Windows 10 Threshold 2 (v1511) update is full of bugs that will frustrate users

Microsoft rolled out a massive Threshold 2 earlier this week as the first major update for Windows 10 that comes with significant improvements for both the operating system itself and the pre-installed apps. However, as always, the Microsoft engineers seemed to have bungled on a number of things. The update, which is supposed to be error free, brings additional woes to the Windows 10 users.

First and foremost, this massive 20GB update reinstalls the bloatware the Microsoft had shipped with Windows 10. Many users had removed apps that were shipped preinstalled in Windows 10 using the PowerShell commands, but after installing Threshold 2, all of them are brought back on your PC.

Second bug has been called the 44% bug by Gordon Kelly of Forbes. Many users who update are reportedly getting stuck at 44%. InfoWorld user Waseemulla S asked about this in the official Windows Forum and Microsoft moderator Softie Anannya Podder explained it may be to do with SD card issues:

“We’ve observed that some devices that have an SD bus with an SD card inserted while installing the Windows 10 November update will stop responding at 44%, and we are currently investigating the issue.”

Apparently, if you are advised to remove the SD card before updating Windows 10, however, those who use an SD card to make up for a lack of disk space will have to either free up space on their SD cards or buy a new higher capacity one to install the 20GB update.

Third bug with the update is that it deletes installed programs when it updates. Reddit user, supernoodles2011 noted on a Reddit thread that Threshold 2 is deleting a number of installed programs as it upgrades. A reddit user has noted that the deleted apps are found in Windows.old folder created by the update in the root drive and can be brought back from there. The apps being deleted are given below :

CPU-Z

Speccy

8gadgetpack

Cisco VPN client

SATA drivers

SpyBot

RSAT

F5 VPN

HWMonitor

PC meter

Java Eclipse Mars

Steam

Origin

Adobe CS

Android Studio

and many more.

For Lenovo Laptop/PC owners there is good new. Windows 10 Threshold 2 update apparently removes certain preinstalled software that was otherwise not removable.

Bug 4# The Windows 10 update is resetting your default Apps. The update also resets the file associations to default, so even if you installed Acrobat Reader to open PDF documents, Windows 10 Threshold 2 still uses Edge as the default option. A post on reddit reveals that Threshold is resetting the default apps on Windows 10 computers that are installing the updates, although such a change isn’t mentioned during the setup process. Microsoft has been guilty of this before, but your choices can easily be restored by going to: System > Default Apps and resetting it according to your choice.

In addition to above bugs, the Threshold 2 also creates a 20GB “windows.old” folder at the root of your C drive which will eat up your space if you dont delete it.

Also recent Windows 10 will have to queue for the Threshold 2 update according to Microsoft. The Microsoft FAQ page says that,

“If it’s been less than 31 days since you upgraded to Windows 10, you won’t get the November update right away; this will allow you to go back to your previous version of Windows if you choose. After the 31 days have passed, your PC will automatically download the November update.”

This could however be a blessing in disguise for these users as the Windows 10 Threshold 2 is filled with bugs which users could possibly avoid.