For many users, upgrading to Windows 10 meant that future revisions of the operating system would be smooth sailing. Over the past few releases, we have seen the opposite in a lot of cases. It’s becoming common for a new release of Windows 10 to break hardware drivers or applications. Some users are also experiencing issues where the Windows 10 Creators Update is unstable or malfunctions after an upgrade. It turns out, although Microsoft would like all us of to upgrade to each revision, the reality is, we don’t live in a perfect world. That’s why the software giant announced yesterday that it will be adjusting its rollout plan based on its customer feedback, moving to a new phased rollout approach. Phased rollouts of Windows 10 is not new, in fact, the November and Anniversary Updates used this method of delivery depending on certain factors. Hardware that met requirements such as TPM 1.2 support, UEFI BIOS, and support for Windows Hello biometrics are ideal candidates.
Microsoft Phasing in Windows 10 Creators Update to Supported Devices
Our Windows 10 Help forums have chronicled some of the current issues users might experience attempting to manually upgrade or after installation. Some of these issues can easily be resolved using the guidance in our 12 step prep article. For others, avoiding the upgrade until Microsoft deems it fit for your system is the best recommendation. In a recent blog post, Microsoft detailed how it’s planning to deliver the Windows 10 Creators Update to hundreds of millions of devices over time.
Document the issue and provide users more information on the issue, potential user impact, and (in some cases) specific guidance including troubleshooting or workaround/remediation guidance. You can find more information via our support channels, including the Windows community forum.Update Windows itself, or work with a PC, accessory, or ISV app partner to post a driver or compatibility update.Deploy a “block” to prevent further rollout of the Creators Update to impacted devices until an issue is resolved. Source
Microsoft provided the usual channels for upgrading such as the Upgrade Assistant and Media Creation Tool. I personally have noticed a number of users experience problems upgrading using the Upgrade Assistant; a small 5 MB installer, which kicks off the upgrade immediately. Switching to the Media Creation Tool or downloading the ISO file, then mounting it has proved more successful. These alternatives are not guarantees everything will go well. The Upgrade Assistant and MCT only does a basic check to determine if your system meets the minimum requirements. If you own an exotic configuration with a line of business apps, it’s not gonna necessarily tell you what’s incompatible. The MCT is a little bit better, but not perfect either.
So, what’s the best way to upgrade to the Windows 10 Creators Update?
- Wait until Microsoft offers it to your system through Windows Update. This has been the primary method since Windows 10 was launched in 2015. Delivery through Windows Update also guarantees that Microsoft has likely tested your configuration.
- Check the manufacturer’s website for your model. If an OEM vendor such as Dell, HP, Lenovo, Acer or Samsung say its compatible or not, follow their advisory.
- Backup your system before initiating the upgrade. I can’t say this enough, yes, you are already running Windows 10, but it’s still Windows; it’s the complex 30-year-old code base. That means, just like previous versions, a successful upgrade is not guaranteed for one reason or another. Microsoft is hoping to use its vast user base of 10 million Windows Insiders to help find problems before they release to the mainstream customer base. The company is also working with third-party hardware and software vendors to ensure compatibility. In the meantime, we just have to accept that, a slower pace is actually better in the long run. Have you upgraded to the Windows 10 Creators Update yet? Let us know in the comments. Also updated to version 1703, build 15063.250 from the M/S catalogue hub. Now running pretty smoothly for a couple of days since initiated fixes as noted previously in my comment. Next time I’ll definitely wait and will follow some of the suggested ideas in how to avoid future version updates of Windows 10 – invariably these have a nasty habit of breaking things especially on older machines. P.S. I also ran a driver update, which (I think) also seemed to have helped. That’s not truth. This happens to me in a clean install of Creator’s I need therefore to save to a storage file and the document is in turn copied to the proper directory. I implore you to reverse your latest change in windows 7. For some odd reason the only way to boot was by getting into the bios and then exiting without making any changes, which then got me back to the desktop. Was able to do an upgrade over an upgrade using the Media Creation Tool and, thus far, all good. This particular version is sure one hell of a …. breaker! Keep you posted… The Level 2 guy took control of her laptop tonight and looked at the current Windows 10 build (1703) and told us “This is the latest version of Windows 10, the Creator Update, have you made sure that your laptop is compatible with the Creator Update?” Well shoot, we’re just regular users, no we didn’t “make sure” of anything, your company is pushing the update to her laptop, it’s not like we have the choice NOT to update it because eventually, it will update itself. Plus, nothing says “oh and by the way, it’s the Windows Creator Update, your machine might not be compatible!”. So now he’s trying to roll back to the previous version of Windows and hopefully will do something so that the update isn’t continuously pushed to her machine?! If that doesn’t work, he said he would schedule an appointment for us at the nearest Microsoft store for THEM to reinstall Windows 10 for us here. And I’m thankful that we have another option if the restore thing doesn’t fix it but the nearest store is an hour away! I can’t help lamenting the loss if Windows 7 when we never had a problem at all… Anyhoo, all of this to say that what is being proposed in the article “wait until the update is suggested to you via Windows Update” so you don’t have any problems because supposedly Microsoft will have pre-tested your machine to make sure that it’s compatible… isn’t accurate at all. As a matter of fact, I bought her this laptop back in May because her previous laptop had just become so corrupted after an update that we couldn’t even reinstall Windows at all, but at the time, I didn’t know to call the Answer Desk. Back then I suspected that the Creator update had caused the problem because my own laptop had just been updated to it and even though it didn’t destroy it, some of my programs aren’t working properly anymore (ironically, OneNote 2016 is one of the programs that is now buggy for me!), so I bought her a new laptop. And just a month and a half later… this. So I think it’s safe to say that they might be pushing Creator update in waves, but they clearly do not differentiate in advance whether to push to update to you by having analyzed your machine in advance. Update: Restoring the previous version of WIndows did work apparently (I think she’s back to version 1607 now) Also, prior to starting the process, the tech had asked us when the update had been installed because apparently you only have 9 days to be able to restore to an earlier version. It’s been an hour and a half and we haven’t had the BSOD, keeping our fingers crossed. I did question what would happen the next time the update showed up again and he went ahead and blocked it permanently after verifying on the HP website that my daughter’s laptop was NOT on the list of Creator-Update compatible HP machines. Supposedly, it won’t prevent the next update after Creator from coming up so we hope we won’t have the same problem again although who knows if the next update will be compatible with her machine. Ugh. And then he tried to upsell me on the Microsoft Assure Plan for $149/yr that supposedly covers 5 machines in your house and once you’re on the plan, you automatically get Level 2 techs right away and they can make Microsoft Store appointments for you if your machine can’t be fixed remotely. Problem is, I can’t find any official website about that plan anywhere, just a bunch of people complaining about having been scammed with it on the MS Forums. Oh and he also tried to upsell me on Office 365 because I have Office 2016. Keeping my fingers crossed that the update has indeed been permanently blocked. Sorry for the long message, but I thought that perhaps reading this would help someone in the same situation, since that’s how I found out about the Microsoft Answer Desk in the first place. Eventually, Clean Installed Creators Update 1703 Build 15063. Wiped the hard disk of all partitions and reformated it. Clean Install is superior to the Upgrade Install. Few people do it though because you lose everything. Comment Name * Email *
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