Windows 10’s latest patch is causing some problems with slow installations, or even complete failures to install, among other more worrying sounding bugs.
This is patch KB5027215, which doesn’t do anything except fix some security issues (remember, Windows 10 is not getting any new features from now on, save for maybe minor tweaks here and there, it’ll all be security work).
As Neowin spotted, there are complaints on Reddit that KB5027215 installs very slowly. One Redditor reports: “Only unusual thing that I noticed which others might have experienced is the long ‘cleaning up’ process post-update/pre-login on the reboot. That happens if you reboot for the cumulative update and the NET update at the same time.”
There are some other reports in that thread regarding the cumulative update for June completely failing to install (with the usual garbage error messages that mean nothing). Those instances are backed up by other users on Microsoft’s Feedback Hub.
There are also a couple of reports (from Redditors) that KB5027215 is causing more serious trouble, and in one case, it bricked the PC, and in another, Windows Update got stuck in a loop checking for updates.
Analysis: Be careful drawing conclusions
We must be careful about how much we read into reports of bricking devices, of course, when they are scattered findings. To illustrate this, in the above linked Reddit thread, there’s a complaint of a Windows 10 laptop going wonky post-update, with its charger no longer recognized, but it turns out that the cumulative update wasn’t to blame in this case.
In actual fact, it was a Dell firmware update pushed alongside patch KB5027215 which messed up the notebook’s charging functionality. So, while the initial reaction was to rage at the update – unsurprisingly – after investigation, KB5027215 was innocent here.
That said, the blame for pushing the new firmware directly to the laptop can be laid at the feet of Windows Update, which really shouldn’t be running that kind of firmware update automatically, in the background, without the user knowing. (It was not an update piped directly from Dell). So, this is still an issue Microsoft (indirectly) caused.
At any rate, the hints of serious trouble around KB5027215 may lead the cautious to pause this update for the time being, and that could be a wise decision. Hopefully Microsoft will investigate the issues flagged here, and any necessary fixes can be applied in a timely manner. The downside being that you’ll be left without those security measures brought in by KB5027215, of course.
