A bug that deleted user files made it into the shipping build of the Windows 10 October 2018 Update.
Now I am old enough to remember when Microsoft started the transition to centralized cloud updates. The company made a decision to move to this model with the release of Windows 10.
That decision is now getting tested with bad updates that slip through the cracks.
Windows Central did a really spot on analysis of what happened.
….during the last two years, Microsoft has received a very, small number of reports in the Feedback Hub every month along the lines of “My files have been deleted after installing the latest build or update.” When Microsoft looked into these issues originally, it found that some users were being booted into a temporary account upon installing new builds. Those users were mistaking this temporary account as their own, and when accessing the documents folder they saw that all their files were gone. In reality, all their files were exactly where they left them in their account, and they were just not logged into their account to see them.
As a result, Microsoft at some point added a popup in the temporary account that explains to the user that they have been booted into a different profile and provides support for how to get out of that state. This is why Microsoft seemingly dismissed the reports from Insiders that actually had their files deleted after installing the October Update. Engineers assumed those reports were related to the temporary account issue, which had already been addressed.
Those that really were suffering from deleted files reported the exact same symptoms in the Feedback Hub. They didn’t know what the cause of the issue was, so they merely stated that their files had been deleted. Known Folder Redirection was the culprit, but Insiders didn’t know that at first. Long story short, Microsoft had mistaken one bug for another, so it did not address the new reports right away.
The company now understands what mistakes were made and have made a promise to fix the issue. They are going to be making changes to the Windows Update process to prevent bad updates from slipping through the cracks in the future.
The whole October 2018 Update debacle has been a huge wakeup call for Microsoft.
The Redmond Cloud will continue to monitor these updates from Microsoft and keep you updated about the current status of these types of issues in the future.
What has your experience been with the October 2018 Windows 10 Update?
Let us know in the comments.
