What’s Happening
Microsoft has confirmed that there is 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. Most of the workstations that were affected by this where Running Windows 7, and 8.1 and small numbers of Windows Server 2008 and 2012 R2. Microsoft has a bad reputation for Windows updates. It was later discovered that Sophos was not just the only Anti-Virus having issues – Avast, Avira, and Arcabit also reported similar issues.
Which versions of Windows are affected ?
Unfortunately, a broad sweep of Windows versions is affected by the update problems. As of right now these include Windows 7, Windows 8.1, Windows Embedded 8, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2012 R2 and Windows 10. Exactly which version is impacted depends upon which antivirus software you have installed. You can find a full list detailing conflicts between operating systems, antivirus and updates here. Different Anti-Viruses cause different symptoms with this update, for example Avira users reported system latency issues and hanging of software; Sophos in the other hand reported system fails or hangs during boot up.
How do you fix it?
Microsoft has for the meantime disabled this update for users running any of these Anti-Virus endpoints. Sophos and other Anti-Viruses platforms have disabled the update and advised those who utilize such Anti-Virus to not update Windows until Microsoft releases a fix. If you are one of the unfortunates who installed the update before they were stopped, there are several steps you can take to resolve it.
1: Boot into Safe-Mode
2: Disable the Anti-Virus service
3: Boot into normal mode
4: Uninstall the Windows KB.
If you run into a similar issue and require assistance feel free to contact us.