Win10 1809 second February cumulative update, KB 4482887, blamed for “crazy” performance drops in some games

Microsoft hasn’t acknowledged the bug yet, but it looks like the second February cumulative update (the “optional, non-security update”) for Win10 version 1809, released on March 1, is clobbering some games.

Tom Warren at The Verge tweets:

Anyone having major gaming performance issues in Apex Legends, CoD, or Destiny 2 after installing KB4482887 Windows 10 update?

— Tom Warren (@tomwarren) March 5, 2019

In the discussion attached to that tweet, @adamlunn points to two Reddit threads:

One from jlobue101 says that the “severe performance issues” are with Destiny 2. “The issue is not exclusive to NVIDIA GPUs, as there are now reports of systems with AMD GPUs also being affected.”

One has a comment from rayw_reddit that says “This patch is causing massive lag spikes in older games, like CoD4 and CoD MW2. Right after installing this update, I launch any of the two aforementioned games, moving the mouse around (yes, mouse movement) causes the game to freeze in 1 second intervals every time. If you don’t move the mouse, game appears fine. Does not affect the modern titles I’ve tested: Battlefield V”

Is the problem confined to games? Highly unlikely, in my experience. It’s just that gamers notice bugs sooner than most of us.

Moral of the story: Don’t go clicking Check for updates! That’s the only way you’re gonna get this “optional non-security” cumulative update.

Man, and I had hoped that the extended 1809 testing rounds would catch this kind of junk.

UPDATE: Microsoft finally acknowledged the problem on Wednesday:

After installing KB4482887, users may notice graphics and mouse performance degradation with desktop gaming when playing certain games (eg: Destiny 2).

Microsoft is working on a resolution and will provide an update in an upcoming release.

As a short-term resolution, users can uninstall KB4482887 to regain performance.

Win10 1903 Pro Windows Update advanced options — WUH?

Somebody strap me down. I’m about to have a foaming-at-the-mouth episode. The kind only Windows can provide.

First, an apology. I’ve been very busy swallowing a whale and haven’t looked at the latest beta test builds of Win10 version 1903 — the version that’s due to go RTM any day now. The builds tend to get very boring at this point — all bug fixes and no interesting new features.

Early this morning, I was looking at Windows Update in the latest beta build of Win10 version 1903 Pro. And I’m about to hit the roof.

Last time I looked, which was in mid-February, Windows Update had an Advanced Options pane that looked like this:

At the time I noted that MS had banished the “Choose when updates are installed” selection, which is where you specify “Semi-Annual Channel (Targeted)” or “Semi-Annual Channel”. That’s how  you tell Windows 1809 update to keep its mitts off your machine until a new version is declared Ready for Business. Of course, we know that the terminology has changed, and right now we don’t have any idea when/if Microsoft will ever declare Win10 1809 ready for business. That’s a different can of worms, which Susan Bradley talked about in her Monday AskWoody Plus Newsletter 16.8.0 column.

But at least we had the “feature update deferral” setting, which is something.

I took that screenshot on Feb. 15.

Early this morning, while poking around the latest beta release, I found this Advanced Options dialog:

What in the chicken-fired HAIL is going on here?

All of the old deferral settings are gone, replaced by a stunted “Pause for 7 days” option.

I was expecting that kind of neutering on Win10 1903 Home. Paul Thurrot warned us about it in a Premium article in January:

It is now possible—or, will be possible when Windows 10 19H1 ships—on Windows 10 [Home] to pause Windows Updates for 1 to 7 days.

I filed that in my mind’s “good to know but not terribly helpful” bucket. While this seven day max “Pause” button is better than what Win10 Home has now — which is to say, diddly squat — it’s little more than a fig leaf for the horribly flawed Windows patching juggernaut. As I said in Computerworld last month:

The current beta test version of the next (“19H1” or “1903”) version of Win10 Home includes the ability to Pause updates for seven days. While that’s certainly a step in the right direction, it doesn’t help much in the real world:

• You can only Pause once, and only for seven days
• You can’t Pause again without accepting all backed-up updates in the interim
• You have to know in advance that a bad update is coming down the pike –  there’s no warning

All of which makes Win10 Home “Pause updates” a really nifty marketing setting (“Look! You can pause updates in Win10 Home!”) that’s basically useless. Unless you’re Carnac the Magnificent.

Now, unless I missed something obvious (please tell me if I did!), it looks like Win10 Pro is going to get this same 7-day Pause Updates fig leaf, and the real settings are only accessible in Group Policy (type gpedit.msc, hit Enter, navigate to Computer Configuration >Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows Update > Windows Update for Business).

Note that “Semi-Annual Channel” has been neutered — it takes gall to put those settings in a folder called Windows Update for Business — but at least the feature deferral setting is still there.

Soooooo…. Is this how 1903 will ship? What happened in the past month? What did I miss? Somebody please help before I start going into paroxysms of Windows Update angst.

Again.

March 2019 non-Security Office Updates have been released

The March 2019 non-Security Office updates have been released Tuesday, March 5, 2019. They are not included in the DEFCON4 approval for the February 2019 patches. Unless you have a specific need to install them, you should wait until Susan Bradley (Patch Lady) approves them and any problems have been reported.

Remember, Susan’s patching sequence and  recommendations are based on a business environment that has IT support and may have time constraints on the updating process. Consumer patching should be more cautious due to limited technical and mechanical resources. The latter is the reason for the AskWoody DEFCON system.

