Windows 10 Creators Update Purposely Blocked By Microsoft On Some PCs

Earlier this month, Microsoft launched the Creators Update, the latest and greatest version of Windows 10. First launched during the summer of 2015, Windows 10 has seen continual updates that have increased security, privacy, performance and functionality. But as Microsoft has found out through extensive Windows Insider testing, the Creators Update doesn’t exactly play nice with some systems.

John Cable, Microsoft’s Director of Program Management for Windows Servicing and Delivery, took to the Windows Blog today to explain that although the Windows 10 Creators Update is a big step forward for consumer operating systems, it has purposely rolled out the major system update in waves to ensure that show-stopping bugs don’t affect a large swath of its customers.

The first wave of updates targeted customers with newer hardware, which would be less prone to incompatibilities or performance issues. “We believe these devices will have the best possible update experience and help us decide when it’s time to begin the next phase of the rollout,” said Cable.

Given that millions of users have already upgraded to the Creators Update, Microsoft has already received a wealth of feedback from customers via the Feedback Hub app on what’s working and what’s not. Well-documented issues that affect a large number of system configurations even give Microsoft the ability to “deploy a ‘block’ to prevent further rollout of the Creators Update to impacted devices until an issue is resolved.”

Cable describes this blocking process in detail, writing:

We decide what to block based on user impact, and blocking issues are a high priority for us to address as quickly as possible. During the time it takes to address an issue, we want to limit the number of customers exposed to that issue. For example, our feedback process identified a Bluetooth accessory connectivity issue with PCs that use a specific series of Broadcom radios, ultimately resulting in devices not reconnecting as expected. Once identified, we posted this issue to our Windows community forum, provided user guidance on troubleshooting, and blocked additional devices with these specific Bluetooth radios from updating. Once a solution is available, we will update our forum post and remove the block.

Of course, this only applies when automatic updates are enabled within Windows 10 — this is the only time that blocks would be put in place that could affect your system. However, you can always get around the blocks by manually downloading the Creators Update anyway, which could put your system at risk for some bumps in the road ahead.