We have not had any recent topics where someone has had a disaster on their computer, and is seeking to find out if others have, and generally also to place blame on an update, but it has happened in the past.  Today there was a topic on the JFW Users Group, Windows update almost ruined my life, has anyone else experienced this, which the group owner has now locked, that is the perfect example of this.  Three members, myself among them, tried to get the original poster to understand that her catastrophe, and it is one, is not likely to be caused directly due to Windows Update, and certainly will not be solved by blocking updates.  I wrote what follows prior to the topic being locked, and this is as good a place as any to post it initially.

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Most Computer Issues Reside in A Specific Machine, and They Get Solved There, Too

Again and again, in technical support groups of all kinds, individuals report disasters with their computers and try to find out if others are having the issue.  In most cases, no one else is, or a very small number of people are, relative to the user base for the ecosystem in question, whether that’s Windows, MacOS, or Linux.

If something is a real, major, widespread bug then many people will be experiencing it.  If something is a condition-driven bug, many people, but not as many as a widespread bug, will have it because whatever the condition is will be out there on enough individual’s computers for a pattern to emerge.  But if anything from one person, you, even up through a few thousand people for the user base size of any of the major OSes have an issue, that clearly points to it being idiosyncratic to something specific about their environment.  This could be a subtle corruption in the OS that what they do routinely happens to stumble over that most others do not (and that includes issues triggered when using a specific application).  This could be an issue with the software being used.  It could be an issue with a device driver.  Least likely, but not impossible, it could be an issue with some hardware like a bad memory module, a HDD or SSD that’s beginning to fail, or a host of other options.  All of these need to be looked at when you are having an issue, from the trivial to the devastating, that the vast majority of other people are simply not having.

There is a tendency, particularly among Windows users, to attribute issues that occur subsequent to a Windows Update to the update itself.  This is very seldom where the root cause lies.  Yes, certain Windows Updates may expose an issue that was previously hidden in your own ecosystem, but if it were “everywhere” then everyone who received that update should also be experiencing it.

All modern operating systems (including those on your smartphones) have long been using staged rollouts to deliver updates, where these are released to small groups initially and the telemetry from those groups monitored.  If everything looks as expected, successively larger and larger groups are given the update and the results are monitored.  If, at any point, unexpected results that are consistent across many users occur, the update is suspended until the root cause of those results is found and corrected.  Then the process begins again.  Eventually, everyone who hasn’t already received that update during the rollout process gets put in a group to receive it.

The era where a “bad update” makes it out to the majority of the user base is long gone.

If you are having a problem, no matter how severe, and there are no reports of others having the same, or reports of a very select few having the same, then this clearly indicates that something about your own machine needs to be addressed.  The problem does not lie directly with the update, but with a weakness in your system that it has exposed.  The fix lies on that system, not elsewhere.

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Brian - Virginia, USA - Windows 11 Pro, 64-Bit, Version 22H2, Build 22621; Office 2016, Version 16.0.15726.20188, 32-bit; Android 12 (MIUI 13)

Journalism 101:  If someone says it’s raining and another person says it’s dry, it’s not your job to quote them both. It’s your job to look out the f**king window and find out which is true.

      ~ Jonathan Foster (attributed)

On Jan 28, 2023, at 4:56 PM, Brian Vogel <britechguy@...> wrote:

We have not had any recent topics where someone has had a disaster on their computer, and is seeking to find out if others have, and generally also to place blame on an update, but it has happened in the past.  Today there was a topic on the JFW Users Group, Windows update almost ruined my life, has anyone else experienced this, which the group owner has now locked, that is the perfect example of this.  Three members, myself among them, tried to get the original poster to understand that her catastrophe, and it is one, is not likely to be caused directly due to Windows Update, and certainly will not be solved by blocking updates.  I wrote what follows prior to the topic being locked, and this is as good a place as any to post it initially.

