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Ask Slashdot: Any Idiosyncrasies of the New Windows 10 April 2018 Update?
shanen wants to know if anyone else has noticed any idiosyncrasies of the new Windows 10 April 2018 update, which was released on April 30th (global rollout on May 8): Only two machines so far [are running the new version of Windows 10], but I already noticed a few peculiarities. Do you have any to share? Here are mine so far:
1. Microsoft prefers tightly linking the machine to a Microsoft account, for example via Outlook.com. If you have a machine that is not linked that way, the antivirus software will now attempt to force a link to a Microsoft account. And what is that new PIN supposed to be about?
2. Accessing a gateway on the wrong private network can produce a hard freeze, forcing a hard reset from the power down state. Possibly a serious security vulnerability to the point where I'm not sure I should share the details in public.
Anything you've noticed about the new Windows 10? (Now I have to get back to dealing with the new OS X update and the latest Ubuntu...) Some of the new features include the ability to resume past activities in timeline, a file sharing feature with nearby devices, a rebuilt Game Bar with a new Fluent design UI, and a diagnostic data viewing tool in the Security and Privacy section. If you want to get the update before the global rollout, you can do so via Check for Updates under Windows Update.
1. Microsoft prefers tightly linking the machine to a Microsoft account, for example via Outlook.com. If you have a machine that is not linked that way, the antivirus software will now attempt to force a link to a Microsoft account. And what is that new PIN supposed to be about?
2. Accessing a gateway on the wrong private network can produce a hard freeze, forcing a hard reset from the power down state. Possibly a serious security vulnerability to the point where I'm not sure I should share the details in public.
Anything you've noticed about the new Windows 10? (Now I have to get back to dealing with the new OS X update and the latest Ubuntu...) Some of the new features include the ability to resume past activities in timeline, a file sharing feature with nearby devices, a rebuilt Game Bar with a new Fluent design UI, and a diagnostic data viewing tool in the Security and Privacy section. If you want to get the update before the global rollout, you can do so via Check for Updates under Windows Update.
On one of my machines (Lenovo Miix 510-12ISK) it tries to update but on the next reboot it get a blue screen of death, restart and get back to the older OS version. I'm trying to figure it out what can be wrong.
Had a drive letter assigned to one of the system partitions and received notifications that the drive was almost out of space. I removed the drive letter using diskpart.
I ended up with 3 new icons, one for Edge (which I ran once a few years back and don't plan to run again), and 2 for XBox something or other (I've got a PS4). Right click-> delete and bye bye Edge. Same thing on the XBox icons gave the scary warning "This will delete this program from your computer". Didn't really want to do that, but I also didn't want those 2 icons on my main screen so, well, I deleted the damned things.
Upgraded 2 days ago, no issues yet.
Uninstall the CheckPoint VPN client first if you have it installed.
During the upgrade process, it took an exceedingly long time than normal for a system with an i7 and NVMe drive (about an hour). Turns out that after it booted up, my entire TCP/IP stack wasn't working with any of my NICs. (Yellow bang next to all of them in device manager). The issue was te CheckPoint VPN client. Only until after I uninstalled it and rebooted did the issue clear up.
As for the long installation time, it was timing out attempting to communicate online at which point it was never going to.
Life is not for the lazy.
First off my Dell notebook went flawless upgrading and surprisingly fast with SSD. Only noticeable issue was possibly Chrome browser hanging sometimes with some sites. My wife's HP notebook had a more significantly long upgrade taking over two hours to download and upgrade. But her's runs way more apps and has significantly more files besides having a slow (5400) spin drive. The other issue is of course the upgrade reverts some defaults back to Microsoft products. Like PDF viewer which I set to Chrome and it defaulted back to Edge. This is a typical and expected complaint of upgrading and it appears Microsoft has still not learned to respect the users choice of defaults. Otherwise I don't give a shit about any of the new features, or Edge or anything other then don't break the shit I use!
I have a couple of older laptops and machines that are no longer supported by the drivers in Windows 10 automatic upgrades. Yet, they still try to apply themselves again. And again. And again; wasting gigabyte bandwidth and hours of time with each futile attempt.
