KB 4532693 Makes Windows 10 Unbootable

[Windsurf48]

I have two hard drives with independent Windows 10 x64 operating systems.  One is working fine with all Windows updates as of today, but the other goes into a 'Preparing Automatic Repair' loop every time I let Windows Update try to install KB 4532693.  I've restored the hard drive over a dozen times on my Zenith II Extreme motherboard, which is going to ASUS for repair for unrelated issues, and now on my ASUS Maximus X Apex motherboard in the course of narrowing down the problem to KB 4532693, which turns out to have a history of various serious problems.  I can pause Windows 10 updates, but then I won't get security updates unless I research, download, and install them manually, or any other Windows updates.  Once I turn Windows update back on, KB 4352693 will try to install again and I'll lose the system.

 

I still have few things to try, but I'm not optimistic since KB 4532693 both fails to install and makes the system unbootable, and what I've found searching the Internet is stronger on reporting problems than solutions.  Has anyone else been dealing with KB 4532693 problems, preferably successfully? Is there any way to block a single Windows update permanently? Eventually, I'll have to give up and reinstall Windows 10 x64, but that could just end up back at the same point once Windows Update tries to apply KB 4532693 unless I wait until a new Windows ISO comes up with the next feature update.

[Tx Redneck]

I've not experienced this on any of the 3 machines in my house nor has a family member said anything about theirs having this problem. 

 

Tx

[Windsurf48]

This is a different and more common problem: https://www.computerworld.com/article/3528771/with-a-fix-for-the-temporary-profile-bug-still-elusive-win10-1903-and-1909-customers-should-check-p.html

 

This is the problem I'm having: https://www.windowslatest.com/2020/02/16/windows-10-kb4532693-update-is-now-causing-boot-failures/

 

Unfortunately, the recommended fix is to select Advanced Options and reboot in Safe Mode to uninstall the patch, but my PC won't boot into Safe Mode on either motherboard.  The next alternative is System Restore, which is equivalent to my restore from a backup hard drive, but then all Windows Updates have to be blocked indefinitely.  

 

I hadn't looked for Microsoft support recently, and found that it is available at $499 per incident.  I'd be willing to bet the cost of the incident that what paying for support would get me was instructions to reinstall Windows 10 and see if that helped.

 

Microsoft found another way to make my life more fun yesterday, too, probably to punish me for having motherboard problems.  After I swapped motherboards, Office 2016 tried to reactivate and failed. I'd purchased it after Office 2013 said it had reached its reactivation limit last October, and apparently swapping the TRX40 motherboard in and out pushed Office 2016 over the edge.  It was sold as having no limit, which seems to be true because it did allow me to reactivate it over the phone, although not before insisting that my cell phone number wasn't a cell phone number so I had to enter the 63-digit number on my phone and then enter the 48-digit response on my PC.

 

Just like your PCs, the update caused no problems on my other Windows 10 system running on the same hardware as the one having problems.  There could be some differences in the settings, but most of them are the same on the two systems.

 

I'm going to try repairing the boot files after applying the update, and if that doesn't work, I'll move on to reinstalling Windows 10.  If it can apply all the updates, including KB 4532693, I'll finish reinstalling my settings and applications.

Edited February 23, 2020 by Windsurf48

[Windsurf48]

I finally got KB 4532693 to install successfully.  I'd downloaded the manual install file, run it, and gotten the same "Preparing Automatic Repair" message.  I couldn't get into any of the advanced troubleshooting options because they all required logging on to the administrator account.  I was vaguely aware that I hadn't seen an "Administrator" account in Windows 10, but a quick Internet search revealed that it is automatically created but disabled unless you specifically enable it in an administrator CMD window using "net user administrator /enable:yes".  After restoring the system, I enabled the administrator account and backed it up again. When I booted back into the problem system using my user account and ran the KB 4532693 manual install file again, everything looked the same going into the restart.  I was expecting to find out if I could access the troubleshooting options with the administrator account, but instead the system booted into Windows.  I resumed Windows Update and it applied three minor updates successfully, and everything is still working after several reboots.

 

There were only two differences in my final, successful attempt to install KB 4532693: I didn't click 'restart now' but checked the Event Viewer and then used the standard reboot option, and the Administrator account was enabled when the install ran. Neither makes much sense as the reason why the install didn't trash Windows 10 boot files.

[Tx Redneck]

I'd not pay for M$ unless it was a mission critical system and my business depended on it. 

 

If you have a good, working image that you can restore from, do that and use on of the following methods to block the offending update.

 

https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/8280-hide-show-windows-updates-windows-10-a.html

 

Tx

 

Edit: I see you got it goin again, good deal. 

 

[Windsurf48]

Thanks for the link.  I saved the instructions for future reference.

 

I copy the whole hard drive to hot swap hard drives regularly, so I can always restore the system easily.  If necessary, I could boot from the backup drive, too. With mechanical drives, backing up or restoring the drive takes about 20 minutes, but now that the system is on M.2 drives, the old SSDs make it possible to backup or restore in under 10 minutes.  That enabled me to restore the system to before the update process about 20 times in the past week before I finally got the update applied.

 

Edited February 24, 2020 by Windsurf48

[nigsy]

@Windsurf48

 

Just having the same issue with my Lenovo laptop (W10 pro).....did an 'Install and shutdown' and when I booted up later i get the 'Automatic repair loop'; restarts a few times then goes to advanced start options.

I have an active admin account enabled but don't know / forgot the password.

Very anoying  - I'll go into safe mode at the weekend and see what it's stuck on.

[Windsurf48]

Good luck.  There's a lot of information about this update on the Internet.  I couldn't get into Safe Mode on my PC.