----

Most Computer Issues Reside in A Specific Machine, and They Get Solved There, Too

Again and again, in technical support groups of all kinds, individuals report disasters with their computers and try to find out if others are having the issue.  In most cases, no one else is, or a very small number of people are, relative to the user base for the ecosystem in question, whether that’s Windows, MacOS, or Linux.

If something is a real, major, widespread bug then many people will be experiencing it.  If something is a condition-driven bug, many people, but not as many as a widespread bug, will have it because whatever the condition is will be out there on enough individual’s computers for a pattern to emerge.  But if anything from one person, you, even up through a few thousand people for the user base size of any of the major OSes have an issue, that clearly points to it being idiosyncratic to something specific about their environment.  This could be a subtle corruption in the OS that what they do routinely happens to stumble over that most others do not (and that includes issues triggered when using a specific application).  This could be an issue with the software being used.  It could be an issue with a device driver.  Least likely, but not impossible, it could be an issue with some hardware like a bad memory module, a HDD or SSD that’s beginning to fail, or a host of other options.  All of these need to be looked at when you are having an issue, from the trivial to the devastating, that the vast majority of other people are simply not having.

There is a tendency, particularly among Windows users, to attribute issues that occur subsequent to a Windows Update to the update itself.  This is very seldom where the root cause lies.  Yes, certain Windows Updates may expose an issue that was previously hidden in your own ecosystem, but if it were “everywhere” then everyone who received that update should also be experiencing it.

All modern operating systems (including those on your smartphones) have long been using staged rollouts to deliver updates, where these are released to small groups initially and the telemetry from those groups monitored.  If everything looks as expected, successively larger and larger groups are given the update and the results are monitored.  If, at any point, unexpected results that are consistent across many users occur, the update is suspended until the root cause of those results is found and corrected.  Then the process begins again.  Eventually, everyone who hasn’t already received that update during the rollout process gets put in a group to receive it.

The era where a “bad update” makes it out to the majority of the user base is long gone.

If you are having a problem, no matter how severe, and there are no reports of others having the same, or reports of a very select few having the same, then this clearly indicates that something about your own machine needs to be addressed.  The problem does not lie directly with the update, but with a weakness in your system that it has exposed.  The fix lies on that system, not elsewhere.

--

Brian - Virginia, USA - Windows 11 Pro, 64-Bit, Version 22H2, Build 22621; Office 2016, Version 16.0.15726.20188, 32-bit; Android 12 (MIUI 13)

Journalism 101:  If someone says it’s raining and another person says it’s dry, it’s not your job to quote them both. It’s your job to look out the f**king window and find out which is true.

      ~ Jonathan Foster (attributed)

We have not had any recent topics where someone has had a disaster on their computer, and is seeking to find out if others have, and generally also to place blame on an update, but it has happened in the past.  Today there was a topic on the JFW Users Group, Windows update almost ruined my life, has anyone else experienced this, which the group owner has now locked, that is the perfect example of this.  Three members, myself among them, tried to get the original poster to understand that her catastrophe, and it is one, is not likely to be caused directly due to Windows Update, and certainly will not be solved by blocking updates.  I wrote what follows prior to the topic being locked, and this is as good a place as any to post it initially.

----

Most Computer Issues Reside in A Specific Machine, and They Get Solved There, Too

Again and again, in technical support groups of all kinds, individuals report disasters with their computers and try to find out if others are having the issue.  In most cases, no one else is, or a very small number of people are, relative to the user base for the ecosystem in question, whether that’s Windows, MacOS, or Linux.

If something is a real, major, widespread bug then many people will be experiencing it.  If something is a condition-driven bug, many people, but not as many as a widespread bug, will have it because whatever the condition is will be out there on enough individual’s computers for a pattern to emerge.  But if anything from one person, you, even up through a few thousand people for the user base size of any of the major OSes have an issue, that clearly points to it being idiosyncratic to something specific about their environment.  This could be a subtle corruption in the OS that what they do routinely happens to stumble over that most others do not (and that includes issues triggered when using a specific application).  This could be an issue with the software being used.  It could be an issue with a device driver.  Least likely, but not impossible, it could be an issue with some hardware like a bad memory module, a HDD or SSD that’s beginning to fail, or a host of other options.  All of these need to be looked at when you are having an issue, from the trivial to the devastating, that the vast majority of other people are simply not having.

