Microsoft Posts Windows 10 May 2019 Update Blocks Prior To Launch, See The Full List Here

Microsoft is likely just days away from publicly launching the next major release for Windows 10: Version 1903, aka, the Windows 10 May 2019 Update. Although Microsoft has been testing the May 2019 Update for months internally and externally – via the Windows Insider program – the company doesn’t want a repeat of what happened with the disastrous Windows 10 October 2018 Update.

With that in mind, the company pushed the update out to the Release Preview ring much earlier than usual so that it could catch any last-minute bugs before going to a full-scale public release. The next step that the company has taken it to implement upgrade blocks for specific configurations that are known to have issues with the Windows 10 May 2019 Update.

By issuing these blocks, customers who otherwise would have been pushed the update will be spared the headaches of dealing with sometimes crippling bugs. Once Microsoft has pushed out fixes for these particular problems, the blocks will be lifted.

With this in mind, Microsoft has posted the following list of upgrade blocks that will be in place when the Windows 10 May 2019 hits the public next month:

• If you have an external USB device or SD memory card is attached to your PC, you will be blocked from updating to the May 2019 Update. If you remove any external USB devices and/or SD memory cards, the update should proceed normally. This issue will be resolved in a future servicing update for Windows 10. 
• If you have older versions of anti-cheat software used with games installed on your PC, you will be blocked from updating to the May 2019 Update. Some older versions of anti-cheat software may cause PCs to experience crashes after updating to the May 2019 Update. This block is specific to older versions of anti-cheat software. We are working with partners on getting their software updated with a fix, and most games have released patches to prevent PCs from experiencing this issue. To minimize the chance of hitting this block, please make sure you are running the latest version of your games before attempting to update the operating system.
• If you have redirected any Known Folders (for example: Desktop, Documents, Pictures), an empty folder with that same name is created in your %userprofile% directory when you update. Your Known Folders are redirected if you chose to back up your content to OneDrive using the OneDrive wizard, or if you chose to keep your content backed up during the Windows Out-of-box-Experience (OOBE). You may have also redirected your Known Folders manually through the Properties Dialog in File Explorer. ​This issue does not cause any user files to be deleted and a fix is in progress.

If known of the above issues applies to you, and you want to get ahead of the crowd to install the Windows 10 May 2019 Update, you can follow instructions on how to get it right here. You should be forewarned, however, that minimum storage requirements have gone up significantly (and for the first time ever) for this release of Windows 10.