[German]Update KB4541329 released for Windows 10 version 1607 and Windows Server 2016 may cause printing issues on some systems (Terminal Server, Remote Desktop). Winspool.drv crashes and pulls the applications into the digital abyss.
Update KB4541329 for Windows 10 Version 1607
Update KB4541329 was released on March 17, 2020 for Windows 10 version 1607 and Windows Server 2016. This update improves application and device compatibility with Windows updates. It also fixes several bugs. Microsoft is also currently reporting only one known issue with this update. I reported about this update in the blog post Windows 10 and Windows 8.1 Updates .
Update KB4541329 causes printing issues/crashes
We have known since 2019 that Windows updates cause printing problems, and I briefly discussed the problem in the blog post Windows Windows 10: Issues with Updates KB4522015, KB4522016 / KB4517211 (Sept. 2019). Also in January 2020, some users seem to have had printing problems (see Are Windows 10 update related printing issues are back?). Now German blog reader Erich W. contacted me by e-mail and reported the following observation:
I haven’t been able to find anything in your blog about the Microsoft Update KB4541329.
I installed it last week shortly after its release on several 2016 servers. On two WTS servers I noticed that everything that has to do with printing – even calling the printer control – leads to closing the application.
Printing from all applications will close the application as soon as you want to print, Adobe, Browser, Word Excel etc.
I had thought that the profile of this user is broken, because it only occurred with one user. After a second user reported the same error on another Windows Terminal Server (WTS), I uninstalled the update and lo and behold, everything works fine again.
What I don’t understand why only 1 user. But anyway, maybe this info can help other users in your blog to solve the problem first.
Blog reader Erich W. is not alone with his problem. I had noticed it sporadically, but I had not yet noticed a big wave of problems. A British blogger living in Canada reports problems with KB4541329 – WINSPOOL.DRV and the Remote Desktop here. You can find this post on reddit.com:
KB4541329 causing Excel to crash
A few users on a remote desktop server (2016) called this morning to complain that Excel (2016) would open and then crash shortly after. Logged on to server as admin does not show this behavior.
Stuff tried:
– Reboot server
– Repaired OfficeWhat fixed it: Looks like a Microsoft update kb4541329 needs to be uninstalled because it causes Excel 2016 to crash on Windows 2016 server.
And just by the way, the uninstall takes about 10 mins in the 100% complete window.
There are other users in this thread who acknowledge these crashes. In the Microsoft Answers forum, a user also reports crashes of Excel when update KB4541329 is installed. In the Technet there is this Russian language post that deals with similar problems. The user writes:
After installing update KB4541329, access to devices and printers no longer worked. When you try to connect from one server to another server, if the option to connect printers is enabled in the properties, the session crashes.
The affected person posted the errors that occurred in the log in the forum thread. Anyone else affected by this bug?
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