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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.

4 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. 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.