Office 2010

Update for Microsoft Access 2010 (KB4018363)
Update for Microsoft Office 2010 (KB4461626)
Update for Microsoft Office 2010 (KB2589339)
Update for Microsoft Outlook 2010 (KB4462229)

Office 2013

Update for Microsoft Office 2013 (KB4462201)
Update for Microsoft Office 2013 (KB4092455)
Update for Microsoft Outlook 2013 (KB4462206)
Update for Microsoft Visio 2013 (KB4461484)

Office 2016

Update for Microsoft Access 2016 (KB4462192)
Update for Microsoft Excel 2016 (KB4462212)
Update for Microsoft Office 2016 (KB4461439)
Update for Microsoft Office 2016 (KB4462214)
Update for Microsoft Office 2016 (KB4462195)
Update for Microsoft Office 2016 (KB4462118)
Update for Microsoft Office 2016 (KB4032231)
Update for Microsoft Office 2016 Language Interface Pack (KB4462194)
Update for Microsoft Outlook 2016 (KB4462196)
Update for Microsoft PowerPoint 2016 (KB4462191)
Update for Microsoft Project 2016 (KB4462198)
Update for Skype for Business 2016 (KB4462190)
Update for Microsoft Word 2016 (KB4462193)

There were no non-security listings for Office 2007 (which is out of support).
Updates are for the .msi version (persistent). Office 365 and C2R are not included.
Security updates for all supported versions of Microsoft Office are released on the second Tuesday of the month (Patch Tuesday).

Aren’t you glad you don’t live in San Francisco?

I knew the rents were soaring, but this is ridiculous. From Ian Sherr on CNet:

The median rent for a one bedroom apartment in San Francisco has reached a new peak of $3,690

That’s the median rent for a one bedroom.

The federal Department of Housing and Urban Development said last year that a family of four earning up to $117,400 qualified as “low income” in the city.

Crazy. Just crazy.

Fred Langa: “My old PC has a virus. Is it safe to move its files to my new PC?”

Fred’s response starts out:

No, of course it’s not safe!

More great common sense from everyone’s favorite Langa. Even if he did leave New Hampshire.

MS-DEFCON 4: Time to install the February patches

Most of the bugs introduced by Microsoft patches in early February were fixed by early March. Looks like we’re good to go.

Once again, I recommend that you actively block the upgrade to Win10 version 1809.

Details in Computerworld Woody on Windows.

UPDATE: I’m seeing reports of bluescreens after installing this month’s Win 8.1 Monthly Rollup, KB 4487000. If you’re using Windows 8.1, you should be prepared to roll back the update.

Q: Is it time to install Win10 version 1809?

Just got a great question from SC:

I need clarification. About mid-January 2019, amid all the 1809 version hullaballoo, I followed AskWoody guidance and set my system to “metered connection” in order to not get the automatic updates.

I understood the guidance said we would be notified when it would be safe/appropriate to turn the “metered connection” off. I have been awaiting that guidance. Its possible I have missed it or did not recognize it when I saw it.

To say I am just a little savvy to Windows & IT is a serious overstatement, thus I depend on your help more than might make you comfortable!

The articles on 1809 updates in this newsletter seem somewhat mixed to me as to whether I should now have version 1809 installed .

So, I ask, should I now turn off the metered connection or wait? And if/when I turn metering off will all updates/versions needed be automatically installed or do need to take other action, such as implied in this newsletter?

I have Windows 10, Home Edition, Version 1803 (OS Build 17134.590)

Many thanks for all you do!

You’ll see that there are many voices on the forum, and in the newsletter, with different advice. Right now, I still say it’s best to wait until Microsoft gives the go-ahead on Win10 version 1809. But — as Susan notes in this week’s AskWoody Plus Newsletter — we aren’t quite sure how Microsoft is going to announce when 1809 is “ready for business.” The terminology has changed once again (is that the sixth time in the past three years?) and it’s still up in the air. In that same Newsletter, Fred Langa gives directions for upgrading to 1809, specifically so you can use the new feature that shows power usage for each app. As Fred notes, Microsoft screwed up the 1803-to-1809 migration so badly that patching may never be the same.

We can only hope.

There are lots of people on the forums who have upgraded to 1809 with no ill effect. It’s certainly in much better shape than it was just a couple of months ago.

For now, I say sit tight, unless you have a compelling reason to pick up one of the new features (such as the power usage list). I’m gonna wait until Microsoft gives 1809 a clean bill of health (CBOH channel?), and then wait a little while longer, before giving the go-ahead.

As we get larger, you’re going to see that more and more. Different people — different savvy people — will have varying opinions. If you want to keep up on individual patches, watch Susan’s Patch Watch List and @PKCano’s updating details. But if you’re working on your own machine, and don’t want to turn into a patching guru (trademark pending), keep an eye on the MS-DEFCON number. It’s simple. Maybe even simplistic. But it’s a good way to know which way the wind blows.

LangaList: Windows Update errors cause OS-version problems; What’s going on with TrueCrypt; Windows Repair All-In-One

Microsoft’s massive, four-month-long series of Windows update screw-ups and outages has left some readers’ PCs in the weeds. Here’s how to see if you’re affected.

Plus: Whole-disk encryption options now that TrueCrypt is dead

Plus: Windows Repair (All In One) — a free collection of 16 automated fixes for a variety of Windows issues.

Out this  morning to AskWoody Plus members in AskWoody Plus Newsletter 16.8.0.