Windows 10 October 2018 Update (1809) Still Flawed, Incompatible With Some AMD GPUs

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(Image credit: Microsoft)

Microsoft planned to fully release the Windows 10 October 2018 Update in, well, October. That didn't happen. Shortly after it started rolling it out, people who manually installed the update, also known as Windows 10 1809, discovered various file system bugs that prompted Microsoft to delay the update's official launch. The company ended up missing the update's namesake month entirely and finally re-released it on November 14. But it turns out it's still flawed and is even unusable by certain AMD and Trend Micro customers. 

File Explorer Issue

ZDNet ran down the ways in which Microsoft has yet to fix the Windows 10 October 2018 Update. The biggest issue is that File Explorer reports mapped network drives as being broken, even if there's nothing wrong with them.

Microsoft acknowledged this issue and shared a few workarounds, but unfortunately, those hackney solutions could lead to more problems for businesses that depend on their mapped network drives. The company said that "Mapped drives may fail to reconnect after starting and logging onto a Windows device" and that it "is working on a resolution and will provide updates in the 2019 timeframe." In the mean time, businesses will have to use Microsoft's workarounds and hope for the best.

But at least those businesses have a choice regarding whether or not they want to install the Windows 10 1809 update. That option hasn't even been made available to some consumers because they're using software or hardware that isn't compatible with the update. (As opposed to the "always-connected" laptops that shipped with a version of Windows 10 that was never meant to support them just so they could reach holiday shoppers.)

Incompatibility With AMD, Trend Micro

The problem lies with Trend Micro's OfficeScan and Worry-Free Business Security software, as well as AMD Radeon HD 2000 or HD 4000 series graphics cards. Trend Micro is working on patches to improve compatibility with Windows 10 1809, but until they're ready, its customers won't be able to install the latest version of Windows 10. Microsoft is actually blocking the update on those devices until Trend Micro gives the go-ahead.

Microsoft's doing the same for people with affected AMD graphics cards. Folks with an AMD Radeon HD 2000 or HD 4000 series card might notice performance issues on the lockscreen, find that Microsoft Edge flat-out stops working, or get the "INVALID_POINTER_READ_c0000005_atidxx64.dll" error. Those are old graphics cards, sure, but it's still surprising Microsoft would ship Windows 10 1809 with flaws like that.

Nathaniel Mott
Nathaniel Mott
Freelance News & Features Writer

Nathaniel Mott is a freelance news and features writer for Tom's Hardware US, covering breaking news, security, and the silliest aspects of the tech industry.

25 Comments Comment from the forums
  • jimmysmitty
    The older GPUs is a driver side issue. I am surprised AMD didn;t have a driver ready for the launch.

    Trend Micro has been known to wait till the last minute to update their software to work.

    As for the mapped drives issue, this is nothing new. In fact it has existed since Windows 7 at least and doesn't mean they wont work. You have to just open the drive and it works fine. Another well known issue is the network icon on the start bar shows an exclamation mark and states "No Internet" even though internet works just fine. However I have noticed this less with newer versions of 10 than other older versions of Windows.

    I think a lot of this is just trying to find flaws to bolster views and clicks more than anything as I said the mapped drives issue has existed for a very long time but is a very small problem that almost never affects any of my users.
    Reply
  • richard_mp
    "... but it's still surprising Microsoft would ship Windows 10 1809 with flaws like that..."

    In what world is this surprising. MS has had screwed up updates since forever. There is a reason that anyone with any sense what so ever waited for the bugs to be worked out of updates before installing them.

    The problem is now with Win 10 you no longer have that choice. Which is why even though I have been been using an MS operating systems since back in the DOS days I decided to move to bite the bullet and move to Linux. I kept my Win 7 box going for the three programs I still need Windows for but for everything else the transition was fairly pain free.

    I can see why MS would feel the need to force security updates on everyone and I probably would have been able to deal with that but the whole take it all or nothing is just plain stupid. I have seen way too many updates over the last 25+ years that ended up breaking my system to allow that to happen.