Thank {deity} for the Windows tool that allows you to selectively disable major "upgrades" like this.
Went to install SSDT 2017 today and was greeted with:
No, I don't have Windows 10S. I had to go to Apps & Features and allow installation of apps from non-Store sources. This setting only changed (or should I say "appeared") since Windows Updates this week.
My life in general improved significantly after the upgrade. I swear the birds a chirping more happily, and the sky is a more beautiful shade of blue (Azure, perhaps?). My GF has started giving me wakeup BJs every morning this week, I got a raise at work after only 4 months after my last one, and Fortnite rocks. Fuck this is an amazing upgrade.
I noticed that seemed to be sending all my data to Microsoft. Is that normal?
"Apps" (not just Store apps, but also win32) have microphone blocked by default. You need to go to "Microphone privacy settings" and turn on "Allow apps to access your microphone." I was able to do this to get a win32 application working, even with all the individual apps under "Choose which apps can access your microphone" set to "Off."
More details here: https://superuser.com/questions/1291985/microphone-not-working-on-windows-10-version-1803-insider-preview
Is this the Microsoft Developers Edition? For some reason, it's constantly connected to StackOverflow searching for things like "How I Can bobble sort?" and frantically trying to obtain an H1-B
How many Slashdot users login from Windows? It would be nice to have the stats. Yea, I know, "I have to use it in the office, yada-yada". I also use it in the office for testing purposes (in a VM). But you are not supposed to use your work computer for Slashdot, right? :) I assume most people here use their own computer or mobile device. It would be nice to have the splits between OS and browsers.
I work in IT and I've had several sites report strange behavior with this KB. Some servers have installed it just fine, others didn't even download it, others try to install it and it fails over and over.
Just more of the same problems. Windows screwing up some problems with DAX drivers and Virtual Serial ports. The temporary fix is to uninstall the software with a program like Revo, remove everything involved with the programs, then reinstalling them all over again.
The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
The words Microsoft, and Windows, and new update. That means don't update.
No I am serious. Even years after its release, Windows 10 is still flawed and still crapping out on device drivers. It is still tying your hands to a Microsoft account you don't need, and sending data back to Microsoft even after you tell it not to do that. Except in more expensive versions it forces patches on you that may compromise the integrity of the OS, forcing a reinstall.
Win 7 wasn't perfect, but it was rock solid by SP1. Win 10 is never going to achieve that.
The endless slashvertisements with clickbait-y "questions" for headlines.
It's redmond's finest. If most of the readers don't have better then this is officially a nerd-unfit shithole and certainly no longer matters.
Where's the +1 Incoherent mod?
Logitech Setpoint customizations (such as Universal Scrolling) no longer works in UWP apps. It still works fine in desktop apps such as Internet Explorer but does not work in: Microsoft Edge, or the Office365 version of Office 2016. It worked fine the day before 1803 was installed. Uninstall/reinstall of Setpoint and the Logitech mouse driver does not fix it.
The other thing I noticed is that it is no longer possible to select the color black for your Windows 10 theme color, it forces the color to be gray instead.
-==- Buy a Mac and leave me alone!
So who cares?
I've got a stable system that I like. Other than security updates, I don't want other changes.
I wish MS had stopped at Windows 7. But, you know, money...
BlameBillCosby.com
Having to back up my data and do a clean install because the update won't install on my generic Dell laptop? No. No problems at all.
Does it overwrite grub on my duel boot machine like the last update did?
Its shit, like all other versions and updates.
Same as it ever was. Same as it ever was.
First reboot after the update was ok, but all the bloat i had uninstalled or removed before install using NTLite had come back.
The next time I rebooted, the screen remained on, but blank. I couldn't see anything on screen past POST.
Reinstalled to previous version. I'm going to unplug the cable to my girlfriend's PC, backup all files, and prepare to reinstall once it's back online and grabs the update.
Choosing the stable update channel works on my PC, pro version; I don't think she has that option on home version.
We both have AMD FX CPUs.
