Windows 10 Update, Hickup With Flash Drives
We’ve read online that Microsoft’s May 2019 update might not install on systems that have USB flash drives or SD cards connected. According to Microsoft, the update is intentionally blocked when removable storage is detected because the operating system may reassign drive letters during the upgrade process.
At first glance, drive letter reassignment doesn’t sound like a serious issue, especially for removable devices. However, Microsoft also noted that internal hard drives could be affected by this drive letter shuffle.
That’s the red flag.
The newly published Windows 10 support documentation explains that systems already running the April 2018 update (version 1803) or the October 2018 update (version 1809) may receive the error message: “This PC can’t be upgraded to Windows 10.” This happens specifically when USB storage devices or SD cards are detected during the upgrade process.
Microsoft’s documentation does not indicate that internal drives will be reassigned when no removable media is present. That’s why the company chose to block the update entirely if a USB device or SD card is connected. Microsoft understands how critical mounted internal drives are to system stability, so this preventative block is their way of avoiding a potentially serious issue.
At the time of writing, we’ve already seen more than a dozen articles from major technology and news outlets covering the issue. Chances are, Microsoft will resolve this before the update reaches widespread deployment. Still, it’s a good reminder that major OS updates and external devices don’t always play nicely together.
For those who want to clean up old USB-related registry entries left behind by previously connected devices, we’ve previously discussed USBScrub from Nexcopy. It’s a lightweight registry-cleaning utility for Windows that removes stale USB device records. This can improve how quickly Windows detects and mounts new USB devices, since the operating system no longer has to sort through a long list of outdated entries. You can read more about it here: More information on USBScrub.
