The Windows 10 October 2018 Update Has Another File Bug
Microsoft can't seem to make the latest version of Windows 10 play nice with your files. The Windows 10 October 2018 Update had a critical flaw at launch that deleted user documents, and even after the company addressed that bug, it restricted the update to Windows Insider Program members just to be safe. That caution has paid off--users have discovered another flaw that could make it all-too-easy to overwrite files.
Here's the problem: File Explorer no longer asks for confirmation when someone drags a document from a compressed folder to an uncompressed folder containing a file of the same name. When that happens, the utility is supposed to ask if the user wants to overwrite the existing document. No confirmation dialog appears in the Windows 10 October 2018 Update, though, and the progress window appears instead.
So far the bug has proven inconsistent. Complaints on Reddit about the issue originally said the new document (the one taken from the compressed folder) isn't actually saved. A week later, however, other users said File Explorer was saving the new file over the existing one. There are some consistencies, like the lack of a confirmation dialog and the appearance of a progress window, but the bug's effects have varied drastically.
The first problem of not saving the new file could lead someone to delete the updated document because they believed it was already saved. The second could lead to the permanent loss of an important document with no warning. Either way, the flaw means that people using the Windows 10 October 2018 Update still can't trust it with their data, whether it's because of one of these flaws or because another is just waiting to be found.
A thread on Feedback Hub has been established for people to discuss this flaw. So far it has 25 upvotes and Microsoft has confirmed that it received the feedback. Several of the comments are less than helpful--one pokes fun at the flaw debuting with the Windows 10 October 2018 Update, another uses hashtags to bemoan everything from Satya Nadella and the Windows Insider Program to Agile--but one could prove useful:
Pedro S said: "This problem does not happen when using third party zip program, like 7-Zip. But if using Windows Explorer to extract the file, it overwrites the file without warning." That could mean that people who are using the Windows 10 October 2018 Update can use third-party tools to handle their compressed folders without having to worry about this flaw affecting them; but is it worth taking the risk to find out?
People expect Windows 10, along with every operating system they could possibly encounter, to reliably handle their files. It doesn't matter how many whiz-bang features are introduced with the Windows 10 October 2018 Update if it continues to erode trust in Microsoft's ability to protect those documents. At least the company has restricted the update's release to Windows Insider Program members to limit the flaw's impact.
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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.
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targetdrone At this rate the October update will be ready just before the March Update.Reply
MS should just scrap the October update and just focus on the next one. -
philipemaciel MS should prioritize bug squashing instead of introducing "features" most people do not use or actively dislike ("Cortana now does this, Cortana now does that")Reply -
Tanyac 21425905 said:MS should prioritize bug squashing instead of introducing "features" most people do not use or actively dislike ("Cortana now does this, Cortana now does that")
Agreed. There are problems that have existed since the initial release of Windows 10, such as W10 not waiking from sleep properly and crashing explorer, many unresolved BSODs and so on. All this bloatware on top is utter garbage, and the first thing I remove or disable. I just want a stable core OS.
The Insider program is a failed experiment. With all due respect to the members, as a programmer myself, testing is not as simple as just install and run. Many of the insiders are in it for the early access and are not experienced testers.
These types of issues we are seeing with Windows 10 are going to continue to multiply and have more devastating effects on consumer systems. Microsoft needs to wake up. If you destroy your customer base as part of your effort to save money by firing QA groups, you are still going to lose more income that you might have spent. They've simply lost the plot.
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karenjoly I have 1809 and that Explorer extraction problem . Using Explorer, the compressed file is not extracted at all to a folder with the same file name and there is no progress bar.Reply -
stdragon 21425905 said:MS should prioritize bug squashing instead of introducing "features" most people do not use or actively dislike ("Cortana now does this, Cortana now does that")
Agreed! There ought to be a "tick tock" to their development cycle. Cleanup bugs and optimize, then focus on features on the next round. Lather, rinse, repeat. -
CerianK I recommend to always use 3rd party (e.g. 7z, WinZip, IZarc, etc.) utility for ZIP extraction.Reply
No one should be using Windows 'Extract All' for mission critical zip work on folders with a large number of files, since it still suffers from one of the same bugs that was in Windows XP when Extract was first introduced. Note that the creation of ZIP files is unaffected by this issue.
Steps to recreate issue in Windows XP/Vista/7/8/10:
1. Place 65535 long-filename files in a single folder.
2. Right-click on folder and select 'Send to'/'Compressed zipped folder'.
3. Rename zip once compression is completed.
4. Right-click on renamed zip and select 'Extract All' (not visible if you already have a 3rd party utility installed, so must revert default handler to Windows).
5. Once extraction has completed, confirm that the number of extracted files does not match.
6. Extract same zip using a 3rd party utility to confirm that it works as expected.
7. Repeat process with 49152 files to confirm that it works as expected, regardless of whether 3rd party utility is used, or not.
I realize that very few people work with that many files in a ZIP, but I do, and quite routinely. -
stdragon 7-Zip is the best, but a co-worker got bit by some extraction bug in the program. He needed to update the firmware to an Intel 10gig NIC to resolve a specific problem. Upon extracting the BIN file, it failed with a CRC error. Ultimately it was his fault for ignoring the dialog box, but he proceeded to flash the corrupted firmware and 'bricked' the card. Extracting with Explorer yielded a different MD5 hash which in fact was correct.Reply
All I'm saying is be careful! -
CerianK
I was unaware 7zip had any extract issues, but it is my secondary utility behind IZarc (which I worked with the author reporting some bugs he quashed, and since v4.2 it is AdWare free again).21429902 said:Z-Zip... failed with a CRC error. Ultimately it was his fault for ignoring the dialog box...
IMHO, CRC is the most valuable feature of an archive used to transport data... has saved countless hours of trouble-shooting file issues (e.g., use a different USB flash drive... fixed). Definitely do not ignore CRC errors.