Days after Microsoft has released the cumulative update for Windows 10 version 1809, many users have been reported to have encountered several problems with the instalment.
In a report from ZDNet, many users are said to have found the cumulative update, KB4494441, to be installing itself twice. On a discussion on Reddit, many users have noted how the build number for the first instalment reads 17763.437, which later changes to 17763.503 after the second one.
Although the double instalment doesn’t seem to disturb the update, it has induced some confusion to users about where the second instalment will lead to.
Microsoft is quick to shed light on the confusion by providing further details on the Windows 10 Release Information page.
From there, the software giant has explained that the cumulative update, actually, involves a multi-stage process, involving an initial installation, a reboot, and a further installation (plus another reboot).
On the KB4494441 support article, the multinational technology company explained: “In certain situations, installing an update requires multiple downloads and restart steps. If two intermediate steps of the installation complete successfully, the View your Update history page will report that installation completed successfully twice.”
However, Microsoft has also confirmed that the installation should only be recorded as a single update and that a bug is causing Windows Update to notify it has been installed twice, resulting for users to see a double "2019-05 Cumulative Update for Windows 10 Version 1809 for x64-based Systems (KB4494441)" in their update history .
“No action is required on your part. The update installation may take longer and may require more than one restart but will install successfully after all intermediate installation steps have completed,” Microsoft explained, noting that the company is currently working on improving the said update.
Why the Need to Install It?
Despite the confusion the glitch has created to a lot of users, the cumulative update KB4494441 still comes as a necessary update, which includes the Patch Tuesday security update, non-security bug fixes, some improvements, and advanced protection against Microarchitectural Data Sampling (MDS) vulnerable, such as ZombieLoad, RIDL, and Fallout, which could enable malicious actors to extract information from the CPUs memory buffers, such as passwords, encryption keys, and many more.
The said update also enables “Retpoline,” a fix designed to improve Spectre variant 2 mitigations, given Spectre Variant 2 is also enabled.
