates or will we continue to be forced to update. Microsoft aren't what they used to be.

  17. DJV Silver badge

    "problem with its shiny new OS and chips from Intel"

    Well, that's probably because Intel chips are so rare they didn't think of testing them with the latest release...

    </sarcasm>

    1. JohnFen

      Re: "problem with its shiny new OS and chips from Intel"

      "they didn't think of testing them with the latest release..."

      I'm pretty sure that Microsoft doesn't actually engage in testing beyond happy-path testing on a very limited number of ideal installations anymore.

  18. chivo243 Silver badge
    Windows

    Windows 10 ~ like an anchor on my ankle

    I know the day comes when we have to deploy Win10, when I think about it, I get short on breath, and a funny feeling in my left arm when I think about it more. Maybe the last "windows only" app we rely on to get paid will deliver on the "WebClient" we've been promised to have 2 years ago and this nightmare will be over ;-|

    What a dream...

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Windows 10 ~ like an anchor on my ankle

      They should call it "W.Anchor".

  19. JohnyDoe

    Come on Register

    I loved the sentence "..latest and greatest from Intel site". They are so fast to the rescue, it is beyond imagination. I wonder why dont you publish article on that, and btw AMD is never to be found in those type of a tripping.

  20. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    "Intel Display Audio drivers that can end up sending CPU usage skyrocketing"

    Probably it's because some more "telemetry"...

  21. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    checked in on the network of 100+ locked down windows 8.1 machines all on ssd cards purring along nicely on their WSUS updates. lovely. not been a word of complaint out of them in 5 years. Windows 8.1 that way people are forced from the start screen into sharepoint or outlook, and not in using the backdrop as a dumping ground for their out of business activities.

    I cant think why i havent upgraded to Windows 10... oh yeah reliability,slurp,forced advertising, and more besides.

    I almost forgot the site license for 100 machines upgrading to windows 10 is bound to be prohibitive.

    Still who knows maybe someone can suggest why i might like the entire network down for 3 hours thrashing itself on windows 10 updates during the business day, whilst paying that many staff wages to do nothing.

  22. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Intel Display Audio ??

    For years I've been convinced that audio can't be displayed. So what is this driver doing, converting audio in pretty wave-forms and displaying them on screen ?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Intel Display Audio ??

      I think it's because HDMI also carries sound as well as display.

      For example, I bought a load of laptops recently which were HMDI only (no VGA port). Needed HDMI to VGA converters to connect to our ancient projectors. These converters also came with an audio port.

      Plugging these converters into the machines would mean the audio no longer went through the usual audio port on the machine, but out of the sound port on the HDMI to VGA connector instead. (You can disable this, but having an extra (replaceable) sound output is actually really useful when people don't look after their equipment.)

      Apologies for rambling!

  23. Version 1.0 Silver badge

    More Features = More Bugs

    Pretty soon Windows 10 is going to get to the point where it's so much trouble to "maintain" it that MS will announce a New and Improved" OS ... it's about time isn't it? Windows 19 perhaps ... I don't think that they are ever going to go to 11, Nigel Tufnel would probably win(sic) that lawsuit.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: More Features = More Bugs

      More [unwanted] Features = More [un-needed] Bugs

  24. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Dirty tactics with the settings reminders

    I notice the reminder you get after installing the service pack are heavily biased towards trying to get you to turn on datamining features.

    I installed the pack on my main machine and was prompted about various things (if I want to send full/basic diagnostics data) and clicked through all the options for 'no' and 'basic' once again so that my settings remained what they were, and while it was annoying to have to do so I thought 'well at least this gives a chance for people who accidentally enabled full diagnostics etc. will get a chance to review that when they install the service pack.

    Installed the service pack on my other machine, which I remembered I hadn't actually set to 'basic' etc. thinking the reminders would be a good opportunity to do so after installing the pack. Did Microsoft bother to nag me about these settings after installing on that machine, where they were already all set to 'yes' and 'full' Of course they didn't. They only remind you if they think there is a chance you might accidentally enable them.