Finished in 15 minutes on a 7 year old laptop. I am waiting for something to go south but so far it has been shockingly smooth.
An update does not reset your (e.g, privacy) seetings.
Hasn't had any effect at all on my Debian boxen, AFAICT.
I do continue to wonder why anyone uses Windows, though. My kids use it for gaming; I get that, sort of.
Note to ACs: I usually delete AC replies without reading them. If you want to talk to me, log in.
The April 30 Update breaks my HP Elite x2 1012 G2: The Intel HD Graphics 620 driver stops working. The HP Elite USB-C Dock G3 stops connecting. Neither Microsoft or HP seem interested in fix my issue.
Tie machine to outlook account just like google-android and re-conquer the desktop world
Sounds like the OP is just making shit up. I've tested both of his 'idiosyncrasies' and not found them to exist on my 1803 systems.
Says "press F1 to continue."
Booted off live Linux Flash drive and keyboard works just fine!
I recently got two new HP workstations. The first one I let it update before trying to create a second non-admin profile. After the feature update, it required me to enter security questions for a local profile, rather than a hint word.
The second system, I created the second user without having the security questions. It was just the hint word.
I have two computers with the new version.
Both of them ask me at every startup to add a faceID and a new code (4 digits code) to replace my password. I didn't find a way to get these nag screen off.
All menu in Chrome are not transparent without text... I manage to update chrome to the last version with the same result.
Displaylink need to be updated, if you use it.
Ceci n'est pas une Signature !
If you have a Intel Kaby Lake processor (newer), use Intel graphics, and Google Chrome then don't upgrade. https://bugs.chromium.org/p/ch... The newer ThinkPads all hit this combo.
Microsoft is apparently competing with other companies, Google and Facebook, to see which can be most abusive. Is Microsoft winning? These articles say yes:
Windows 10 is possibly the worst spyware ever made.
7 ways Windows 10 pushes ads at you...
The endless slashvertisements with clickbait-y "questions" for headlines.
It's redmond's finest. If most of the readers don't have better then this is officially a nerd-unfit shithole and certainly no longer matters.
English, motherfucker. Do you type it?
It crashes my computer trying to update, I have to restore while offline, delete the files, and kill the service (again!) to keep it from happening every night.
Sooooo damn glad I quit pissing up a rope while using MS software. I used/supported Windows (and everything that goes with it) for 20 years as a sysadmin. When I retired in 2010, I decided I was DONE with anything MS.. Now Linux powers all my personal computers and quite a few friends/neighbors/relatives. These were done after they learned what *their* computers were spewing out into MS's greedy servers.. Now, reading these endless reports of the latest effort on MS's part to fuck up the world's computers, I regard it as a very high form of entertainment, with a sprinkle of pity for those who are forced to continue to use the shit from Redmond....
THANK YOU, Edward Snowden!! Americans owe you a debt of gratitude (whether they know it or not..)
They did that thing in Windows 8.1 and I spend a day getting rid of it (I didn't know how to bypass it in the installation). My system is usually down for a day on major Windows 10 upgrades. Fortunately my main system is a Mac. And I usually wait a few months before doing updates.
No change for me.
It uninstalled RSAT yet again
Installed those bullshit UWP apps again
Enabled Cortana again
Made the web search from the Start Menu harder to remove
Searching Internet Explorer on Start bring Edge up each time
Timeline is broken, disable when I removed the UWP garbage, or only works with a handful of apps.
All kinds of new bullshit to turn off in Settings
Turning back off all of the things that were turned back on
Added folders back to This PC
Still cant search when trying to set a default program by extension in Settings
One descent feature I found was the ability to force scroll bars to always show.
So all kinds of them.
The millennial that doesn't like most of the stuff designed for millennials.
I noticed that seemed to be sending all my data to Microsoft. Is that normal?
Maybe it's part of a free backup service? You just have to do your recovery via the FBI or NSA, depending on where you live. If you've been an especially bad boy, you may have to appeal directly to Herr Donald. (Don't worry. He also don't read Slashdot.)
