News

BSOD Issues Plague Some PCs After Windows 10 Upgrade

• By Kurt Mackie
• October 12, 2018

Users of Hewlett-Packard PCs that were updated to the newly released Windows 10 version 1809, as well as version 1803, have been reporting "blue screen of death" (BSOD) issues, Microsoft acknowledged in a support article Friday.

Microsoft has temporarily suspended the rollout of Windows 10 version 1809, otherwise known as the "October 2018 Update," because it caused file losses for some early upgraders. However, IT pros forums like Reddit and Spiceworks had also reported blue screen incidents, in which the PC becomes unusable. The blue screens had specifically occurred on HP machines after performing 1809, 1803 and 1709 Windows 10 upgrades, according to the Reddit post.

Microsoft's support article traced these problems to an incompatible HP keyboard driver. It described the symptoms of the problem as follows:

After installing the HP keyboard driver (version 11.0.3.1), via Windows Update or manually, HP devices may experience a blue screen error: WDF_VIOLATION.

Microsoft is pushing down a patch (KB4468304) through its Windows Update service that will remove the offending HP keyboard driver version 11.0.3.1. Here's how it'll be available:

Microsoft will automatically download KB 4468304 to remove the faulty HP driver via Windows Update. You can also install the KB manually via Microsoft Update Catalog.

People who already have blue-screened HP devices will be lucky enough to have Windows to automatically repair the device after a reboot. Alternatively, they'll have to undergo the recovery process, using either installation media or advanced troubleshooting by administrators running DISM commands, as described in Microsoft's support article.

HP offers this support article, which lists two problems that may have occurred after the Windows 10 October 2018 Update, namely a lack of sound and the blue screen problem. For the blue screen issue, HP seems to be recommending changing the driver name before trying Microsoft's support suggestions. HP also described problems that can arise with certain function keys after applying the Windows 10 October 2018 Update.

Last week, Microsoft indicated that it will no longer distribute print drivers with Windows 10 feature updates, starting with the current Windows 10 version 1809. These drivers instead will be available through the Windows Update service. Microsoft took that action to decrease the download size of Windows 10 feature updates. However, it seems that Microsoft's practice of bundling drivers with Windows 10 updates can have other downsides, as well, with the HP keyboard driver incident being one such example.