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Windows 8.1 Update Crippling PCs With BSOD, Microsoft Suggests You Roll Back

Posted by samzenpus on from the back-to-the-old dept.

MojoKid writes Right on schedule, Microsoft rolled-out an onslaught of patches for its "Patch Tuesday" last week, and despite the fact that it wasn't the true "Update 2" for Windows 8.1 many of us were hoping for, updates are generally worth snatching up. Since the patch rollout, it's been discovered that four individual updates are causing random BSoD issues for its users, with KB2982791, a kernel-mode related driver, being the biggest culprit. Because of the bug's severity, Microsoft is recommending that anyone who updated go and uninstall a couple of the specific updates, or rollback using Windows Restore. You can uninstall these updates in much the same way you uninstall any app; the difference is that once you're in the "Programs and Features" section, you'll need to click on "View installed updates" on the left. While it's mostly recommended that you uninstall 2982791, you may wish to uninstall the others as well, just in case.

12 of 304 comments (clear)

  1. It isn't only Windows 8 by cosmin_c · · Score: 5, Informative

    I'm using Windows 7 and I was affected by this. I can't fathom the depths of ineptitude required to release such an update, to be perfectly honest.

    1. Re:It isn't only Windows 8 by BarbaraHudson · · Score: 5, Informative

      I can't fathom how slashdot fall to the point where people with ignorance on your level get modded up instead of into oblivion. Whats better is that you're claiming that Windows 8 drivers that don't work on Windows 7 caused the same problem for you. This is an ID10T or PBKAC error I think.

      Before jumping on the previous poster for mentioning Windows 7, you might have wanted to read the linked article, or better yet Microsoft's own description of one of the updates that states it affects a LOT more than just Win8x, and it has nothing to do with drivers

      Update to support the new currency symbol for the Russian ruble in Windows

      ... Windows 8.1, Windows RT 8.1, Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows 8, Windows RT, Windows Server 2012, Windows 7, and Windows Server 2008 R2.

      Buffer overflow in a character set table?

      --
      "Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
    2. Re:It isn't only Windows 8 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      In 5 years, I never had a Linux update break anything, no BSOD's or lockups either. The "other" PC, we'll call that "Windows" locks up at least once per day, BSOD's, nags about everything, loses its LAN connection configuration, won't do this or that, etc. Two identical PC's, one Linux, one Windows, only one is stable and trusted.

    3. Re:It isn't only Windows 8 by jenningsthecat · · Score: 3, Informative

      There's more than one Linux, and it's very easy to choose a stable distro that doesn't live on the bleeding edge.

      Do you mean like Debian Testing, (Jessie), that broke both my sound and my ability to suspend during the last dist-upgrade? Or do you mean like Debian Stable, (Wheezy), which won't work with my wired network hardware so I can't even install it in my new machine without a bunch of CD's and a few prayers? Or perhaps you mean Ubuntu, (I moved to Xubuntu when I got fed up with trying to get Debian working), which prompts me to reboot after updates a couple of times a week like some crappy Windows box?

      I don't think I could ever really go back to Windows, (especially given my recent experiences with 8.1 on my GF's new laplet), but recently there have been days when I've toyed with the idea...

      --
      'The Economy' is a giant Ponzi scheme whose most pitiable suckers are the youngest among us and the yet-unborn.
    4. Re:It isn't only Windows 8 by LesFerg · · Score: 4, Informative

      In 5 years, I never had a Linux update break anything, no BSOD's or lockups either. The "other" PC, we'll call that "Windows" locks up at least once per day, BSOD's, nags about everything, loses its LAN connection configuration, won't do this or that, etc. Two identical PC's, one Linux, one Windows, only one is stable and trusted.

      If you have Win7 or Win8 locking up once a day or BSODs etc, then the problem is you.
      Seriously, it's you.

      Have to agree with that sentiment. I have not had any major problems with win7 since replacing old outdated hardware. The last big problem I had was the AMD software which kept prompting me to update to the latest drivers, advice which I stupidly accepted; the AMD driver developers dropped support for 'old' chipsets but never modified the updaters to advise against installing drivers that were no longer compatible.

      At the time I believed I was doing the right thing by keeping up with the suggested updates, this is not necessarily true all of the time. Sometimes you are trying to be too cheap instead of updating your old hardware. Also you should usually be able to track the cause of the BSOD and work out what hardware, driver etc. is being reported. Thats why the BSOD has all those scary numbers on it. So you can fix it. Instead of complaining about your daily BSOD.

      --
      If I had a DeLorean... I would probably only drive it from time to time.
    5. Re:It isn't only Windows 8 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

      Luckily, neither Gnome nor systemd run in kernel space. What's even better, you can have a fully functional syste without either of those as well.

      Typing this on Linux with Gnome, and no systemd. Imagine that!

  2. Forget TFA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Here is the better workaround for the problem from Microsoft: https://support.microsoft.com/kb/2982791

  3. It's pretty hard to roll back automated updates by Brulath · · Score: 5, Informative

    I hadn't realised it was an update which caused the error, so when I finally resorted to system restore it just auto-updated immediately and broke again. At which point a second System Restore decided it would fail to modify a file and thus refused to work. Four hours later, I had to format to get Windows back.

    One thing I learned: Disable fast boot, if it's enabled, on your Windows machine (powercfg -h off will disable hibernation entirely). Apparently a Ubuntu boot dvd cannot mount an NTFS partition with write enabled if a hiberfile.sys is present (apparently windows leaves its mounts active and stored in said file, so modifying the file system would cause problems). You can mount it as read-only and get your data, but if you run into a problem that could be fixed by modifying or deleting files then you're out of luck if fast boot is enabled and the action required cannot be performed from the windows boot environment (you can't disable fast boot from it, the required services aren't loaded).

    Your startup time will be a little slower, but you might just save that time if something ever goes wrong with your Windows install and system restore fails.

  4. Re:I've learned the hard way by jones_supa · · Score: 3, Informative

    The nice thing about Windows Update drivers is that they sometimes allow you to install the the sole driver instead of the 300MB garbage pack from the vendor. :)

  5. 10 LET M$ = "Microsoft" by tepples · · Score: 2, Informative

    It's been M$ since the 1970s, back when Microsoft was a publisher of BASIC interpreters and names of string variables in BASIC ended with $.

  6. Re:For some it was just a plain black screen by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    Boot into safe mode and restore. Windows automatically creates a restore point before updates are applied. If the boot process is too quick to hit F8 or shift-F8, hard power your PC on and off a few times and Windows 8 will automatically go into a recovery mode where you can choose to reboot into safe mode.

  7. Re:This update deleted my "All Programs" list by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    Use System Restore in Windows 7. Start up the pc and when you see the first text on the screen, press the F8 button and then choose Safe Mode with Command Prompt. Type: rstrui.exe

    For XP users:
    %systemroot%\system32\restore\rstrui.exe

    Now you can use your mouse and choose a date to go back to before the problem.