Microsoft fixes the thing it broke via another dose of out-of-band patching to deal with BSOD printing problems

[aum]

It's already a great week at Redmond

 

Microsoft has taken the increasingly normal step of releasing an out-of-band update to deal with the printer issue it introduced last week.

 

"Microsoft identified an issue that affects Windows 10 devices which applied the March 2021 security update released March 9, 2021," explained the Windows giant, "and a resolution has been expedited."

 

The issue referred to is a Blue Screen of Death that occurred for owners of certain printers following an update last week.

 

One Register reader, who works for a printer maker, reported issues with a variety of devices from around the world. Those afflicted would not simply be shown an error pop-up, as seen the last time Microsoft broke printing, but would instead be shown the door via a helpful BSOD.

 

As with last year's print woes, Microsoft has rushed out an update to deal with its latest handiwork.

 

Fixes have been emitted across the Windows 10 and Server spectrum, including versions 1803, 1809, 2004 and 20H2. The fix is, however, optional and requires the user to manually install it and even then only "if you are affected by this issue."

 

Helpfully, Microsoft failed to specify which printers are affected. Instead, devices using "certain Type 3 printer drivers" might get a visit from the BSOD fairy. So if you've not tried printing since applying last week's patch, we'd suggest making sure everything is saved and backed up before crossing your fingers and clicking the Print button, just in case.

 

It is unclear how Microsoft has managed to break printing in Windows 10 once again, less than a year since the last time it did so. Still, at least it managed to issue a fix, even as other parts of its empire came crashing to the ground in an outage last night that seemingly followed a botched change to an authentication system.

 

It is almost as if the company does not test things properly before unleashing them on the world. ®

 

Source

[mood]

Microsoft releases second update to fix printing issues on Windows 10

 

Microsoft released a second update to address printing issues on the company's Windows 10 operating system. The new update has been released for all Windows 10 versions starting with Windows 10 version 1607.

 

The update fixes the new printing issue that occurred on some devices on which the out-of-band printing fix was installed on.

 

Reports about bluescreen errors started to appear shortly after Microsoft released the cumulative updates for its operating systems as part of the March 2021 Patch Day. The company released workarounds to address the issue shortly after acknowledging the issue, and an out-of-band patch to address the issue.

 

The out-of-band patch introduced new printing related issues on some devices. Users reported that printouts with graphics would not print at all or would end prematurely.

 

 

Microsoft provides the following description on all support pages:

 

Updates an issue that fails to print the graphical content in a document after installing the March 9, 2021 update.

 

The new update is offered as an optional update via Windows Update and Microsoft Update. It needs to be imported into WSUS manually, and can also be downloaded from the Microsoft Update Catalog website.

 

To update via Windows Update, select Start > Settings > Update & Security, and click on the "check for updates" button. The new update should be listed under optional updates on the page once the scan for updates completes.

 

Here is the list of support pages:

• Windows 10 version 2004 and 20H2: KB5001649
• Windows 10 version 1909: KB5001648
• Windows 10 version 1809: KB5001638
• Windows 10 version 1803: KB5001634
• Windows 10 version 1607: KB5001633
• Windows 10 version 1507: KB5001631

If you prefer direct downloads, use the following links to open the download pages on the Microsoft Update Catalog website:

• Windows 10 version 2004 and 20H2: KB5001649
• Windows 10 version 1909: KB5001648
• Windows 10 version 1809: KB5001638
• Windows 10 version 1803: KB5001634
• Windows 10 version 1607: KB5001633
• Windows 10 version 1507: KB5001631

All you need to do is download the update package for the right architecture, e.g. 64-bit version of the operating system, and to run the executable file once the package has been downloaded.

 

The new patch should fix the printing issues on all affected devices. (via Deskmodder)

 

 

Source: Microsoft releases second update to fix printing issues on Windows 10

[xhartom]

 

Microsoft has rushed out another out-of-band patch to fix problems which have hit the printers of some Windows 10 users, following a recent debacle that you might have been following.

This trouble started when the Windows 10 cumulative updates for March triggered Blue Screen of Death crashes with some printers, and apparently the fix for those issues – and the original updates themselves – caused further misery for other printer users who experienced different problems. The latter gremlins mainly revolved around bits of printed documents going missing (parts of pages, or entire pages being blank for that matter).

 

• Best home printer: Top picks for WFH
• How to speed up Windows 10
• How to uninstall a Windows 10 update

 

At any rate, cumulative update KB5001649 (for the May 2020 Update and October 2020 Update) is the latest emergency patch Microsoft has just deployed to cure all these aforementioned bugbears (without any other unintended damage cropping up elsewhere, with any luck).

There are also other similar patches targeting older versions of Windows 10, as Windows Latest, which spotted this, observes (KB5001648 is for machines running the feature updates from 2019).

 

Grab if you need

As with the previous out-of-band patching, these are optional updates, and should only be installed if you are suffering from one of the described printer issues. Otherwise you don’t need them, obviously enough.

To grab the patch, simply head to Windows Update and manually check for updates, and you should see the relevant one for your PC. If not, the patches are also available in the Microsoft Update Catalog (see here for KB5001649).

We can keep our fingers firmly crossed that this is the last instalment in this particular patching episode, but who knows, the way things have been going thus far.

 

SOURCE

 

[Karlston]

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