Microsoft has always had quite a reputation when it comes to security updates and software upgrades and the latest April 2019 Patch Tuesday update is no exception, with reports of units freezing during the update process and some hanging in the middle of startup after the patch is applied. The culprit? Conflicts between the recent patch update and the antivirus software, which affected many Windows operating systems, including Windows 7, 8.1, Windows Server 2012 and 2012 R2.
Microsoft, Sophos, Avira, and Avast have already addressed and brought light to the issue through their respective support articles. They say that the conflict is largely between recent updates and certain components of antivirus software systems, including Sophos Endpoint Protection, AVG Business Edition, ArcaBit, Avast for Business, CloudCare, and Avira Antivirus. In particular, the patch caused computers to hang or fail on boot, freeze upon startup, or run very slow.
Resolving the issue is a matter of removing the updates from affected machines and you can generally do so by booting in safe mode and disabling the conflicting antivirus service and then booting in normal mode so you can uninstall Windows KB. Do not forget to enable your antivirus service after uninstalling the problematic update.
Because these patches and upgrades can be technical in nature, it is always best to seek assistance from your managed IT service provider in order to perform recovery and repairs properly. With the right service, you can rest assured that fixes are correct and won’t cause any further problems for your system.
In conclusion, despite antivirus systems and update patches causing some conflicts with certain operating systems, there is no denying their importance in keeping your applications and your operating system in general functional and secure. Instead of avoiding or deferring these updates, keep yourself informed and on the lookout for latest security news to brace yourself for the positive or negative impacts of these patches and updates.
