Microsoft says its has fixed a critical error in its latest Windows 10 update, which it began releasing on 3rd October to coincide with the unveiling of a new Surface hardware range.

Last week the tech giant paused the rollout of the Windows 10 October 2018 update (version 1809) for all users as it investigated reports of it deleting users’ files after updating.

A Microsoft spokesperson said: “Given the serious nature of any data loss, we took the added precaution of pulling all 1809 media across all channels, including Windows Server 2019 and IoT equivalents.

“We intentionally start each feature update rollout slowly, closely monitoring feedback before offering the update more broadly. In this case the update was only available to those who manually clicked on ‘check for updates’ in Windows settings.”

Limited impact?

Microsoft said it paused the update just two days into the rollout, and claims that the number of customers taking the October 2018 Update had been limited.

The spokesperson added: “While the reports of actual data loss are few – one one-hundredth of one percent of version 1809 installs – any data loss is serious.

“We have fully investigated all reports of data loss, identified and fixed all known issues in the update, and conducted internal validation. Also, Microsoft Support and our retail stores customer service personnel are available at no charge to help customers.”

Microsoft says it will now take the next step towards the re-release of the Windows 10 October 2018 Update by providing the updated version to its Windows Insider community.

“We will carefully study the results, feedback and diagnostic data from our Insiders before taking additional steps towards re-releasing more broadly,” the spokesperson said.

“To help us better detect issues like this, today we have enabled a new feature in the Windows Insider Feedback Hub.”

Microsoft has added an ability for users to also provide an indication of impact and severity when filing User Initiated Feedback. It hopes that this will allow it to better monitor the most impactful issues even when feedback volume is low.”