Windows 10 out-of-band update: Printer bugs fixed, as Microsoft moves more of you to 2004
Microsoft has released a fix for a bug that shipped with the June 2020 Patch Tuesday and stopped all print jobs on certain printers. And as of Tuesday it is now also using machine learning to bump up PCs on older versions of Windows 10 to the latest feature release, Windows 10, version 2004.
The out-of-band update should fix Ricoh, Canon, Panasonic, and Brother printers that Windows 10 admins reported stopped working after installing the security update.
Windows 10
Admins were rolling back the Patch Tuesday update to fix the printer issue, so Microsoft's new update should allow affected organizations and users to reinstall the security updates, which were part of the largest Patch Tuesday on record.
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Microsoft details a fix for the printer issue on its Windows 10 Message center page. A fix is available for Windows 10 versions 1803 through to 1909 and corresponding version of Windows Server.
A fix for other affected versions of Windows will be released in the next few days, according to Microsoft. These include the latest feature release, Windows 10, version 2004, as well as the older version 1709, version 1607, Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC 2015, and Windows 8.1. Also affected are Windows Server version 1709, Windows Server 2012 R2, and Windows Server 2012.
The update isn't installed automatically through Windows Update or WSUS, so users with affected printers will need to manually install it from the Microsoft Update Catalog.
"An out-of-band optional update is now available on the Microsoft Update Catalog to address a known issue in which certain printers may be unable to print after installing updates released June 9, 2020," Microsoft said.
"We recommend you only install this optional update if you are affected by this issue. For more information, see the known issues section for your version of Windows 10 or see the links below."
The KB4567512 update addresses the printer bug in Windows 10 1903 and 1909, while KB4567513 fixes it in version 1809, and KB4567514 fixes it in version 1803.
As Microsoft explains, the buggy update caused print spoolers to close when attempting to print, stopping printers from printing. It also affected printing to PDF.
Separately, Microsoft last week confirmed a bug affecting USB-connected printers, which caused printer ports to vanish, preventing any task that relies on that port. Microsoft offered a workaround for this issue, and will provide a fix in a future Windows update.
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Windows 10 users who've installed the latest feature release – Windows 10 version 2004 – have run into compatibility problems with multiple drivers, as well as issues affecting Google Chrome and Microsoft's Chromium-based Edge browser.
Last week, Microsoft said it was gradually increasing the number of devices it was offering the Windows 10 2004 update.
On Tuesday, Microsoft said on its Windows 10 release health dashboard that it was beginning the next phase of the rollout ramp-up, using machine learning to pick devices on older versions of Windows 10 to be offered the update.
"Today we are slowly beginning the training of our machine learning (ML) based process used to intelligently select and automatically update devices approaching end of service," it says.
Today we are slowly beginning the training of our machine learning (ML) based process used to intelligently select and automatically update devices approaching end of service to Windows 10, version 2004. More information here: https://t.co/7jcx76Py4b.
— Windows Update (@WindowsUpdate) June 16, 2020
That means users on Windows 10 version 1809 will probably start being automatically offered version 2004. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, Microsoft in April pushed back the support deadline for version 1809 Home, Pro, Pro Education, Pro for Workstation and IoT Core from May 12 to November 10, 2020.
It also pushed back the support cut-off for version 1709 from April 14 to October 13 for those running Enterprise, Education and IoT versions of the product.