Remember a few weeks ago when a Windows 10 update caused some PCs that were running certain third-party antivirus software to freeze or hang? Well, it's happening again, but this time it's affecting Windows 7 PCs.
Microsoft rolls out security updates on the second Tuesday of every month, known as Patch Tuesday. For this month, those began installing on PCs last week, on May 14. Apparently, at least two of the included patches are having trouble playing nice with some AV programs.
"Microsoft and McAfee have identified an issue on devices with McAfee Endpoint Security (ENS) Threat Prevention 10.x or McAfee Host Intrusion Prevention (Host IPS) 8.0 or McAfee VirusScan Enterprise (VSE) 8.8 installed. It may cause the system to have slow startup or become unresponsive at restart after installing this update," Microsoft stated in a support document.
McAfee is not the only AV program affected. Ghacks notes that Avast, Avira, ArcaBit, and Sophos are all having issues with the latest round of updates as well.
"We have had a few customers reporting that following on from the Microsoft Windows 14th May patches they are experiencing a hang on boot where the machines appear to get stuck on 'Configuring 30 percent'," Sophos states in a support document that was updated today.
According to Sophos, the problematic patches include KB4499164 (monthly rollup) and KB4499175 (security-only update). As of today, Sophos says it is working with Microsoft on a fix while "the investigation is ongoing."
Over on Avast's forums, there are complaints of the latest Patch Tuesday updates wreaking havoc with Windows 7 PCs running the free version of the company's AV software.
"Was running well until the April windows update cycle. Then it crashed. Installed the latest version of Avast, was fine again. May update cycle comes in, PC crashes again. Twice. First time, first reboot after Windows Update, runs for about 10 minutes, then it just froze. Booted into safe mode. Suspected it might be Avast again, did a repair. Next reboot, runs for about 10 minutes, Blue screen, Stop 3B system service exception," an Avast user wrote.
This is a bad look for Microsoft, and obviously frustrating for users who are affected by these updating mishaps. Furthermore, it's not just PCs running third-party AV software that are prone to issues.
We reported yesterday that a Windows 10 bug was causing some PCs not to boot when running the system restore feature. Fortunately there is a workaround available, but with the May 2019 update for Windows 10 looming, we can only cross our fingers that it will have a smooth roll out. If you're taking the plunge with Windows 10 and don't know which version is for you, check out our handy guide for the difference between Windows 10 Home and Pro.