I'd give you the funny mod if I ever had a mod point to give. Unfortunately at this point I think that upgrades of the Slashdot moderation system are not coming... EVER.
Also thanks for reminding me of my initial feedback to MS, but I'll share that in another comment. Probably a new thread unless I can find a match somewhere...
Freedom = (Meaningful - Coerced) Choice != (Speech | Beer^2), and sad sock puppets' bad mods avail them naught.
NOT impressed with the PIN idea, though one of the things it does is create a "shortcut" for unlocking the display. The obvious problem is PIN number fatigue and collapse, as in people who start reusing PINs because they have too many of them or who start writing them down in insufficiently secure places to keep track.
Just another layer of security confusion that I didn't need, but a black-hat hacker is always happy to see another layer of security. The longer the chain, the more likely there's a weak link to be found and broken...
Freedom = (Meaningful - Coerced) Choice != (Speech | Beer^2), and sad sock puppets' bad mods avail them naught.
I seem to have this burning rash on my rear and watery eyes after upgrading to 1803. Is this normal?
Harrison's Postulate - "For every action there is an equal and opposite criticism"
I upgraded my desktop, and I don't see any issues. I haven't tried any of the "new features"; they didn't seem compelling to me.
My laptop, though... The hard drive is encrypted with VeraCrypt, and the usual update process fails, of course.
The canonical solution is to un-encrypt your drive, do the update, then re-encrypt it. Since encrypt the whole drive takes about 12 hours, I'm not doing that.
However, I found this nifty little page:
https://github.com/th-wilde/ve...
I created an install directory from the Microsoft page, copied this into it and ran it. It patches the Windows files with the Veracrypt drivers. Then run setup.exe in an administrator cmd shell, and there you go.
I hope... It's well into the process now, "Working on updates 12% Don't turn off your PC. This will take a while. Your PC will restart several times".
Normal major update, in other words.
If it fails, I'll post the tale of woe here, but it looks like it's going OK. I've seen several postings on GitHub that it works with 1803.
I wish there were more mentions of that browser hang... Chrome in your case, but I just had a second hard hang with this machine. Pretty sure both of mine were with Firefox.
The first crash requiring power off is mentioned as part of the original story at the top, but I thought it was a network problem and now I'm inclined to suspect it was actually a Firefox crash that just coincidentally happened at that time. The second was a few minutes ago as I attempted to respond to this story... No idea of what the triggers are, but...
That does remind me how Microsoft tried to shove Edge down my throat again when I first booted the supposedly upgraded machines. I'm sure that MS carefully tested Edge to make sure it doesn't hard-freeze the machines, at least not to the same degree. I did have to nuke Edge once from the task manager, but at least I didn't have to kill the power.
No, Mr Microsoft people, I do NOT want to use your Edge. (Rude adjective removed. At this point the generic-sounding term "Edge" has enough rudeness of its own.) So back to the feedback topic, but where to write it?
Freedom = (Meaningful - Coerced) Choice != (Speech | Beer^2), and sad sock puppets' bad mods avail them naught.
When I see stuff like this I feel that there's no point in "upgrading" from Windows 7.
Seems to be the best place to comment on my initial feedback to Microsoft. In summary, I said that NONE of the featured new features interested me at all. What I actually WANT from EVERY upgrade is faster, more secure, and better protection of my private information. I have not yet detected ANY evidence that any of my REAL desires is being addressed by this upgrade.
So far I would say that the new version is mostly slower, I feel LESS secure with this PIN thing, and I feel no better about entrusting so much of my personal information to Microsoft's tender clutches. (Even worse that Facebook seems to be positively profiting and benefiting from the recent disclosures of abuse of personal information. But surely you've noticed the stock market is sick, sick, sick...)
The editor added comments about a couple of the new features that MS is touting. I'm NOT interested, and I'm well positioned to detect any interest if I had it. Not the slightest tickle of "Gee, I've been wanting to do that for years." I have a LONG list of things I wish the OS could help me with, and I have even revealed most of those things, sometimes directly to the corporate cancer in question, and yet... My rooms for improvement remain mostly vacant.
