21/7 Update below. This article was originally published on July 19.
Windows 10 users continue to suffer one challenge after another, some of which could/should have been avoided. And now Microsoft has shown a Windows 10 warning.
Recovered through Windows Latest, Microsoft has shown that its (expanding interrupted) update to Windows 10 May 2020 can cut off Internet users even when their Internet connections are working. In addition, the factor has been affecting an increasing number of users for several months as Microsoft continues to deploy the update to more and more PCs. So you have to be on guard.
07/20 Update: Microsoft has confirmed a further significant Windows 10 issue, but this time the company has issued a fix simultaneously. Spotted by BleepingComputer, Microsoft says a problem with its popular Disk Cleanup utility could result in PCs refusing to boot up. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the problem affects users running the Windows 10 May 2020 update, but Microsoft has released a fix into Windows Update which should address the problem automatically and bring the operating system up to version 19041.84. Last week, Microsoft also patched another May 2020 bug which could cause Windows 10 to throw up error messages and blue screens when connecting or disconnecting from Thunderbolt docks. Despite its name, Microsoft still prevents many PCs from installing the May 2020 update due to known hardware conflicts. Given its troubled start to life, that may prove to be a blessing in disguise for many PCs.
21/07 update: Microsoft today showed other bugs in its software after revealing that Outlook had startup issues (the company recommended two fixes). The news also announced that its next-generation Windows 10X platform had been delayed until 2021, with the dual screen delayed until 2022 and plans for the Win32 program were also deserted (later verified through Cnet). The new greatly reduces the ambitions of what many expected to be a platform to fix Windows 10 bugs, given its new way of delivering updates and focusing on power and performance. That said, Windows 10X is necessarily Microsoft’s response to Chrome OS, just like Chrome OS offers local programs for Windows. Therefore, Google might be about to beat Windows 10X in its own game.
Affected users see the popular “No Internet Access” tag (a yellow triangle) on their Wi-Fi or Ethernet icon in the notification domain (bottom right corner). Because the caution is incorrect, the good news is that your Internet browser will continue to work. The bad news is that many installed applications base their attachment on the status of Windows 10, so they might not even check attach if Windows 10 indicates that there is no attachment. Affected apps can range from Cortana searches built into Windows 10 to games and streams with Windows 10 clients, such as Spotify.
The irony is that one of the features affected through this challenge is Microsoft’s Windows 10 Feedback Center, which prevented users from reporting seamlessly about the challenge, forum queries began to appear from frustrated users on the Microsoft network forum.
Recognizing the challenge in their TechNet forum, a Microsoft engineer said that Microsoft was aware of the challenge and is investigating it lately, but has not yet discovered a solution. Meanwhile, some (but not all) affected users have discovered that this solution is effective:
Surprisingly, this is the time when an update to Windows 10 has corrupted Internet connections in the last 3 months, and Microsoft admitted that its equally problematic update KB4556799 did in May.
In fact, since May, Windows 10 updates have impacted top tier games, booted users out of their profiles (twice), broken printers, caused boot failures, deleted user data and now cut off Internet connectivity, twice.
I’ve contacted Microsoft and I’ll write this article when I know more.
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