Windows 10 update pitches PCs into reboot hell
Early update to Windows 10 is refusing to install properly on some PCs
A minor update to Windows 10 appears to be causing major problems for some users. Update KB3081424 was released last week and appears to be spinning some machines into an endless reboot cycle.
Reports claim that, once installed, the machine crashes during the reboot process, after which Windows 10 attempts to roll back the update and reinstall it once more, trapping users in a vicious circle.
We’ve seen the bug on one of our Windows 10 machines, a Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon. The machine installed the update and rebooted, but put up a blue screen error message shortly after the PC restarted. The machine booted successfully at the second attempt, but now it’s running with a massive memory leak that is slowing the system to a crawl.
The problem for most Windows 10 users is that updates are now mandatory – they cannot be switched off on Windows 10 Home machines, meaning users have no means of delaying the update until Microsoft can get a patch out. Windows 10 Pro users are given the option to defer updates, which may give them relief from the bug.
Ghacks.net has posted a suggested workaround for the problem, which involves editing Registry entries. We’ve not tested this workaround and we urge readers to apply extreme caution when making any changes to the Registry.
Microsoft is yet to officially acknowledge any problem with the update.