WU 2021-06 Cumulative Update for Windows 10 Version bad after effects

Thanks but the set of tenforums tutorials such as
How to Enable or Disable News and Interests on Taskbar in Windows 10

is more comprehensive... point being disabling this causes problems for some.

dalchina said:

Are you perhaps using a substitute clock program?

Yes, for many years, the same clock. I disabled it just now, but the problem behavior remained.

Some things changed with (KB5003637). For some reason, it's affecting me differently than others, but it seems like more than a coincidence that my problem resides in the same area as the "News and Interests" button, whether it is active or not.

If you uninstall the update, does the problem disappear?

One person reported an anomaly with the taskbar after installing 21H1, even before this update.

dalchina said:

If you uninstall the update, does the problem disappear?

Yes. I did it twice. Uninstalling "2021-06 Cumulative Update for Windows 10 Version 20H2 for x64-based Systems (KB5003637)" eliminates all the bad behavior we have discussed here.

dalchina said:

One person reported an anomaly with the taskbar after installing 21H1, even before this update.

What was their description of the problem? Are we saying that they experienced the same thing as me?

I found these articles

Windows 10 KB5003637 update could break your taskbar, printer

Windows 10 update is reportedly breaking the taskbar for some users – but there’s a fix | TechRadar

Windows 10 update KB5003637 causes Taskbar/System tray & printer issues, fails to install for many | WinCentral

They cite user reports, some of which mention symptoms I am not familiar with.

They discuss workarounds, but all involve compromises in other areas of functionality, i.e altering your "custom scaling" settings to "recommended" levels. I tried that, it changed nothing. Even if it did, I still wouldn't do it. For me, this would be far more debilitating than the systray related annoyance I'm dealing with.

They all mention rolling back the update. but wouldn't that be a security risk?

I just dealt with a thread where this update even broke the user's taskbar search - a symptom I'd not seen in connection with this update.

There is a basic pattern: sometimes MS releases an update or upgrade which causes problems for a variable number of users. It may take them 1,2, 3 or more update cycles before the problem is fully fixed.

It is, alas, a basic mistake given MS's periodic blunders (e.g. breaking Windows file explorer search in the early days of 1909 - after their changes it is now less functional than it was) to think that rushing to keep up to date is
a. the wisest thing to do
b. a safe thing to do

The same goes for drivers- many seem to think getting the latest available by any means is somehow an advantage. Only possibly true if there's
a. a specific problem to be solved
b. updating the driver actually solves it.

I've seen far more cases where updating drivers has caused problems, and it's necessary to use an older one.


You choice therefore seems to be
a. Live with a broken system but the latest update
b. Remove the update, and have a functional system. (And then remember to hide (block) that update).

I stayed with 1903 (April, 2019) until a few weeks ago when I finally decided to upgrade to 20H2 - making sure I had a current disk image of course, just in case. I did not consider that a security risk- far better than struggling with the bugs being reported. (I tried the early 1909 and immediately reverted).

Upgrading to 20H2 gave me several small problems to resolve - an odd GUI problem when dragging and dropping a file- I could no longer access but could see my other 1903 PC via networking - and a couple of others.

dalchina said:

You choice therefore seems to be
a. Live with a broken system but the latest update
b. Remove the update, and have a functional system. (And then remember to hide (block) that update).

I stayed with 1903 (April, 2019) until a few weeks ago when I finally decided to upgrade to 20H2
- making sure I had a current disk image of course, just in case. I did not consider that a security risk- far better than struggling with the bugs being reported. (I tried the early 1909 and immediately reverted).

Please correct me if I misunderstand. Having a Macrium backup is a game changing level of comfort for sure. Do you backup your entire disk? Is that why you feel protected regardless of not getting security updates?

For me, to keep the backup a reasonable size, I only backup my 40g OS partition. That means the data that's stored on the balance of my 1tb drive must rely on other means for protection, i.e. security updates.

So, in my case, rolling back (KB5003637) or reverting back to 1909 would have similar risks.

Disk imaging means:
Creating a compressed copy of the used parts of the partitions you choose to image as a single file.

A typical UEFI installation of Win 10 consists of 4 partitions - the 'Windows' partition nominally C: and 3 smaller ones.
Best to image all of those as a minimum.

Then, if you do a bit of reading on disk imaging, as I had to do when I started using it, you find that the basic patterns are:

a base or full disk image - i.e. all the information as I described above as one file

followed by

differential images (difference between base and 'now' so smaller file, faster to create)

incremental images (difference between base and all related incremental images to date and 'now'.

Macrium Reflect automatically manages my backup disk according to rules I set up as prompted when creating the first backup job.

Thus my backup folder for this PC on my backup disk contains 1 base image and at most 4 differential images - so it never fills up.

Please feel free to read up about disk imaging- typing up everything for each person new to it isn't practicable.

Is that why you feel protected regardless of not getting security updates?

When staying on 1903, security was not my primary concern. And I have a firewall and an AV.

It is true that being able to restore a disk image means that you can recover from viruses, ransomware etc.

More importantly you can recover from system corruption and disk failure.

It is some years since I last had to do a clean install.

I only backup my 40g OS partition. That means the data that's stored on the balance of my 1tb drive must rely on other means for protection,

a. How then would you restore your O/S to a clean disk?
b. What happens to your data when your disk fails?
c. What happens if your PC is stolen?
d. Or if it were infected with ransomware?

Pure data disks/partitions can
- be imaged
- be backed up by dedicated data backup software
- or even both

It's the user's choice.

I've seen people in tears because of what they've lost.

dalchina said:

Disk imaging means: Creating a compressed copy of the used parts of the partitions you choose to image as a single file. A typical UEFI installation of Win 10 consists of 4 partitions - the 'Windows' partition nominally C: and 3 smaller ones. Best to image all of those as a minimum.

I have 10 Macrium backups, 4 internal drives I primary drive and 3 for backup (which I unplug after performing data partition backups with "dedicated data backup software") and one external ssd for backup.

My current 202h setup (7 partitions) fits with about 9g to spare on my 40g ssd partition. I want my Macrium backup files as small as possible. The latest is around 17g. I have ten Macrium backups, ranging from when I first did a clean install several years ago, Windows 1803. followed by the rest in a chronological order of development, so if I'm ever forced to go backwards I can start over from whatever point in the past and whatever iteration of Windows 10 I need.

I don't want to deal with size 50g+ Macrium files. Too long to create, too long moving them elsewhere, and too much occupied space.

I have a firewall, and Windows Defender, which does a fine job, but I'm still not comfortable with not having the latest security updates. So I guess I'm stuck with 202H. If this systray glitch is the worst it gets, I'll just have to live with it.

I appreciate your point of view. Makes perfect sense, and very important to remind those who put their data in jeopardy by not taking the necessary steps to protect it. One way or another, they are flirting with disaster. 100% HDD's/SSD"s will eventually fail.

The latest preview fixes taskbar issues related to News and Information.
KB5003690 Windows 10 2004 19041.1081, 20H2 19042.1081, 21H1 19043.1081