Windows 10 has a new bug that affects some users’ Internet connectivity, and in some cases prevents major apps – like Office 365 – from going online, making life very difficult for people trying to use those apps. to work at home under lockout during the Covid-19 outbreak.
The issue can affect those using the Windows 10 update for May 2019 or the November 2019 update and is caused by Microsoft’s cumulative update KB4535996 (which is an optional update released in late February).
The bug can prevent Office 365, Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Teams – and other software, including Microsoft’s web browsers – from connecting to the Internet, with obvious problems for those who work from home using these applications. these difficult times.
Microsoft notes that any software that uses WinHTTP or WinInet could (and note that the use of the word could – the problem is not guaranteed to appear) have problems accessing the Internet.
The caveat is that many of those affected by this problem use a VPN, and these are the people most likely to be affected by the gremlin. But of course, those who work from home and need to connect to remote systems and work with sensitive work data are most likely to use a VPN for the best security it offers.
Apparently, the problem can occur when connecting or disconnecting from a VPN.
Microsoft explains: “Devices using a manual proxy or automatically configured, especially with a virtual private network (VPN), may display a limited or nonexistent Internet connection status in the Network Connectivity Status Indicator (NCSI) in the notification area.
“This can happen when you are connected or disconnected to a VPN or after changing the state in between.”
Fix imminent?
In terms of fixes, Microsoft is prioritizing this as you can imagine, rushing a fix before the scheduled monthly release, and it is expected to be available in early April, we are told.
In the meantime, the most positive news is that there is a very simple potential workaround, and it is just to restart your machine. It may or may not work, but at least it’s not a difficult thing to do.
On the other hand, if you have to keep doing it throughout the working day, this could obviously be quite frustrating, and you could potentially waste a lot of time looking at the splash screen or loading the desktop. And of course, this is not a guaranteed solution – although at least it is low-effort attenuation.
The update that Microsoft has recognized as the source of the problem, KB4535996, has applied a number of fixes, including a solution to an issue where the Windows search box is not displayed correctly, and it has also improved laptop battery performance in modern sleep mode.
Unfortunately, as too often seems to be the case with Microsoft’s cumulative updates for Windows 10 these days, he gave with one hand and took with another, introducing this new net connectivity bugbear.
The timing of the emergence of this Windows 10 flaw is obviously problematic, but hopefully those suffering from this bug may get a solution as early as next week, according to exactly the beginning of April that Microsoft is aiming for a resolution.
Via ZDNet