April Windows update causes system to freeze or hang upon restart

[matt-fr]

Edit 2 :

An other problem, related to the update, is also happening.

It affects, Windows 7 and 10, and slows down computers.

 

 

 

Original topic :

 

The April 2019, Windows update, KB4493472, caused problems to computers with Windows 7/8 and servers with Windows Servers 2008/2012, with Sophos Endpoint Protection installed (managed by either Sophos Central or Sophos Enterprise Console).

 

It caused the system to freeze or hang upon restart after installing this update. The device doesn't reach the user log on screen.

Working for an IT company selling Sophos Antivirus protections, we had lots of tickets this week

 

 

The solution is to restart the device in "Safe Mode". After which, or the update fails and there is a rollback, or it boots in safe mode and you can uninstall that update in command line.

wusa /uninstall /kb:4493472

 

 

 

Quote

Microsoft and Sophos have identified an issue on devices with Sophos Endpoint Protection installed and managed by either Sophos Central or Sophos Enterprise Console (SEC) that may cause the system to freeze or hang upon restart after installing this update.

[...]

Microsoft has temporarily blocked devices from receiving this update if the Sophos Endpoint is installed until a solution is available. For more information see the Sophos support article.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/help/4493472/windows-7-update-kb4493472

 

Quote

Sophos Central Endpoint and SEC: Computers fail/hang on boot after the Microsoft Windows April 9, 2019 update

https://community.sophos.com/kb/en-us/133945

 

 

 

 

Edit 1 :

Users of Avast and Avira are also impacted.

Quote

Avast customers with Avast for Business and Avast Cloud Care, primarily on Windows 7, have reported machines becoming "stuck or frozen on the login/Welcome screen". Some users cannot log in at all, while other users can log in after a "very extended period of time". 

https://www.zdnet.com/article/windows-7-problems-microsoft-blocks-april-updates-to-systems-at-risk-of-freezing/

 

Quote

Some users have also reported similar symptoms on machines running both free and paid versions of Avira's antivirus products. Avira said it has been able to reproduce the error, and that it "is occurring because of a current Windows update."

https://www.pcgamer.com/a-recent-windows-update-is-locking-up-some-pcs-heres-a-temporary-fix/

[Constantin]

April 2019, Windows update on Win 7/8...... Like really??

They are about to be vanished, locked in a box, thrown in the see and throw the key so hard to escape orbit 

[LukeNukem9]

4 minutes ago, Constantin said:

see

*sea

[duncannah]

Is a Windows update screwing up even news anymore

[Trixanity]

Sounds like it's your software that's causing the problem if it's isolated to computers with it installed. Also, I've never heard of it before. Almost sounds like some kind of hidden advertisement given the mention of working for the company and the emphasis on the software you're selling.

 

How many on this forum are using this software for it to be relevant?

[Kherm]

how is this relevant?

[Jito463]

1 hour ago, Trixanity said:

How many on this forum are using this software for it to be relevant?

33 minutes ago, Kherm said:

how is this relevant?

As someone who works in the computer repair field, I find it very relevant.  I realize I'm not the majority, still it is some useful information.

[matt-fr]

Edited the first post to add that some Avast and Avira customers are also impacted.

 

 

 

1 hour ago, Trixanity said:

How many on this forum are using this software for it to be relevant?

39 minutes ago, Kherm said:

how is this relevant?

These antivirus protections (Sophos and Avast for Business) are used primarly in businesses, and this problem can affect servers.

It can freeze a whole company for several hours/days, and can make them lose a lot of money.

 

I don't know who's fault it is here (antivirus companies or Microsoft), but this is pretty bad.

[Ithanul]

44 minutes ago, matt-fr said:

Edited the first post to add that some Avast and Avira customers are also impacted.

Ouch, sounds somewhat similar to an update pushed a few years back on W7 that didn't play nice with a protection software.

 

It was o so lovely. /s

Update came down, and bam, all 150 client machines would hang a thread to 100% and crash IE and the desktop UI.  Thankfully, was before the start of the excerises and missions.  The bad, that was a long night trying to figure out what the hell happened and to fix it.

[Nowak]

Firing their entire internal testing team sure is doing wonders for Microsoft

 

/s

[Guest]

[TempestCatto]

3 hours ago, Constantin said:

see

 

3 hours ago, LukeTheCoder05 said:

*sea

 

said the blind man as he picked up his hammer and saw.

