Why doesn’t Microsoft simply pull a bad cumulative update? Good question -- but I don’t think it can. At least, it's never tried. Pulling a cumulative update leaves Microsoft in the precarious position of supporting multiple builds of Windows 10 when it’s devilishly hard to get a normal user to figure out which build they’re using. There aren’t any catalogued lists of problems associated with a particular build. Most of all, skipped cumulative updates don’t fit in to the one-way-only Windows as a Service vision. Microsoft’s having this precise problem with bugs in Office 365 Click-to-Run. I, for one, don’t see a solution.
After making a laudable entrance, John appears to be missing in action -- at least, I can’t find any recent posts from him in the now-120-page-long complaint in the Microsoft Answers forum. Even the irrepressible jenmsft on the Reddit forum hasn’t posted any update fixes in nearly three weeks.
Right now, your best bet for finding a solution is to log on to the Microsoft Answers forum and post a question about your specific problem. You probably won’t get an answer from a Microsoft employee, but the MVPs are out there (remember, they’re unpaid volunteers who don’t work for Microsoft!) and other people are trying to help.
Someone on the support forums may ask you to send a Windows CBS Log. Here’s how to do it. In Windows Explorer, right-click on c:\windows\logs\cbs and choose Send do / Compressed (zipped) folder. Windows will warn you that it can’t create the zipped folder in the location, but it can put one on the desktop. Click Yes and a new file called CBS.zip appears on your desktop. Rename the file so that your support contact will know who it came from. That’s the file you want to send to Microsoft.
If you’re asked to provide a memory dump for your support person, take a look at NotMyFault, yet another amazing diagnostic tool from Sysinternals. It creates a huge file and takes forever, but it may be what the techies need to get to the bottom of your problem.
When you look for help, keep your sense of humor! I know you’re frustrated, but none of the people you’ll bump up against -- not even the Microsoft engineers you’re likely to encounter -- caused the problem. But if you’re lucky they may help you solve it.
More Windows 10 resources
- Download: The ultimate Windows 10 survival guide
- Download: Everything you need to know about Windows 10
- Top 25 free apps for Windows 10
- How to roll back your Windows 10 upgrade
- 10 reasons you shouldn't upgrade to Windows 10
- 10 reasons you should upgrade to Windows 10
- 10 hurdles to Windows 10 adoption
- Review: New Windows 10 version still can't beat Windows 7
- Review: The best 13-inch laptops for Windows 10
- 12 Windows 10 install issues -- and what to do about them
- Start menu tricks for Windows 10
- Happy 30th, Windows: What we've loved through the years
- Windows at 30: Microsoft's biggest blunders
This story, "20 fixes for a Windows 10 update meltdown" was originally published by InfoWorld.