The latest version of Windows 10 v1809 was released to the public on 2nd October and will be rolled out to Windows 10 Home users on the usual phased rollout basis over several weeks. Some of you may already have it but in a break with tradition I understand you can now get it straight away by doing a manual Check for Updates. Apparently this tells Microsoft that you want the update immediately and you will receive it but in some circumstances you may need to try this a couple of times on different days to succeed. If you don't know how to do this you can click Start, Settings, Update & Security and Check for Updates. Before doing so however, I recommend you read the remainder of this article to understand the perils of getting things too soon.
I won't go too much into the new features here as I have written about them before but I will just mention one that has appeared and one that hasn't. There is a Your Phone app in v1809 that amongst other things lets you text from your PC and allows you to access photos from your phone when on your PC. The app is not surprisingly very android focused and works much better with android phones, some functionality isn't available to iPhone users!! The new 'Continue on PC' feature where you can send links from your phone to your PC does however work with both types of phone. Sadly as expected the Sets feature that would have added tabs to almost every application including File Explorer hasn't appeared. Hopefully this will appear in a future release. For those who would like to read more about the new features clickhere.
Now for the not so good bit which focuses on the issues experienced by the early adopters. There have been the usual reports of freezing during the setup process and some of apps and files having disappeared when logging into the new Operating system. The biggest issue however, seems to be some laptop users reporting that the power in their batteries is draining at an alarming rate. Microsoft have now acknowledged the issue which appears to be a compatibility problem with some Intel Display Audio drivers. The problem results in CPU usage going through the roof and hence your battery life disappears before your eyes. Microsoft have apparently stopped affected machines from updating so if you fall into this category you may currently be unable to obtain the update, however I understand you can override a Warning screen and Continue if you still want to get the update and don't mind draining your battery once it has arrived. Other issues raised so far include the Edge Browser failing to connect to some websites and mapped network drives not re-connecting automatically.
As a further update to the above Microsoft have now pulled the v1809 update. They appear to have confirmed that it is deleting files in some circumstances. If you have downloaded it then don't install it and if you've already updated and lost files they are asking you to stop using your Computer immediately and contact them directly. This is likely to be because their recovery options will include a tool to recover deleted files. If you continue to use your Computer you are likely to overwrite your deleted files. The problem itself has now been resolved and testing of the v1809 update has been passed back to the Windows Insider Community. It is understood that only a small number of users were affected and they were those that were using KFR (Known Folder Redirection) but files were left in the original folder locations. This is a choice when enabling KFR and most users would choose to move the files to free up disk space thus leaving empty folders behind. Microsoft were attempting to clean up the empty folders but hadn't allowed for those using KFR for newly created files only. In detail KFR is a process used by people who have filled up their C: drive and would like to move their Desktop, Pictures, Documents etc to another location. It is still a slight mystery how the v1809 update went live without modification because the Windows Insider Community reported the problem in both June and August. A description of the original problem and contact details are availablehere and full details of the resolution are availablehere.
As always my advice is to hang fire and let others do the testing and find the faults. However, this option isn't really available to those running Windows 10 Home. At some point your Computer will find the update and begin the download and installation process whether you like it or not. There is the odd thing you can do like telling Windows you are running on a metered connection but it is only those that have Windows 10 Professional that can choose when they get their update. I have set mine not to update until the Operating system has been tested sufficiently to be fit for Business. That means we'll be halfway to v1903 before I actually receive it.
If your update goes wrong and leaves you in a mess as it inevitably will for some then feel free to call Mark on 07557 483438, e-mail mark@churchdowncomputers.co.uk or fill out the form at the bottom of theContact page.
