Windows Update, of all things! Microsoft has confirmed that it has fixed the Windows Update bug that blocked some devices from getting new updates.
The issue was actually resolved in late January, and the company says a DNS problem was to blame.
That further means that it could take a while until all users get the fix, as it all depends on how fast DNS servers are restored for them. These changes are not instantly applied to all devices, and Redmond recommends users to wait a few more days.
In an update posted on the Windows 10 version 1809 page, the company explained that these problems with the Windows Update services first appeared on January 29.
They were resolved the same day, but users kept complaining about them, obviously:
“The Windows Update service was impacted by a data corruption issue in an external DNS service provider global outage on January 29, 2019.
The issue was resolved on the same day and Windows Update is now operating normally, but a few customers have continued to report issues connecting to the Windows Update service. We expect these issues will go away as downstream DNS servers are updated with the corrected Windows Update DNS entries.”
Whew!
Certainly, good news, this.
Especially as we are getting closer to the February Patch Tuesday cycle, which is the second Tuesday of the month. This time it will fall on February 12, but this issue will hopefully be history by then.
Given the nature of the bug and how it prevents some devices from checking for updates, any potential downtime would technically block millions of Windows 10 systems that will be published on Patch Tuesday.
These typically resolve vulnerabilities in the operating system and other Microsoft products, and a bug like this is basically inviting trouble.
Microsoft hasn’t provided any other details on this, whether it was human error that originally caused the issue, as well as information on what ISPs were impacted by the bug.
But the good thing is that we are near resolution. More importantly, this did not happen near to the patch release cycle when security updates are released and vulnerabilities made public.
