Windows: Patchday Issues March 2020?

[German]On March 10, 2020, Microsoft had a patchday and the company released some security updates. First users are already reporting issues with the security updates.

I have published some blog posts about the security updates for Windows (see the link list at the end of the article). Here are some first hints about problems – if you have problems, you could add the information as comments.

Issues with temporary user profile still exists

The update KB4537821 (Monthly Rollup for Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2) for Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2, which was released on February 11, 2020, causes some users to load a temporary user profile after installation. The cumulative update KB4532693 dated February 11, 2020, for Windows 10 versions 1903 and 1909 shows the same behavior.

I had reported about this in the blog post Windows 10: Update KB4532693 kills user data/profile. I also wrote in the blog post Windows 8.1/10: What's the status of the user profile bug? that I expect the same trouble on the March 2020 patchday. At German site deskmodder.de user kalleboe has now confirmed exactly this issue. He had problems with the February 2020 update KB4535996 and had to uninstall the March 2020 update KB4540673 because of the same bug.

Usually, the only thing that helps here is not to install the Windows 10 Update KB4540673. And if it was installed, the update has to be uninstalled. To do this, go to the settings page and click on 'Update and Security'- Windows Update'. There is a hyperlink to display the update history and on this page you will find a command to uninstall a selected update. After that the update installation should be suspended.

Further issues reported

Regarding the March 2020 update KB4540673, some users run into installation error 0x800f0988 (see here). I already mentioned the error in the blog post Windows 10 V190x: Issues with Update KB4535996. Also other errors like 0xCA00A000 can occur.

The current instructions for dealing with such installation errors are general: uninstall third-party antivirus solutions and reset Windows Update. The latter can be done via update troubleshooting (see this Microsoft support article). Or you can try to reset the component store for Windows Update (see Windows Update ends with error 0x800f0982 / 0x8024200d). 

German blog reader Doc WP posted this comment and reported the installation error 0x800f031. The steps to repair by in-place upgrade are described in the blog post Windows 10 V1903: Error 0x8024200D or 0x800F081F with update KB4512508.

Any of you affected by further update problems? Then you can leave a comment.

Similar articles:
Microsoft Office Patchday (March 2, 2020)
Microsoft Security Update Summary (March 10 2020)
Patchday: Updates für Windows 7/8.1/Server (March 10 2020)
Patchday Windows 10-Updates (March 10, 2020)

Windows 10: Update KB4532693 kills user data/profile
Windows 8.1: Update KB4537821 kills also user profiles
Windows 8.1/10: What's the status of the user profile bug?