[Delicieuxz]

3 hours ago, Constantin said:

April 2019, Windows update on Win 7/8...... Like really??

They are about to be vanished, locked in a box, thrown in the see and throw the key so hard to escape orbit 

 

1 hour ago, Kherm said:

how is this relevant?

 

How is it not? If a particular news item in the Tech News forum doesn't apply to you, does that make it become irrelevant to the forum?

 

 

March 2019 desktop OS market share:

 

Windows 10 - 43.62%

Windows 7 - 36.52%

Windows 8.1 - 4.13%

 

There are about the same number of computers running either Windows 7 or 8 as there are running Windows 10.

 

Lots of people are still using Windows 7, and there will still be lots of people using Windows 7 after security updates end for most people in January 2020 (though they'll continue to be available until 2023).

[TheKDub]

Sounds like a typical Windows update to me.

[Tech_Dreamer]

Quote

wusa 

[mr moose]

4 hours ago, Constantin said:

April 2019, Windows update on Win 7/8...... Like really??

They are about to be vanished, locked in a box, thrown in the see and throw the key so hard to escape orbit 

Still very common OS , especially in business.

 

1 hour ago, TheKDub said:

Sounds like a typical Windows update to me.

FTFY.

 

Issues like this effect every update from every OS more often than people wish to acknowledge. 

 

[Questargon]

This damn update made me think my soundcard (Creative SoundBlaster Z) was dead - it did not show up in my Device Manager anymore after Windows seemed to halt for about two minutes at bootup. I pulled the card from my machine, uninstalled the drivers and because nothing of that worked, I reinstalled my Windows 10.... only to discover, that switching from Avira Free Edition back to the Windows Defender would have solved all my problems for the time being.

 

Have to put the soundcard back into my PC to see whether it works now or whether this is an additional incompatibility with the SB drivers..

 

Rhaaaaaaa

[Kamina]

They should remove mandatory or automatic updates and bring back it back to the way it was for W7.

[mynameisjuan]

"only on devices with Sophos installed"..... and this is Microsoft's fault how?

[Ringthane]

33 minutes ago, mynameisjuan said:

"only on devices with Sophos installed"..... and this is Microsoft's fault how?

Because it's Microsoft's update.  These are not niche software apps.  Lots of people use them.  Should car manufacturers only recall vehicles with problems that have Pioneer stereos?  

[mynameisjuan]

18 minutes ago, Ringthane said:

Because it's Microsoft's update.  These are not niche software apps.  Lots of people use them.  Should car manufacturers only recall vehicles with problems that have Pioneer stereos?  

Any why should Microsoft have to walk around third party software to provide an update? 

 

This has nothing to do with your example, its more of "the manufacturer fixed an issue with the airbag but your pioneer you installed prevents its from deploying". 

[Donut417]

Big fucking surprise. 

[Just Monika]

And this is why I always double check to make sure my Windows update service is disabled after each thread made about a new Windows update on the way.

[mr moose]

1 hour ago, mynameisjuan said:

Any why should Microsoft have to walk around third party software to provide an update? 

 

This has nothing to do with your example, its more of "the manufacturer fixed an issue with the airbag but your pioneer you installed prevents its from deploying". 

Reminds me of that bicycle meme where the dude puts a stick in his own forks and blames something, in this case the stick is a 3rd party software issue.

[leadeater]

7 hours ago, Ringthane said:

Because it's Microsoft's update.  These are not niche software apps.  Lots of people use them.  Should car manufacturers only recall vehicles with problems that have Pioneer stereos?  

Most AV software are heavily criticized for not following Microsoft recommendations for many things and violate many fundamental principles of 3rd party software kernel integration. This is why it's so common for AV software to break with updates and OS upgrades and why it's specifically mentioned, along with drivers, to make sure you have updated before doing such updates etc.

 

Microsoft simply cannot test every application out there, no matter how popular it may be. Follow the proper guidelines and this won't happen and it's the responsibility of those companies to test and validate their software not Microsoft's. This sort of thing shouldn't happen with general updates like this.

 

Edit:

If I remember correctly Symantec caused a privileged execution exploit a few years back, Windows Defender recently too. If you want to exploit a system look at AV software, if a system is going to break it's probably AV software. It's the digital double edge sword.