Freedom = (Meaningful - Coerced) Choice != (Speech | Beer^2), and sad sock puppets' bad mods avail them naught.
Can't have different backgrounds on the desktops like I use to either.
I think you're playing with a troll of the AC stripe, though it's possible he did put his name on it and just got negatively modded into invisibility. You didn't sufficiently pique my curiosity to get me to click on Parent, so I'll never know.
What I do know is that Slashdot could be improved to be a better tool for positive interactions. I even think that EPR (Earned Public Reputation) could be an approach to help. Call it karma on steroids? Basically there should be a more symmetric and stronger relationship between public behaviors (like posting comments) and public reputation (to assess who is worth paying attention to).
Much more could be (and has been) said, but ADSAuPR, atAJG.
Freedom = (Meaningful - Coerced) Choice != (Speech | Beer^2), and sad sock puppets' bad mods avail them naught.
Looks like the goats functionality still works. All is well.
I run Windows 10, and my method is that I format my computer annually, install all of the updates available up until that point, and then kill all the update processes with fire. A combination of file and folder permissions, deletion of executable and DLL files...whatever it takes to ensure my computer literally cannot run Windows Update.
Let's address some of the counterarguments with this system:
"but Voyager, aren't you missing out on the latest features?"
No. See, Windows is still my OS because it does precisely one function: run my Windows applications. I'd love to move to Linux, but I've simply got too many industry specific applications to make that viable. The current release of Windows 10 does that. Microsoft has not released a single update which has improved the functionality of my computer. I don't need Paint3D, I don't need Cortana, I don't need any of the appy-apps from the MS store...I have literally never read a change log that has had even one single 'feature' that was advantageous to me.
"but Voyager, that's so insecure!!"
This argument is based on a few assumptions. The one I'll dicsuss here is the definition of 'security'. Have we defined that yet? There may well be some sort of case made for security if the definition of 'security' is "the inability of a malicious hacker to access the contents of your computer, and/or somehow cause malicious code to run on your computer for their benefit". This is a stressed argument to make, because I keep UAC enabled, I make good use of the public/private network paradigm, I run ESET NOD32, I run browser add-ons like NoScript and Disconnect, and I haven't gotten a virus on my computer since 2007 (and even that was based on a USB Autorun in the XP era). How unsafe of a system are we really dealing with here. Wannacry? I mean, okay, but I disabled SMBv1 via a registry key shortly after that was documented. Spectre/Meltdown? I mean, that's a bit better of an argument, but for those exploits to work they would trigger a UAC prompt, and there's really not much that would require a Spectre exploit that couldn't just be transferred through conventional means on a workstation.
By contrast, I submit a different definition of 'security': "the assurance that the data on a computer is not transmitted to a third party without user consent, that executable processes are not executed without user consent, and that the computer itself shall not be rendered inoperable". Windows Update fails at all three of these qualifiers. We can argue the first one a bit since it's likely other subsystems performing the telemetry, but the other two? How many times have you seen an idle computer with a thrashing hard disk and 90% CPU usage, because Windows Update is doing whatever the hell it's doing, for over an hour, without quiescing to foreground applications? It happens a whole lot, and it gets in the way of the user. Moreover, every Windows user has had a startup or shutdown delayed significantly because of updating. If you haven't had a Windows Update get you to a point where you're restoring from a backup yet, you're fortunate - I've had that situation happen on more than one occasion. Even if the system isn't completely hosed, why is it Microsoft's right to remove Classic Shell or treat my Start Menu like advertising space or reset my PDF association? EULA all you want...but no. Even if you want to argue mandatory security updates, why can't driver updates be declined?
Windows Update, in many respects, acts more like malware than actual-malware.
"but Voyager! We've had these sorts of updates for years! They were just called 'Service Packs', and you happily installed those...so why is this such an issue now?"
