Microsoft Updates for Windows 7 causing Bluescreen on reboot

[peroty]

Hello all,

I've run into a problem I'm trying to narrow down with Windows 7 PCs rebooting into a blue screen after installing the latest batch of Windows Updates.

The updates that seem to be troublesome are:
KB976902
KB2419640
KB2454826
(Sorry, too new to post links)

All of this is anecdotal but... It seems to hit laptops harder than desktops. Lenovos seem to be affected more than Dells. This is just in my limited (about 10 PCs) testing. We've only started pushing Windows 7 out to our userbase so this isn't crippling us but it's sure causing a lot of issue.

I've only seen one news item about this so far and it doesn't have much more info than I do.

Once you boot into Safe Mode, Windows 7 will rollback the changes made and you're able to boot normally. However, the installs never complete properly.

Has anyone else seen this? I've seen no acknowledgement from Microsoft about the issue and have only seen other message boards mention it with no solution other than disable updates.

I apologize if this has already been posted elsewhere.

 

[phaZed]

So that others know,

KB976902 - Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 installation software feature update
This software update will be a prerequisite to install service packs. Additionally, this update improves reliability when you install or remove Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 updates and service packs.

KB2419640 - security update for Windows Data Access Components 6.0: January 11, 2011
This security update resolves two privately reported vulnerabilities in Microsoft Data Access Components. The vulnerabilities could allow remote code execution if a user views a specially crafted Web page. An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could gain the same user rights as the local user. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights.

KB2454826 - A performance and functionality update for Windows 7 and for Windows Server 2008 R2

* This update provides new functionality and performance improvement for the graphics platform.
* This update provides performance improvements when you print from XPS-based applications to GDI-based print drivers.
* This update resolves some streaming issues that are related to Media Foundation.

I would bet that if you were able to get KB976902 to install, that the others will install after. Maybe make sure that KB976902 isn't showing in Add/Remove programs? Just guessing...

 

[peroty]

Thank you for the further detail. I've had my head buried in this I forgot to include them.

 

[GaPazz]

I'm getting blue screen on an HP laptop today after attemping to install the windows updates. Way to go Microsoft!

 

[andrewy]

We have also had this same problem with one of our machines here. I've been unable to capture the Blue Screen message. We have updates turned off, right now, and the machine has been stable.

At first I thought it was a hardware fault, but after seeing your post with the exact same problem, it would have be caused by the software. I'm still looking for a fix.

 

[atombytes]

I strongly suggest you to turn automatic updates off if you have stable version of windows. When i install windows 7 to users i turn off updates because sometimes they can revert drivers, for example sometimes win7 dont detect speakers for realtek HD audio chip, you need to install driver manually, on next windows update, windows again dont see speakers (no sound), and user complain that his sound dont work.

 

[johnrobert]

I am also a big advocate of turning automatic updates off if system is stable
Might be bad for business but that’s the way my computer is set always runs flawless

 

[dbdawn]

I strongly suggest you to turn automatic updates off if you have stable version of windows. When i install windows 7 to users i turn off updates because sometimes they can revert drivers, for example sometimes win7 dont detect speakers for realtek HD audio chip, you need to install driver manually, on next windows update, windows again dont see speakers (no sound), and user complain that his sound dont work.

I don't think turning off Windows Updates is the best thing to do. Instead you should change the settings to only use the important updates. Alternatively you can turn off Windows automatically downloading drivers, see here for an directions on how to do that.

I have never seen this problem before though where Windows Updates mess up the sound drivers.

 

[sys-eng]

I don't think turning off Windows Updates is the best thing to do. Instead you should change the settings to only use the important updates. Alternatively you can turn off Windows automatically downloading drivers, see here for an directions on how to do that.

I have never seen this problem before though where Windows Updates mess up the sound drivers.

I have seen drivers downloaded via Windows Update mess up computers but I ALWAYS turn off the option to download drivers. I agree with dbdawn that turning off Windows Updates on a customer PC is asking for problems. The technician may very well be liable for future problems such as infections that took advantage of a security leak that was not patched.

 

[andrewy]

I believe this issue was caused by the Windows "black hole" update - which Microsoft flagged as important (mandatory to load a SP as well). This particular machine was a downgrade XP converted back to an Win 7 PC.

I agree that turning off Windows Updates completely isn't a sound action plan long term. I'd like to figure out how to install the update safely and move forward.

It's hysterical (for lack of a better word) that the update causes the blue screen, and then removing it makes the system stable again.

 

[sys-eng]

I would:

- Fix all other problems so the event log remains error free after reboots.
- Run chkdisk to fix NTFS issues
- run sfc /scannow and clear problems until it finds no issues

Turn of real-time detection on ALL running security programs.

Install ONLY one update at a time and reboot before installing next update.


The above procedure has worked well for me when in your situation.