The recent Windows 10 updates have several issues that are
making it difficult for some users to use their PCs. According
to reports, Windows 10 update KB4535996, KB4540673 and possibly
KB4551762 could make your PC boot slower than usual.
We don’t have enough data to identify the culprit—it could be a
driver or software that is not compatible with Windows 10
update or the update itself is the problem. Many users have
blamed optional update KB4535996 for performance issues and
others have called out Windows 10 KB4540673/KB4551762.
Windows 10 KB4535996 update has been available since February
27 and not all users have it installed yet.
In theory, KB4535996 is a preview of March update and if you
don’t have it installed on your PC, you’ll receive fixes and
improvements introduced by KB4535996 in Windows 10 KB4540673.
If both updates are not installed on your PC, all those fixes
are included in KB4551762.
Microsoft hasn’t released a fix or acknowledged the bug, and
even when they finally do, another set of issues could emerge
on some configurations.
If your PC suddenly seems to slow down when booting or during
general tasks, check to see whether any of these updates
downloaded to your system.
If you are experiencing performance issues, you should
uninstall the recent patches and test your device manually.
Head to the Start menu and search for ‘Settings’. In Settings
update, go to Update & security > View Update History. In
the update history, check if you have installed KB4535996 and
uninstall it from the Control Panel.
KB4535996 is an optional patch and it will not show up again
when you check for updates next time. If you don’t have it
installed, look for KB4540673 and uninstall it. Once you’re in,
be sure to reboot your system multiple times and if you notice
any improvements in boot time or overall performance, the
update which you just uninstalled is the culprit.
In our three test machines, Windows 10 KB4535996 resulted in
performance slowdown and uninstalling the patch restored the
original performance of the hardware.
You should reinstall KB4540673 if the overall performance
remains slow.
Whether you’ll be affected by this issue is also determined by
your system configurations, the apps and settings you use.
