Windows 10 2004: List of compatibility issues blocking updates

[tarekma7]

The Windows 10 May 2020 Update started gradually rolling out to customers worldwide on May 27 and this means that not everyone can immediately update their devices to Windows 10, version 2004.

Right now, Windows 10 2004 is being delivered as part of a phased rollout process to a limited set of customers with devices running Windows 10 versions 1903 and 1909 known as "seekers," which is short for customers who are manually seeking the latest release by clicking "Check for updates" via Windows Update.

Microsoft says on the Windows Health Dashboard that it has also started training a machine learning (ML) based rollout process used for intelligently selecting and automatically update Windows 10 devices approaching their end of service.

Nine compatibility holds added on launch

A list of ten issues affecting Windows 10 2004 was published by Microsoft the same day the May 2020 Update started rolling out, some of them also being behind an initial number of nine safeguard holds designed to block devices from upgrading to Windows 10 2004 due to compatibility issues.

These holds were applied because of conflicts that could cause apps not to run correctly, Windows 10 to crash due to Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) errors, or Windows to have problems when starting.

One week later, some vendors such as Dell and Lenovo have also published support docs with the full list of systems that have been tested for the May 2020 Update and confirmed to be fully compatible.

In June, Microsoft started to notify users via Windows Update if they are being blocked from upgrading to Windows 10 2004 because of compatibility issues preventing devices with affected drivers or firmware from being offered the May 2020 Update.

Windows 10 2004 compatibility hold history

On June 19, Microsoft applied an additional compatibility hold on Windows 10, version 2004 and Windows Server, version 2004 devices using Parity Storage Spaces.

On July 1st, Microsoft said that it removed a safeguard hold applied to prevent some Microsoft Surface devices (including Microsoft Surface Pro 7 and Microsoft Surface Laptop 3) from installing the Windows 10 May 2020 Update.

However, according to multiple reports, it looks like most Microsoft Surface devices are still having issues updating to Windows 10 2004 even though the compatibility hold was removed.

Windows 10 2004 upgrades are also being blocked due to "various compatibility issues with numerous systems and hardware configurations" according to Microsoft software engineer Jennifer Feng.

The list of active Windows 10 2004 compatibility holds


Right now, eight update blocks are still in place to block the May 2020 Update from being offered to Windows 10 devices with known compatibility issues (we're not listing the Surface compatibility hold since Microsoft hasn't yet officially confirmed it's still on):

• Difficulty connecting to more than one Bluetooth device
• Errors or issues during or after updating devices with Conexant ISST audio drivers
• Errors or issues during or after updating devices with certain Conexant or Synaptics audio drivers
• Variable refresh rate not working as expected on devices with Intel GPUs
• Issues with devices using Parity Storage Spaces
• Unsupported settings (compatibility issues with numerous systems and hardware configurations)
• Issues updating or starting up devices when aksfridge.sys or aksdf.sys is present
• Issue with older drivers for Nvidia display adapters (GPU)

Even if your device is affected by one of the safeguard holds listed above, you can still manually force upgrade it to Windows 10 2004 using the Windows 10 Upgrade Assistant, the Media Creation Tool, or a Windows 10 2004 ISO for a clean installation.

However, Microsoft recommends customers not to attempt to manually update using the Media Creation Tool or the Update now button until these issues have been resolved to avoid experiencing issues that could potentially render their devices unusable.

After issuing this month's Patch Tuesday updates, on July 15, Redmond also addressed a known issue that was triggering stop errors and blue screens when plugging or unplugging Thunderbolt docks on some devices, one day later also removing a safeguard hold applied on May 27.

Microsoft also had to deal with an issue where the Disk Cleanup maintenance utility could cause boot failures when launching automatically after installing Windows 10, version 2004 Build 19041.21.

Instead of applying an update block to block devices from receiving that update and potentially not being able to boot, Microsoft used an automated troubleshooter to block Disk Cleanup from launching on its own until users installed the Windows 10 version 19041.84 update which has a fix for this bug.

Windows 10 users can use this guided walk-through or this update problems troubleshooter to get around update installation issues.

Source