Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
[German]On April 25, 2019, Microsoft released several cumulative updates for the supported Windows 10 builds. These are preview updates that will be released in anticipation of the upcoming May 14, 2019 patchday. Here are some details about each update.
Preliminary notes on these updates
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
For a list of updates, visit this Microsoft Web page. I’ve pulled out some details below. There is also information about the update for Windows 10 V1903, which is still in insider preview status.
Current Servicing Stack Update required
The update installation requires an existing current Servicing Stack Updates (SSUs). If this SSU is missing, installation errors may occur. If a cumulative update is obtained via Windows Update, Windows 10 should automatically download and install the appropriate SSU.
Administrators using WSUS or other management tools to distribut updates should make sure that the current SSUs have been distributed to the clients (and servers). Microsoft now publishes an overview of current Servicing Stack Updates (SSUs) under ADV990001.
Its optional (preview) updates
Contrary to the cumulative updates released on Patchday (2nd Tuesday of a month), the updates released on April 25, 2019 are ‘optional’. According to Microsoft’s latest announcements, these are so-called preview updates. These updates are used to test whether serious issues arise. The fixes will then be incorporated into a regular cumulative security update on the coming patch day. Optional updates are only installed if the user clicks on Check for updates in the category Updates and Security – Windows Updates on the Settings page of Windows 10.
In general, my recommendation is to take a close look at the list of known issues. Too often there are serious issues with these preview updates, so I wouldn’t install them in production environments.
Updates for Windows 10 Version 1903
Windows 10 May 2019 Update (Version 1903) has not yet been officially released. So Microsoft doesn’t list updates on it’s update history website.
Update KB4497093 for Windows 10 Version 1903
Cumulative Update KB4497093 raises the OS build to 18362.86, and fixes some issues. Microsoft has mentioned this update here, and released some additional details here.
Updates for Windows 10 Version 1809
Windows 10 October 2018 Update (Version 1809) and Windows Server 2019 do not yet have updates available.
Updates for Windows 10 Version 1803
The following updates are available for Windows 10 April Update (version 1803)
Update KB4493437 for Windows 10 Version 1803
Cumulative Update KB4493437 contains quality improvements but no new operating system functions and raises the OS build to 17134.753. In total, Microsoft lists numerous bugs that should be fixed. Among them are fixes for download issues with IE 11, the bug with the new App Container feature for Microsoft Office, a bug in the firewall that causes performance losses in servers, a bug that was responsible for lost start menu entries in roaming profiles and much more. The mandatory patch attempts for the Japanese calendar are also included again.
Note the know issues
The list of fixes can be found in the linked KB article. However, the known problems caused by this update are important.
After installing this update, problems may occur with the Preboot Execution Environment (PXE) to boot a device from a Windows Deployment Services (WDS) server that is configured to use the Window Extension variable. This may cause the connection to the WDS server to terminate prematurely while the image is being downloaded. This issue does not affect clients or devices that do not use a Window Extension variable. The problem can be solved in an administrative prompt using the command:
Wdsutil /Set-TransportServer /EnableTftpVariableWindowExtension:No
temporarily. Then the Window Extension variable is deactivated. Microsoft’s KB article Microsoft mentions more workarounds for this problem. Two more problems are mentioned in the Know-Issues list. There may be problems with operations on files/folders located on Cluster Shared Volume (CSV). And zone transfers between primary and secondary DNS servers via the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) may fail after installing this update.
Compatibility update KB4230204
For Windows 10 V1803, Microsoft has also released the compatibility update KB4230204 on April 26, 2019. This should make it easier to upgrade to the latest version of Windows 10 and will be installed automatically via Windows Update.
Updates for Windows 10 Version 1709
The following updates are available for Windows 10 Fall Creators Update (version 1709).
Update KB4493440 for Windows 10 Version 1709
Cumulative Update KB4493440 for Windows 10 Version 1709 (Fall Creators Update) raises the OS build to 16299.1127. The update is only available for the Windows 10 SKUs Enterprise and Education, which will be supported for another 12 months. The update includes quality improvements and fixes listed in the linked KB article. The update is distributed via Windows Update, but should also be available via WSUS or the Microsoft Update Catalog. Also here I recommend to have a look at the list with the two known problems of the cumulative update KB4493440.
Updates for Windows 10 Version 1507 bis 1703
For Windows 10 RTM up to version 1703 different updates are available for the LTSC versions and Enterprise versions. Here is a brief overview.
- Windows 10 Version 1703: Update KB4493436 is only available for Enterprise and Education. The update lifts the OS build to 15063.1784 and includes the fixes mentioned in the KB article. This update is automatically downloaded and installed by Windows Update, but can be downloaded from Microsoft Update Catalog. The latest Servicing Stack Update (SSU) must be installed prior to manual installation. Details, including known issues, can be found in the KB article.
- Windows 10 Version 1607: Update KB4493473 is only available for Enterprise and Education and Windows Server 2016. The update raises the OS build to 14393.2941 and includes the fixes mentioned in the KB article. This update is automatically downloaded and installed by Windows Update, but can be downloaded from the Microsoft Update Catalog. The latest Servicing Stack Update (SSU) must be installed prior to manual installation. Details, including known issues, can be found in the KB article.
- Windows 10 Version 1507: Update KB4498375 is available for the RTM version (LTSC). The update lifts the OS build to 10240.18187 and includes the fixes mentioned in the KB article. This update is automatically downloaded and installed by Windows Update, but can be downloaded from Microsoft Update Catalog. The latest Servicing Stack Update (SSU) must be installed prior to manual installation. Details, also on known problems, can be found in the KB article. Details can be found in the KB article.
For Windows 10 V1511 there is no update anymore, because this version was dropped from support.
Dynamic Updates for Windows 10
In addition to the updates listed above, Microsoft released three dynamic updates for Windows 10 on April 25, 2019 (mentioned here). Microsoft itself refers to these as ‘upgrade compatibility updates’.
- KB4492245 for Windows 10 version 1803
- KB4492243 for Windows 10 version 1709
- KB4492242 for Windows 10 version 1703
Dynamic updates are obtained during the installation or reset of Windows 10 and contain fixes to fix known problems with these operations (see also Windows 10: What are dynamic updates?).
If in doubt, please refer to the Microsoft KB articles for details on the above updates.
Similar articles:
Microsoft Office Updates (Patchday April 2, 2019)
Microsoft Security Update Summary (April 9, 2019)
Patchday: Updates for Windows 7/8.1/Server (April 9, 2019)
Patchday Windows 10-Updates (April 9, 2019)
Patchday Microsoft Office Updates (April 9, 2019)
Windows patchday issues–one week later (April 17, 2019)