    Too bad really as from everything I have seen Win 10 is a pretty good OS but giving MS the ability to break my system any time they please just does not work for me.
    Reply
  • svan71
    JIMMYSMITTY pointing out all you did and trying to say hey these problems have always existed really doesn't say much for the # 1 os on the planet, especially after a month delay on there botched release.
    Reply
  • jimmysmitty
    21488994 said:
    JIMMYSMITTY pointing out all you did and trying to say hey these problems have always existed really doesn't say much for the # 1 os on the planet, especially after a month delay on there botched release.

    I am not excusing Microsoft for the issue. I am stating that this is not news worthy and is only being used to ride on the tail of the original issue which was major however was not as major as it was made to be since the update was never rolled out in a forced manner and only released in a "take it if you want it" manner.

    This issue used to be fixed with a log on script to extend the time to connect and this particular "problem" will only affect companies.

    But then again who am I to argue with the media who is really good at making Mt. Everest out of an ant hill?
    Reply
  • bigpinkdragon286
    Instead of Microsoft trying to cram new features down our throats we aren't asking for, Microsoft should make their engineers fix the stupid issues already. Users don't need Windows 10 trying to reinstall itself every six months. This is only asking for problems.
    Reply
  • jcroe72
    1. and no dark mode yet? maybe I was blocked
    2. my clean as a whistle pc is getting mega lag spikes occasionally is this due to the updates?
    Reply
  • Tanyac
    21488918 said:
    As for the mapped drives issue, this is nothing new. In fact it has existed since Windows 7 at least and doesn't mean they wont work.

    I concur. This wasn't an issue in Vista. Lots of things were removed when Windows 7 was released, This is one of the issues that started back then. There was also other issues like Windows no longer remembers folder sizes and positions, requiring the use of a program called ShellfolderFix to restore that functionality.

    But the network drive issue, and the "Could not reconnect network drives" has been around for almost a decade. The workarounds Microsoft suggested (UNC Paths or using powershell scripts) work (Unless your programs require a mapped drive). I had to change 2 registry values and set up a batch file to replace mapped drives at logon.

    I've been doing that since 2009. Microsoft has never fixed the issue in Windows 7, 8, 8.1 or any release of Windows 10. As you said, this is nothing new. So, I don't know why anyone is making a big issue of it now...

    And even more curious is that Microsoft has "acknowledged the issue" and plans to fix it in several months?? Say what?
    Reply
  • stdragon
    "99 little bugs in the code
    99 little bugs in the code
    Take one down, patch it around
    117 little bugs in the code"
    Reply
  • drtweak
    21488918 said:
    The older GPUs is a driver side issue. I am surprised AMD didn;t have a driver ready for the launch.

    Trend Micro has been known to wait till the last minute to update their software to work.

    As for the mapped drives issue, this is nothing new. In fact it has existed since Windows 7 at least and doesn't mean they wont work. You have to just open the drive and it works fine. Another well known issue is the network icon on the start bar shows an exclamation mark and states "No Internet" even though internet works just fine. However I have noticed this less with newer versions of 10 than other older versions of Windows.

    I think a lot of this is just trying to find flaws to bolster views and clicks more than anything as I said the mapped drives issue has existed for a very long time but is a very small problem that almost never affects any of my users.

    Yea the mapped drive reconnecting on logon has been a LONG time issue and honestly I hate it. Login, no internet, it tired to connect even though it says no connection, map drive failed, stay disconnected till you click on it. Its like this has been an issue since XP. Almost 2 decades now and that isn't fixed till even with windows 10. This is why all my domain clients has netlogon scripts so they remap on every login and it is when there is connection because it can't get the bat file till it connects to the server. But yea annoying issues.
    Reply
  • nufelevas
    Those are the most evident and visible bugs.

    The horror comes from all the hidden bugs, running underground, which will break things before anybody notices.
    Reply