    1. bombastic bob Silver badge
      Alert

      Re: Dirty tactics with the settings reminders

      Question: doesn't the data mining VIOLATE GDPR ???

      1. Richard 12 Silver badge

        Re: Dirty tactics with the settings reminders

        Yes it almost certainly does.

        However, the EU have a very long list and Microsoft will just have to wait their turn to be prosecuted.

    2. jelabarre59

      Re: Dirty tactics with the settings reminders

      I notice the reminder you get after installing the service pack are heavily biased towards trying to get you to turn on datamining features.

      The other nagging is when you do a clean install, and try to create a "local" account. First you have to make sure to click on the right link. Then for each-and-every screen for creating a user account, it will say "...or you could use an Online account...". Yeah, if I said I wanted a local account, that means I didn't want an online one. So just STFU, Microsoft.

  25. MMR

    Documents vanishing

    I've seen in couple of places people reporting that their \Documents disappeared after the update and they can't recover them.

  26. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Mac user here...

    Just to let you know that all’s well with my iMac. Nothing to report.

    1. kitekrazy

      Re: Mac user here...

      I guess this newest version of 10 works on Bootcamp.

  27. Elmer Phud

    That would explain things

    I had settled down to listen to Alfie Moore's 'It's a Fair Cop' and had to abandon the programme as the sound was bloody awful.

    I thought, 'Oh it'll sort itself out when I boot up tomorrow ' and I find it's another cock-up.

    It's not a new 'experience', Microsoft, it's (sniff, sniff) a return to the good old days of ---Upgrade, reboot while holding Rosary beads.

  28. Laughing Gravy
    Linux

    I'm consuming way too much popcorn

    But I love reading about all these windows woes.

    You want to use windows? Suck it up

  29. kat_bg

    Lucky

    Upgraded on Wednesday, no issues so far on a Lenovo Yoga 710. I guess I am lucky...

  30. SonWon

    Reading this reminds me how please I am to be using Xubuntu. Why do you Window users torture your selves this way?

    1. kitekrazy

      Because there are too many developers in the multimedia industry who think developing for Linux is a waste of time.

  31. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Windows is awful

    Last weekend I updated my ubuntu laptop to 1604 (I am lazy) and there was a slight bug in a driver, something to do with dell. Bug reporter popped up and logged it for me, then *Shazam* update manager loaded up again and downloaded some kind of fix and it hasn't happened since.

    I also updated my main machine, linux mint. From 17 to 19. Took a while copying off data and then upgraded, copied it all back. Was a moment when the fan ran quite fast and wouldn't calm down. But I hadn't ticked the box to use *Nvidia* driver which calmed the GPU Fan right down again.

    I also upgraded my gaming rig (intel, nvidia, corsair - big names) to 1804 (not completely stupid as to go for the latest). Some of the security settings had to be put back to avoid data mining. I can still crash my computer now by turning off one of the monitors mid game because it boots up the new hardware wizard. After 30 minutes nearly all games crash to desktop as another process suddenly jumps to 100% CPU, the screen flickers every few minutes because it can't handle 144 refresh rate, load up times of games have gone from about 6 seconds to sometimes 30+ (boot up times as well) and my "updates" to the AV don't download for some reason.

    I just don't under Microsoft anymore.

    1. Anomalous Cowshed

      Re: Windows is awful

      I agree that Windows is getting worse and worse in many respects and that Windows 10 is simply a study in alienation for tech-savvy people.

      But, as a near-beginner, I keep having problems working with Linux.

      Every time I try to install Linux (other than in a VM), I cannot get the wifi to work. It works fine with wired internet, but nothing I do, whether by intuition, common sense or following posts on the Internet, solves the issue. It also tends to freeze half the time when recovering from sleep mode, and I have to reboot the machine. And also there seems to be no way to get some applications (Firefox, etc.) to have bigger text in their menus - the content is fine. The main application UI is all microscopic squiggles. Other than that, I would gladly work in Linux only and dunk Windows. Especially for programming purposes...

