Windows 10: Computer keeps freezing after 2018 April update

Hi,

I installed the April update via Windows Updates at the beginning of May and since then my PC was a mess.

At first, the disk usage was on 100% usage all the time, the boot time jumped from under one minute to almost 10 (TEN) minutes, the process list in Task Manager stopped updating (I had to manually refresh it) and I was unable to kill any process at all. Also, I was unable to restart the Windows Explorer process when I needed it. It was simply killing the process without restarting it.

Moreover, after login, I had to stare at a black screen with an empty task bar for a 2 minutes or more and wait for the pined apps to load.

Ctrl + Alt + Delete was not showing up at all, I was unable to restart the PC using Start > Restart (because this make a lot of sense) and the PC used to freeze if I did anything else while installing / updating an app.

And if this was not enough, I was unable to turn on my 3rd party firewall at all after installing this update, apps took forever to start and also hang in background after closing them. And since I was unable to kill the process, up went the memory.

Of course, I tried to revert to the previous version but for some reason, it simply restarted the PC and booted up normally (considering 10 minutes boot time is normal). No luck with System Restore either since ALL my restore points ARE GONE.

Eventually, I managed to get back to 1709 but to my surprise, everything was almost the same, without the random freezes.

So I started looking for a solution on Microsoft Answers and Microsoft support and I got this list of suggestions:

• Disable all your third-party anti-viruses and enable Windows Defender only.
• Keep at least 30% or 30GB of free space on your hard drive for optimum results.
• Make sure that your hard drive is not full (With warning message indicated in red color).
• Make sure you are using an Administrator account.
• Unplug all unnecessary external devices that is not currently in used (External hard disk, webcams, etc.).
• Have a stable Internet connection.
• No unnecessary background applications or process running in your Task Manager.
• All other programs and applications were closed.
• If you are using a laptop, make sure that the power adapter is plugged in.
• You have updated BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) driver from your computer’s manufacturer.

I checked everything in that list (by that time I already did that anyway) and went back with an answer:

• I did fully uninstall my 3rd party AV/Firewall software since it does seem the AV takes some time to start due to the AutoUpdate processes that starts first.
• I have 25% (50GB) of free space on my system partition and about 20% on my other partitions.
• My HDD is not full.
• I am using an Administrator account.
• I tried unplugging all USB devices, except for my mouse and keyboard.
• I do have a stable Internet connection.
• I disabled all startup apps and services that were unnecessary and I also tried a Clean Boot (after downgrading to 1709).
• I'm not using a laptop (in fact the update works fine on my laptop, with a few occasionally graphical glitches).
• The BIOS is up to date. Same goes for my drivers, AV definitions and apps. The only exception is Windows. I am unable to install KB4054517 since it got released. In fact this was the main reason I rushed into installing the April Update - I simply got tired of being prompted to restart my PC to install that update every day knowing it will fail.
• I also disabled the telemetry services and the Superfetch service since these kept my CPU and HDD on 100%.

Unfortunately none worked so I ended up doing a system reset and (since this did not work either) a clean install.

And of course this also didn't work.

I did some more research and after checking Event Viewer I noticed some random DistributedCOM errors: "The application-specific permission settings do not grant Local Activation permission for the COM Server application with CLSID {D63B10C5-BB46-4990-A94F-E40B9D520160} and APPID {9CA88EE3-ACB7-47C8-AFC4-AB702511C276} to the user NT AUTHORITY\LOCAL SERVICE SID (S-1-5-19) from address LocalHost (Using LRPC) running in the application container Unavailable SID (Unavailable). This security permission can be modified using the Component Services administrative tool."

I found this tutorial application-specific permission settings do not grant Local Activation permission for the COM Server application - error after update to windows 10
and tried the suggestions there but again, this did not work.

In the end I managed to make the OS a little more stable by disabling the FastBoot option and by waiting a few minutes after the login screen shows up (about 5 minutes). But while this lets me use my PC it does not prevent the random, almost daily, freezes that force me to reboot.

After a few updates, for a while (about 2 weeks), I experienced no problem but after that it started all over again.

And the pattern is always the same - when the PC freezes randomly (surprisingly, never in-game), while I can still Alt + Tab and close the apps (The only one I cannot close is the browser. Also, it freezes even if there is no browser window opened), I cannot open any app, Ctrl + Alt + Del no longer works, I can open the Start menu only once (after that it no longer works) but I cannot select anything and if I try to refresh the desktop, the Refresh option remains on screen after the menu disappeared.

Last week I ended up chatting with an MS support and after a short remote session, he concluded that all my problems are caused by the fact my BIOS is older than 2017 and that he cannot help me.

And since I'm not buying it, here I am.

Has anyone ever experienced something similar? Any ideas? It's been almost 3 months since I installed 1803 and this drives me insane. And what's more annoying is that every time I speak to some support person, they are acting as if 1803 is perfect and as if I am the only one having a issue with it.

I know this is a huge block of text but I wanted to make sure I'm not leaving anything out.

:)

 

Windows 10 April 2018 Update(SCU) Partially Breaks MKV File Support?

I updated to main computer to the April 2018 Update, AKA Spring Creators Update, and it seems like they've taken a step backward with MKV file support. When I go into the properties of an MKV file on the Fall Creators Update, if I go to the details tab it gives me a bunch of detail about he media file, like resolution, framerate, audio information and bitrate. However, if I go into the same file's properties on the April 2018 Update, almost all of the information is blank, it only gives me a runtime and bitrate.

I really just want to confirm that this isn't just my computer and other's are experiencing the same thing.

FCU:




April 2018 Update:

 

Windows April 2018 update

My Windows 10 was working fine until the April 2018 update. After updating it to April 2018 version , my laptop keeps shutting down automatically when I on my laptop. So what can I do to fix the automatic shut down? (I really like the April update, by
the way)

 

Windows 10 April 2018 Update now available Monday, April 30

Source: Some devices may hang or freeze when using certain apps, such as - Microsoft Community