Latest Windows 10 update deleting files, causes ‘Blue Screen of Death’

April 25, 2020

By Kim Komando

Some things never change. The sun rises in the east and sets in the west. Birds fly, and fish swim. Grass is green, and water is wet. And, most importantly, Microsoft can’t deliver a stable update to save its life!

You probably already know what’s coming: Microsoft bungled yet another important update. To make things even more embarrassing, this one comes on the heels of a separate bad update that came out recently. Tap or click here to see what the last Windows update broke.

What’s wrong with this latest update? Well, apart from frequent crashes and blue screens of death, users are finding their files are deleting themselves! Luckily, this update is still so new that many people can roll back to a previous version. We’ll show you how.

Déjà vu

A new Windows 10 update is wreaking havoc yet again for unsuspecting PC users. This new update (version KB4549951) is so unstable that users are reporting frequent system crashes — including the dreaded Blue Screen of Death.

Typically, a crash caused by this update will give you the following error codes. If you see any of these after your computer crashes or restarts, it’s probably related to the buggy update:

• PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA
• CRITICAL_PROCESS_DIED
• ACPI_BIOS_ERROR
• INACCESSIBLE BOOT DEVICE
• MEMORY_MANAGEMENT
• DPC_WATCHDOG_VIOLATION
• Portals.sys

Some users are saying the crashes are so bad that they can’t even get into their computer in the first place!

The update isn’t only causing crashes, it’s also apparently deleting user’s files, too! On social platforms like Twitter and Reddit, PC users are reporting photos, documents and apps are disappearing without a trace.

Suffice to say, this update doesn’t really seem worth installing if you can help it. In fact, you may want to hold off and ignore the alerts you get for at least a couple of weeks until Microsoft releases a new update.

It’s a shame, too. Patching frequently and often is one of the best ways to stay ahead of the security curve and protect your computer from hackers. Microsoft, please don’t give them any more help than they already have!

How can I fix this update issue on my PC?

To fix the update problem, you’ll need to roll back to an older version of Windows 10. The operating system gives you the ability revert to an older update, but there are a few exceptions that may prevent you from doing so:

• You are already on an older version of Windows 10 and have not installed the KB4549951 update.
• You are past the rollback period of 10 days. Update KB4549951 was released on April 14, so people who installed it the day it was released are likely in this category.

If you’re already on an older version of Windows, don’t worry. You’re good to go, and you should avoid updating until KB4549951 isn’t showing in your update window anymore.

To prevent your system from updating itself, go to the Update & Security menu, click Pause Updates for 7 days, and repeat this weekly until a new version of Windows is released without the issues.

If you’re on KB4549951, here’s how you can roll back:

1. Go to the Start Menu and click the Settings icon, which looks like a gear.
2. Click ‘Update & Security’ and click on the Windows Update tab on the left-hand side.
3. Click the View update history option and click Uninstall updates.
4. In the Control Panel page, look for the KB4549951 update to uninstall it.

If you see the update but don’t see an option to uninstall, that means you’re past the 10-day window. Here’s how you can perform a clean install of Windows to address the problem.

1. Go to the Start Menu and click the Settings icon.
2. Click ‘Update & Security’ and click on the Recovery tab on the left-hand side.
3. Under “Reset this PC,” click Get Started to initiate recovery.

This option completely reinstalls Windows, so a backup is essential. Don’t even start a system recovery until you’re 100% certain you’ve saved everything you need. Tap or click here to see 5 steps to back up your computer like a pro.

If your computer keeps crashing and won’t start itself as some users reported, you’ll need to boot it in Safe Mode to uninstall it. Just hold the F5 or F8 key while your computer is starting up, and select Safe Mode from the boot menu. Once you’re in, follow the same instructions above to roll back or reinstall Windows.

People are already losing hope that Microsoft can serve up a decent update. If we want to keep people from sticking with old, unsafe operating systems, someone in Redmond, Washington needs to tell the development team to carefully check their work.

Until then, it’s up to us to police our Windows PCs for bad behavior. Tap or click to see 7 easy fixes for common Windows 10 problems.

Another problem: Vulnerabilities in Microsoft Office

As if things couldn’t get any worse. Microsoft also announced patches for a series of bugs found in Microsoft Office. These bugs are related to exploits that hackers can use (with the help of malicious document files) to break into your computer and steal personal data.

Unlike the buggy update, though, this patch doesn’t involve or threaten your overall operating system. You can easily fix this security hole by updating Office itself.

Here’s how to do it:

Open any Office app, such as Word, and create a new document.

2. Open any Microsoft Office program and create a new document.
3. Go to File >> Account (or Office Account if you opened Outlook).
4. Under Product Information, choose Update Options >> Update Now.

If an update is available, install it to patch your system. If it says “you’re up to date,” you’re already on the latest version and you can rest easy. We don’t need two Windows problems plaguing you at once, after all!