Windows looks different after huge win10 update

Question · 26 May 2021

Win10 suddenly restarted without asking for my permission today (i thought i had disabled that, it must have been re-enabled by a sneaky windows update). it looked like a huge update, instead of simply restarting once, i got a screen saying that windows would restart multiple times and after logging in, i got a splash screen saying something like "Hi, we are preparing new updates for you, do not turn off your PC".

After everything had finished, I noticed the following changes :

My desktop wallpaper had been changed
I was getting security center notifications that my firewall was turned off (i had it turned off previously, but had also turned off the notifications, so it seems like the notifications were reset)
Windows Shell told me it was setting up for my "new operating system"
My taskbar was now a permanent light blue colour instead of changing based on the colour of the application I have opened, which looks awful (see the first screenshot)
Not 100% sure but it looks like the icons on the taskbar are much smaller compared to before as well
Not sure either, but the screen seems "darker" somehow? Brightness is still at 100% and there is no way to increase it further.

Whats going on? The most annoying thing is how the task bar and background of applications look. Previously, with discord open, the taskbar would change colours to match discord, now it remains a permanent light blue and it looks awful.

idgat · 26 May 2021

Not uncommon on some devices for Windows to (re-)impose its preferred (default) settings/options after some updates.

The price of running Windows.

I suspect your themes have changed. Tinkering and trial-and-error will restore your preferences.

(Assuming you have no third party program installed for management of themes, colours, desktop or layout?)

dalchina · 26 May 2021

Please post a screenshot of your Update History so someone might have a chance of understanding what might have happened.

It seems you're on build 19041.985 (2004) so are 2 major builds behind.

Win10 suddenly restarted without asking for my permission today

There are several ways described in tutorials to control update-related restarts.

From what you say, it sounds update-related, but you could check your event viewer to learn more about the restart.

Question · 26 May 2021

I think i managed to solve the taskbar color issue by changing it to dark theme while keeping the application theme seperate.

Still find it odd that the display seems darker even though all the brightness sliders are at max though. Might just be me remembering wrongly. But I noticed that in control panel -> power -> plan settings, there is no brightness slider. Is that normal?

Heres a list of the windows updates that i installed, its not very descriptive however.

Windows looks different after huge win10 update-windows3.jpg

dalchina · 26 May 2021

Hi, those are all Office updates. What do you see here?

Windows looks different after huge win10 update-1.png

Is yours a desktop or laptop? No specs.. compare mine- click 'My computers' under my post.

For laptops: there's a brightness slider in the Action Centre..
Adjust Screen Brightness in Windows 10
How to Add or Remove Brightness Slider on Action Center in Windows 10

Starting with

Windows 10 build 17639, Microsoft removed the display brightness slider in Control Panel Power Options and the “Display brightness” section under Power Options Advanced Settings.

Given your question on that, it sounds like you were running an old build and upgraded to 2004. Your Update History would clarify that.

I've found that with one upgrade my graphics settings were reset to default and my screen looked awful. I had to reset my graphics card settings.

Question · 26 May 2021

Oddly enough, the only thing in that screen is a "definition updates" for microsoft defender. Although it looks like i have a bunch of updates pending install now.

Edit : Just double checked and i still have auto restart after updates turned off, so im confused how that windows update managed to force my computer to restart...

Try3 · 26 May 2021

Question said:

My taskbar was now a permanent light blue colour instead of changing based on the colour of the application I have opened ...

Along with igdat, I suspect that you have a third-party utility [to achieve that colour-changing] that has now stopped working.

Denis

dalchina · 26 May 2021

Along with graphics settings on a couple of occasions weird effects have been seen after an upgrade related to a simple theme (created in Settings) being in use. In my case I recreated it, in another the user simply logged off, on again. However those cases were related to icon effects.

AddRAM · 26 May 2021

1) Are you creating disk images with Macrium Reflect ?

2) Are you using Windows Automatic Update Manager ?

Both could have helped you in this situation.

Macrium Software | Reflect Free

Enable or Disable Windows Update Automatic Updates in Windows 10 | Tutorials (tenforums.com) Option 7

What was Windows Update telling you ?

You should have seen big notifications telling you what windows was about to do ???

You mentioned Windows Shell, that could have been turned off completely and windows gave you the default look again, as already mentioned.

All of these changes can easily be explained

1 more thing IMO, you should at least be up to version 20H2 by now.

Question · 01 Jun 2021

After updating, it still says im up to version 2004. Not sure how you guys are getting newer updates than this because windows update is not prompting me for it. Maybe its a region thing? I am in south east asia.

Anyway, the big problem now is that windows keeps prompting me that my firewall is turned off (see screenshot). The prompts appear for a few times after restarting my computer.

As far as i can tell, all my security notifications are disabled...does anyone know what setting controls this exactly?