      1. butmonkeh

        Re: Windows is awful

        I've been the same with Linux for years, trying it and finding one thing that i couldn't resolve, and gone back to Windows. Win10 was finally my breaking point, and now every device I have is running some flavour of penguin. The biggest hurdle was the chinese no-name cherry-trail tablet, but I got there in the end.

        For me, switching up to 4.17.x kernel solved a lot of my wifi & sleep issues on cherry-trail. As for the scaling issues, there are scaling options in some distros, in the display options. Failing that xrandr command could help. On my 1366x768 tablet - "xrandr --output eDP-1 --scale 1.25x1.25 --panning 1708x958" gives me a much more 'roomy' desktop with smaller icons, menus, fonts etc. The exact opposite of your problem.

        Keep trying.... it's worth it to be free, but it can be an uphill struggle.

        1. Anomalous Cowshed

          Re: Windows is awful

          To Butonkeh: thanks, I will try what you recommended!!

  32. Duffaboy

    So in summary

    It's Intel's fault

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: So in summary

      >It's Intel's fault

      Nope, probably MS's as they likely changed something in the ABI or similar without telling anyone.

      1. Richard 12 Silver badge

        Surely they wouldn't do that again

        Yes they would. Of course they would.

        Microsoft have repeatedly proven themselves incapable of learning from mistakes. They always double-down then look shocked when it doesn't work and blows up in user's faces.

  33. anthonyhegedus Silver badge

    My dad's computer tried upgrading to 1809. It failed. It then tried again, but refused to do any of the work on reboot. So it's sat on 1803, but with a message saying reboot pending. It absolutely won't install the new OS version. I've tried deleting the software distribution folder, all sorts of stuff to no avail.

    Come on Microsoft! At least it hasn't hosed the machine I suppose, small mercies.

  34. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Recuva (free)

    If docs are missing after Win 10 upgrade, use Recuva

    https://www.ccleaner.com/recuva to get them back.

    What do you expect with a crash test dummy OS?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      'ccleaner.com/recuva to get them back'

      Maybe, but who can trust anymore:

      https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/09/21/ccleaner_secondary_payload_targeted_top_tech_companies/

  35. Anonymous Coward
    Paris Hilton

    I have named this bug SoundCock

    Logo shown here --->

  36. matt07743

    don't worry i'm sure a classic windows reboot will fix the problem . i'm off to boot my ubuntu laptop

  37. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Start thinking differently towards technology, collaborate !!!!

    So reading the comments I have something to comment about the fanboys and the war on who runs what and what is better.

    Listen, if schools and work force you to use one product, why not change their "culture" and "perspective" on technology instead of being forced to use it. Embrace BYOD (Bring your own device), embrace technology, explain and be the champion for it, that is what we did at a corporation I work for, they have changed their views on opensource, alternative tools, lowering costs, support all those aspects and it has worked. We now receive invitations to use alternative tools and plug those tools into our own to collaborate to achieve a single goal.

    C'mon people, stop fighting over what is better than the other, I'm sick of this Linux vs Windows vs Mac war, it does not matter what tool you use, what matters is the tool can do the intended job.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Start thinking differently towards technology, collaborate !!!!

      All well and good, but Micro$haft Windoze still sux balls.

  38. BGatez

    Windows 10- ugh

    ugh, maybe Enterprise LTSB but otherwise, nope

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Windows 10- ugh

      I only discovered this recently! The more of these annoying updates MS keep pushing, the closer I get to installing it everywhere.

      Was it a guaranteed period of 10 years of no crappy content updates and security updates only?

      Well worth it if Mint isn't an option I think.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Windows 10- ugh

        IMHO, Microsoft is going to have to slow down the release rate soon enough, or, make long term editions available to the general public (i.e. in Home and Pro variants) for those who want them.

  39. Roger Mew

    Windows

    I had a problem with the audio output, I had to change from one out put to another and redo the audio. Now there seems to be no problem. (He says hopefully)

  40. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    A Microsoft insider told me...

    ...that they've started using a mixture of Mint and OSX to build and develop Windows because the actual product won't stay up for more that 15 minutes.

    1. Ken Moorhouse Silver badge

      Re: A Microsoft insider told me...

      Citation needed.

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