Because Microsoft performed massive amounts of testing on those service packs, and they were pretty limited in scope (with XP SP2 being a notable exception). Additionally, if we go back a bit further to NT 4.0, king of the service packs with six of them released over the lifetime of the OS, there was no built-in Windows Update mechani
I've upgraded yesterday evening (stupid me), and now my Linux Mint installation on the same SDD as Windows no longer starts. GRUB is still there, but the installation hangs on start, so this seems like a more serious issue. I haven't had time to investigate further but looks as if I'll need to reinstall Linux from scratch. Luckily I've got backups, so I should be fine in terms of data loss.
I'm thinking about giving up gaming, buy a smaller dedicated PC just for audio processing and then getting rid of Windows 10 forever. I guess there will be no way around it, I simply cannot risk that Microsoft destroys my work environment with an arbitrary forced update. That's just not acceptable.
Not sure if I have any such responsibility as the source of the original story, but I have read most of the comments (that were visible with my settings), and found many of them interesting and thought-provoking, though not as informative as I had hoped. The first comments did scare me a bit since it was certainly not my attention to trigger another OS war, but those branches faded out quietly and quickly enough. I do wish I'd had some mod points for some of the better comments, but all I can actually do is say thanks for your thoughts and the efforts y'all took to express and share them here.
Freedom = (Meaningful - Coerced) Choice != (Speech | Beer^2), and sad sock puppets' bad mods avail them naught.
Windows 10 IS an idiosyncrasy.
Turn off all the things that Microsoft uses to interrupt my ability to use MY Windows desktop as they are prompted with the Initial setup...the order changes but they are:
1) Power On;
2) Select English / Set Date;
3) Accept License; As if you have a choice...
4) Pen Setup; (Tablets, do it now if you intend to use it..
5) Personalize (ComputerName); give your computer a name...make it up if personal, follow naming convention at work
6) Get Online (WiFi; Settings & Customize); Everything Off except for "Send a Do Not Track request to websites I visit in Internet Explorer?"
7) Set up your Microsoft Account; Select "Don't have an account" and skip
8) Turn Off OneDrive cloud storage; Just say NO, unless you have a reason to use their cloud
9) Switch to local account, unique to me, not admin, root, administrator or any of the usual account IDs and make this the 'default' administrator.
.
Since we can not longer search for Control Panel, the Snipping Tool, etc...
One of the first things I do is activate Cortana (this is all I use Cortana for) and type . . .
Control (Right-Mouse-Click, RMC on Control Panel) / Add to Start
Command (RMC on Command Prompt / Add to Start
Snipping / RMC on Snipping Tool / Add to Start
Run / RMC on Run / Add to Start
. . . etc..
. . . put whatever Windows App you have always had at your finger tips (they are still there, the Search will not see them by default)
next I delete all the adware/spamware off the desktop...if I am not using it now, not going to pay a monthly fee to try it...monthly fees make you poor.
Finally turn off Cortana. Every time Cortana trys to start up, turn it off again...can't imagine how noisy it would be in the office to have everyone talking at their computers with Cortana.
Add the standard keyboard layout (Gives numbers and letters together)
Sprocket / Settings / Devices / Typing /
Add the standard keyboard layout as a touch keyboard option
On
After upgrading to 1803 from 1709 (Fall Creators) I noticed my network icon (ethernet) had a yellow triangle withe an explanation mark in it, it also said "no internet access" when I hovered over it. Device manager said my ethernet adaptor was working ok with 01/18 drivers. However the stupid thing is that I DID have internet access of sorts, my browsers worked ok & could browse the internet. What did NOT work were some of the Windows apps which needed internet access & also even the Microsoft Store, they came up with a message like "there is no internet connection" & a couple of suggestions which did not work. I cannot understand what is happening, seems like it is the windows system itself & not affecting 3rd party desktop apps. I reverted to my 1709 build & all was ok again.
I upgraded a second time & the same thing happened, so again I went back to 1709 which is ok again.
I can't find anything on line what could cause this or is it an unreported bug?
Any suggestions please?
That is an understatement. I got it to the desktop a number of times and then it finally gave up and now I think that I've had to take it to my computer shop to get the start up to work. they are going to have to wipe the hard drive to get windows 10 to function right.