On June 21, Microsoft released Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 16226 (a.k.a Redstone 3) for PC to Windows Insiders in the Fast ring. The new build introduced a handful of new features including many changes in Microsoft Edge (data migration, closure of tabs, EPUB improvements, etc.), Emoji Updates, OneDrive Files On-Demand, Touch Keyboard, Gaming, Settings improvements, and many others. However, Windows Insiders in the Fast ring left the discussion about the advantages of the new features aside because it turned out that the Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 16226 is too buggy to be used.
Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 16226 breaks PCs
Windows Insiders, especially the ones in the Fast ring, would probably agree that none of the Windows 10 builds released by Microsoft are bug-free. People who test Windows 10 got accustomed to various problems regarding the installation of updates and new builds; Edge crashes, Cortana malfunctions, and other issues. However, based on the reports of Insiders, it seems that the Preview Build 16226 causes major system’s failures.
As usual, with the new build, Microsoft should have addressed the present issues. However, it seems that the majority of Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 16226 bugs are inherited from the Build 16215, and the majority of them are new.
The most common Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 16226 bugs
– Many insiders reported the Preview Build 16226 freezing at 77 (or sometimes 33) percent, staying at this point for a long time, and eventually failing. The others encountered an infinite loop during the restart, which ends up with the system reverting the changes and getting back to the previous build. In most of the cases, the installation failure indicates an error code 0x80240034. Experts point out that the problem may be related to the .NET Framework 3.5 corruption. Therefore, it’s advisable to uninstall the .NET Framework 3.5 and re-try to install Preview Build 16226.
– Another issue that Windows Insiders encountered after the installation of the Build 16226 is slowdowns and freezes. Although many factors may trigger such unstable performance, Microsoft says that the culprit is ctfmon.exe, which gets into the crash loop continuously. The ctfmon.exe crashes may be triggered by certain languages (e.g. Armenian, Estonian, Norwegian, Hausa, Albanian, Afrikaans, Australian English, Lithuanian, etc.) installed on Windows 10. Unfortunately, there is no solution for this bug yet.
– In addition to installation problems and constant freezes, Preview Build 16226 may damage app licenses and codes.
A proper functionality of Nvidia drivers is crucial, especially for devoted gamers. However, if you are a gamer and opt for installing Build 16226, be careful because you may not be able to play games after the installation of an update. It may damage Nvidia drivers, which is why most of the games may fail to launch.
– It turns out that the new build does not solve the problems with the Microsoft Edge. People have been facing Edge malfunctions, such as a grayed out screen, unresponsiveness, crashes, etc. from the release of the Build 15063. However, most of the problems were inherited by the Build 16226 and no fixes provided yet.
– Many Insiders also experienced keyboard issues. Some or all keys on (mainly) internal keyboard fail to type.
File system error (-1073740286) showed up for many while launching Task Manager, Event Viewer or Disk Management utilities.
Although there are many other problems that the Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 16226 may cause, these are the most commonly reported by Windows Insiders. If you haven’t yet installed the new build, we would recommend you to refrain from doing so. If, however, the new build is already running on your PC, but numerous bugs prevent the system from working properly, roll back to the previous build.
Alice Woods is a security expert who specializes in cyber threat investigation and analysis. Her mission on Ugetfix - to share the knowledge and help users to protect their computers from malicious programs.
