Microsoft and Sophos have both put out warnings recommending users don’t install this week’s ( April 2019 Windows update) monthly rollup and security-only updates after widespread reports that PCs were unable to boot after installing the update.
There is a conflict between the latest Windows updates and Sophos, Avast, and Avira antivirus software that is causing Windows to freeze or updates to not finish installing. The issues that users are experiencing include Windows taking a long time to start or reboot, unable to start programs, lag in games, excessive disk activity, video streaming issues, and other similar problems.
“Microsoft and Sophos have identified an issue on devices with Sophos Endpoint Protection installed and managed by either Sophos Central or Sophos Enterprise Console (SEC) that may cause the system to freeze or hang upon restart after installing this update,” Microsoft said in an update on Thursday morning.
Sophos, meanwhile, has recommended affected users to boot in safe mode and disable Sophos antivirus, before loading the PC up again and rolling back the windows update. Then re-enable Sophos and you’ll be good to go.
Avast is recommending the same as Sophos: boot into safe mode, disable the antivirus, roll back the offending update and hey presto.
Sophos is reporting conflicts with the following updates:
- April 9, 2019 – KB4493467 (Security-only update) – Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012 R2
- April 9, 2019 – KB4493446 (Monthly Rollup) – Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012 R2
- April 9, 2019 – KB4493448 (Security-only update) – Windows 7 Service Pack 1, Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1
- April 9, 2019 – KB4493472 (Monthly Rollup) – Windows 7 Service Pack 1, Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1
- April 9, 2019 – KB4493450 (Security-only update) – Windows Server 2012, Windows Embedded 8 Standard
- April 9, 2019 – KB4493451 (Monthly Rollup) – Windows Server 2012, Windows Embedded 8 Standard
If you’re running any of the aforementioned programs, Avira is recommending that Windows 10 users uninstall cumulative update KB4493509 and that Windows 7 users get rid of KB4493472 and KB4493448 (see the instructions here).
Microsoft is aware of the issue and has added the following known issue to the knowledge base articles for affected updates. To prevent further issues, Microsoft has placed a block on the conflicting updates so that they are not offered to users running Sophos Endpoint until a solution is made available.