There is a tendency, particularly among Windows users, to attribute issues that occur subsequent to a Windows Update to the update itself.  This is very seldom where the root cause lies.  Yes, certain Windows Updates may expose an issue that was previously hidden in your own ecosystem, but if it were “everywhere” then everyone who received that update should also be experiencing it.

All modern operating systems (including those on your smartphones) have long been using staged rollouts to deliver updates, where these are released to small groups initially and the telemetry from those groups monitored.  If everything looks as expected, successively larger and larger groups are given the update and the results are monitored.  If, at any point, unexpected results that are consistent across many users occur, the update is suspended until the root cause of those results is found and corrected.  Then the process begins again.  Eventually, everyone who hasn’t already received that update during the rollout process gets put in a group to receive it.

The era where a “bad update” makes it out to the majority of the user base is long gone.

If you are having a problem, no matter how severe, and there are no reports of others having the same, or reports of a very select few having the same, then this clearly indicates that something about your own machine needs to be addressed.  The problem does not lie directly with the update, but with a weakness in your system that it has exposed.  The fix lies on that system, not elsewhere.

--

Brian - Virginia, USA - Windows 11 Pro, 64-Bit, Version 22H2, Build 22621; Office 2016, Version 16.0.15726.20188, 32-bit; Android 12 (MIUI 13)

Journalism 101:  If someone says it’s raining and another person says it’s dry, it’s not your job to quote them both. It’s your job to look out the f**king window and find out which is true.

      ~ Jonathan Foster (attributed)

Gene,

I don't even have a problem with the statement, "Program X freezes a lot," as where it freezes is on that person's computer.  I don't feel that it's necessary to establish that as part of the problem statement.  If it is more general, then it will be known about, but otherwise, my presumption is always, "This user is having an issue with Program X freezing," with it being implicit that where it's freezing is on the computer that they use.

My problem is with the fact that most of these users cannot or will not even entertain the idea that the issue they're having is not widespread, and when it's clear it's not widespread that looking to place blame outwardly is of zero use in solving the issue that's occurring.

One of the things that owners/moderators of tech support groups need to hammer home is that most problems, and yes, that's most problems, are idiosyncratic to an individual's system.  They are very, very rarely a bug that's escaped into the wild and that's affecting a large number of people relative to the number using {thing X or thing Y}.  And most owners/moderators are not doing their duties because they do not point this out and tell members to stop trying to invent reasons for the issues that originate "somewhere out there" rather than looking at likely weaknesses in their own ecosystems FIRST.
--

Brian - Virginia, USA - Windows 11 Pro, 64-Bit, Version 22H2, Build 22621; Office 2016, Version 16.0.15726.20188, 32-bit; Android 12 (MIUI 13)

Journalism 101:  If someone says it’s raining and another person says it’s dry, it’s not your job to quote them both. It’s your job to look out the f**king window and find out which is true.

      ~ Jonathan Foster (attributed)

Hi Brian,

I have had it happen and was unlucky to have it happen on an optional.

Yes same here. I do think that drivers can be an issue as many seem to be sourced from the makers of the hardware and thus may well help some features work with unforeseen effects on others, like crackling screenreding or huge delays at the start of speaking, but since you can roll them back to how you had it before, this seldom is a problem. Of course if sound stops working then its time for a that sighted person we all keep in a cupboard somewhere.
One reoccurring issue on many versions of windows and multiple screenreaders is the  way sometimes the shut down menu does not read. Often it can be resolved by a reboot of the screenreader from the hotkey, or if that fails the  clean shutdown by tapping the power button. With regard to restarting when shut down is selected, Get a sighted person to look over the bios. Obviously you may need an update, but if it has worked before, it could be that its just got tweaked somehow.
Brian