Warning: manually installing Windows 10 Creators Update could ruin your PC

Microsoft is telling people running a Windows 10 PC that they shouldn’t manually install the new Creators Update, lest their machine get hit by some manner of potentially PC-busting bug which hasn’t been ironed out yet.

Instead, folks should wait for the update to be rolled out to their PC by Microsoft. In other words, be patient and let Windows Update offer you the upgrade when it’s ready for your rig, rather than getting antsy and using the software tool to manually grab the Creators Update.

The reason for this, as the company points out in a blog post, is that during the phased rollout of the update Microsoft is closely monitoring for any issues users encounter.

If a problematic gremlin rears its ugly head, software engineer will tackle it (of course), but while they’re doing so, Microsoft also blocks the update from all other devices which carry the piece of hardware (or software) that’s impacted by the issue.

This means that those PCs won’t have a spanner thrown in the works, and won’t get the Creators Update until that particular issue has been resolved – unless they download the update manually, of course, which is when Microsoft’s blocking system is bypassed.

Microsoft stated: “It’s important to note that when customers use the Software Download Site to manually install the Creators Update they bypass many of these blocks.

“Therefore, we continue to recommend (unless you’re an advanced user who is prepared to work through some issues) that you wait until the Windows 10 Creators Update is automatically offered to you.”

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Smoother upgrade

While the current upgrade certainly seems to have run smoother than the Anniversary Update (which had some beefy problems when it first emerged), the Creators Update hasn’t been without glitches, including a Bluetooth connectivity issue with certain Broadcom radios.

And clearly there are other issues kicking about, otherwise Microsoft wouldn’t be publishing this warning.

The initial phase of the Creators Update rollout targets newer PCs, as these are less likely to have older pieces of hardware and/or drivers, which have a greater chance of causing problems.

So certainly those with older machines are taking a bigger risk if they download the update manually, although apparently everyone is taking something of a risk by ‘jumping the queue’ of the phased rollout.

So patience would definitely appear to be a virtue here, unless, as Microsoft says, you’re a clued-up advanced Windows user who doesn’t mind tackling whatever bugbears pop up.

Via: The Register

Darren is a freelancer writing news and features for TechRadar (and occasionally T3) across a broad range of computing topics including CPUs, GPUs, various other hardware, VPNs, antivirus and more. He has written about tech for the best part of three decades, and writes books in his spare time (his debut novel - 'I Know What You Did Last Supper' - was published by Hachette UK in 2013).

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