Windows 10 shutdown bug makes powering down take over a minute
Yet another gremlin affecting the October 2018 Update
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Windows 10has a fresh bug with theOctober 2018 Update, whereby shutting down a PC can take an incredibly long time to complete – potentially over a minute – if a USB Type-C device is unplugged (or indeed plugged in) during the process.
In a support document,Microsoftexplains that the USB Type-C Connector System Software Interface (UCSI) is bugged in the October 2018 Update, and if you’re shutting down your PC, or it’s going to sleep, the problem occurs if the UCSI software has to handle a new disconnection (or connection) event during the power-down operation.
If that occurs, you’ll have to potentially wait for a 60-second delay (on top of the normal shutdown time) while the UCSI software gets its act together, and manages to process the Type-C device being unplugged or plugged in.
Microsoftnotes: “Apart from the extra one minute the sleep or shutdown process takes in this circumstance, this bug does not affect normal functionality of USB Type-C on your machine. The system and the USB Type-C ports should continue to function properly after the next wake or restart of the system.”
So this bug isn’t a huge issue, by all accounts, but could certainly be a puzzling and annoying one. And if you’re running the October 2018 Update, and have recently encountered a shutdown that seemed to take forever, well, at least now you know why it happened. You probably yanked out a USB stick at the last-second.
No patch – just upgrade
Interestingly, Microsoft doesn’t mention any potential resolution for this bug, instead advising that the gremlin has been ironed out in the latestMay 2019 Update, and that you should upgrade to this (Windows 10version 1903).
That’s all well and good, except if there are other potential hardware or software compatibility issues with your PC and the May 2019 Update,you may find the upgrade is blocked, and you can’t get it yet.
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If that’s the case, then obviously you can simply sidestep the issue by avoiding unplugging USB Type-C devices at shutdown time.
On a side note, it’s interesting to see that even though the October 2018 Update is now being skipped over – with the majority of users being sent straight to thenew May 2019 Update– the bugs still keep coming with it.
ViaWindows Latest
Darren is a freelancer writing news and features for TechRadar (and occasionally T3) across a broad range of computing topics including CPUs, GPUs, various other hardware, VPNs, antivirus and more. He has written about tech for the best part of three decades, and writes books in his spare time (his debut novel - ‘I Know What You Did Last Supper’ - was published by Hachette UK in 2013).
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