Windows 10: Known Issue Rollback is Microsoft's latest weapon against Windows update bugs

Known Issue Rollback is a fairly new capability of Microsoft's Windows 10 operating system that is designed as a tool to react to emerging bugs quickly that are introduced by updates.

There is always a chance that issues are introduced when regular updates or feature updates for Windows are installed. Some updates introduce major issues, such as boot problems or data loss, while others may introduce less serious issues. Most issues affect only part of the entire Windows population, and some needed to be throttled, stopped, or even pulled by Microsoft to fix issues.

Up until now, it was required to install another update to resolve a issue, or to uninstall the update that introduced it. Microsoft publishes workarounds for some issues, but not for all, and not directly after discovery, usually.

Known Issue Rollback was designed as a fast less disruptive alternative. Microsoft notes that about 80% of all fixes for Windows 10 version 2004 or later include Known Issue Rollback functionality already. The feature is only used with non-security fixes. Microsoft explains that updates retain the code when Known Issue Rollback is being used, and since it is "typically more vulnerable or exploitable", the feature is not used with security fixes currently.

Microsoft describes the purpose of Known Issue Rollback in the following way:

Known Issue Rollback is an important Windows servicing improvement to support non-security bug fixes, enabling us to quickly revert a single, targeted fix to a previously released behavior if a critical regression is discovered.
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The main idea is simple: assign IDs to individual fixes and updates, and disable these if they are known to cause issues. A single Windows update may contain several bug fixes, and some or all of them may support Known Issue Rollback.

Microsoft uses Windows Update or Windows Update for Business for that, and informs the service running on Windows devices about a rollback. The change is applied automatically on the user side and live after the next restart, all without uninstalling an update or installing a patch.



Some rollbacks are released before updates reach all user devices. While the patch in question will still be installed, the part of it that is causing the issue is disabled and therefore not causing the issue on the device.

Rollback scenarios change for Enterprise devices. Microsoft issues specific Group Policy on the Download Center for a rollback, and system administrators may configure and apply a policy to get the code rolled back on managed devices.

Known Issue Rollback configurations have a limited lifespan, usually a few months at the most, according to Microsoft. Most issues get fixed in the time period, and when that happens, the fix is re-issued.

Closing Words


Known Issue Rollback may prevent bugs on the majority of Windows devices, if Microsoft reacts quickly and uses a rollback before a particular update is installed on the majority of devices. In an example given, Microsoft states that it reacted to an issue after an update was installed on 170,000 devices, and that the use of Known Issue Rollback blocked the issue from appearing on hundreds of million devices.

Windows users who want to remain in control may disable or delay the installation of Windows Updates, but they have done so already, likely.

Now You: what is your opinion on this? (via Deskmodder)

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Windows Rollback - it works!


That "rollback" boot item isn't really intended to be used after the initial installation. It's one of the bugs listed in the "Known Issues" that this menu item is left in by mistake.

 

New install Windows 10 (issue solved)

It's good that you're not experiencing any issues. Unfortunately many folks are, a quick Google search will show the same info im offering the OP.

Heres a couple examples:

Here

Here

It's basically what I mentioned above, small issues here and there ,but nothing to end your day.. for the most part.

I know it's anecdotal, but for my experience 95% of the time it's perfectly fine. The issues I've run into wouldn't be enough for me to roll back , but they would be enough (had I not installed it yet) ,to avoid it for another couple weeks which is why I'm suggesting it to the OP

Windows 10 Fall Creators Update problems and complaints

• Installation problems with the Fall Creators Update
• Microsoft Edge problems with the Fall Creators Update
• Drivers problems with the Fall Creators Update
• Experience problems with the Fall Creators Update

keep in mind, as of recently, the FCU is installed on 5% of devices roughly.....

 

Microsoft Issues Update to Rollback Intel Spectre, Meltdown Problematic Patches

Multiple reports pegged some issues on Intel's rapid-fire, microcode and software response towards addressing the Spectre and Meltdown vulnerabilities, with Intel themselves coming forward, admitting to the problems' existence, and urging users not to perform said updates. However, Intel's press release wasn't very clear on whether or not users would be able to rollback changes in order to recover their machines' stability. Microsoft has taken the matter into its own hands, via an out of band update for Windows, KB4078130, that specifically disables only the mitigation against CVE-2017-5715 - "Branch target injection vulnerability."

In Microsoft's testing, this particular update is the one that the company has found to be associated the most with stability issues on host machines, and their out of band update seems to mitigate these completely. Microsoft is also adding the possibility for users to either disable or enable the troublesome mitigation themselves, manually, via registry changes. Microsoft seems to have taken the job of cleaning house on themselves, after Intel's apparent hasty move to restore security to systems based on their CPUs.