Microsoft has run into a new serious problem with its Anniversary update of the Windows 10 operating system which hit the world stage over the past few weeks.

The new problems comes at a bad time for Microsoft when W10 just became a chargeable product after a year of free upgrades when the Anniversary upgrade was the one to make Windows 10 the preferred OS choice across the World.

Web cameras no longer working, Skype telephony having problems in various locations, PCs that cannot start up, and up to time of writing no solutions from Microsoft; Meanwhile those with dead PCs have no way of getting their files, documents, photos etc working.

Some have been able to roll back the update to the latest restore point provided of course that a restore point was made prior to the update, and in that case access to one’s documents and files as they were at that time is available.

The problem with web cameras according to Microsoft is that Windows 10 no longer support USB connected web cameras that use the common MJPEG-/H.264 standard. Microsoft says that using Microsoft’s own Windows app improved performance, but hinder connected devices access.

• Microsoft acknowledge that there are yet more problems and they are hitting PCs with both SSD and Hard disk installed as well as with single Hard disk.
• [Among those are: Blank Screen after “Updating” to Windows 10 Anniversary Edition
• Surface pro 4 – clock speed of CPU keeps the same
• Slow boot up after installing Windows 10 Anniversary Update
• Windows 10 anniversary update frozen midway through installation.]
  When starting your PC in Safe Mode it is possible to operate the most basic functions, but it does not solve the problem for those with an otherwise dead PC.There is normally 10 days after installation to roll back to an earlier restore point which will allow for programmes and programme files to be restored to an earlier date.Microsoft says that it is only a smaller number of users with the problem, but one cannot but wonder how thorough was the testing of the update before release.It may be a sound step to set any updating to manual on your Windows 10 settings so that this Anniversary update is not automatically done  by Microsoft until we can be assured that proper testing has been completed and it has a clean bill of health.If in the unhappy situation you may have been affected Microsoft offer these methods to roll back to a previous version of Windows 10:Method 1: Using the Recovery Console
  • Restart your PC. When you get to the sign-in screen, hold the Shift key down while you select Power > Restart.
  • After your PC restarts to the Choose an option screen, select Troubleshoot > Advanced Options > Go back to the previous build.  If you don’t see this option, try Method 2. 

  Method 2: Using the Settings app from Safe Mode

  • Restart your PC. When you get to the sign-in screen, hold the Shift key down while you select Power > Restart.
  • After your PC restarts to the Choose an option screen, select Troubleshoot > Advanced options > Startup Settings > Restart.
  • After your PC restarts, you’ll see a list of options. Select 4 or F4 to start your PC in Safe Mode.
  • Open the Settings
  • Select Update & security and then the Recovery
  • Under “Go back to an earlier build”, click the Get started button and follow the instructions.

  Easy does it now, no panic, it is unlikely you may have been affected, but if you are and you are unable to solve the problem yourself, hurray for your membership of Kapiti SeniorNet where you can now turn for some friendly assistance and sympathy.

  Meanwhile, stay calm and carry on – computing.

Update (Bunkshyde – 1 September): I found this article this morning regarding a fix for the Freezing Problem here

Update 2 (Bunkshyde – 1 October): I get the feeling that Microsoft held the Anniversary Update away from New Zealand users for several months while they ironed out the worst of the issues (most of which are outlined above). My PC finally installed it last week (the end of September). Good strategy Microsoft!

To date I haven’t had any issues or problems and the updated version seems to be running smoothly. Of course I have a relatively new PC so all my drivers are up-to-date and certified to run on Microsoft Windows 10. I have heard of a couple of people who simply can’t get the upgrade to “stick” and the underlying problem seems to be (graphics) driver-related. When the issues was followed up with the hardware vendor they stated that their laptop should not have been upgraded to Windows 10 in the first place because they are not prepared to get their drivers certified. Maybe the hardware brand (starting with “A” ending with “r” and 4 digits long) is not interested in any return business!!

After the update, I ran my hard drive defrag program (SmartDefrag 5 – free version) and it took about 3hrs to get things tidy again – no surprise, updates usually make a mess of the hard disk. My PC ran much smoother afterwards!

My (personal) recommendation is to allow the Anniversary Update to install on your PC or laptop. Here is a snapshot from my Windows Update History showing the three updates which make up the Anniversary Update (Its code is 1607)

As an aside, the SeniorNet Kapiti Learning Centre PCs are being updated over the holiday break so next Term all our machines will be running on the new look Windows 10.