Windows Update 2019-01 Preview Quality Rollup KB4480955

[RoHe]

KB4480955 (2019-01 Preview of Monthly Quality Rollup for Windows 7 for x86-based Systems) and a MSE definitions update got installed on my Win 7 Pro+SP1, 32-bit PC via Windows Update tonight. And then the "fun" began...

The PC says updates both were "successful" but... PC taking a very long time to reboot. "Please Wait..." followed by "Welcome..." with a few black screens before it finally gets to desktop after ~2-3 min.

There's a warning popup saying the "Windows Event Notification Service failed to start and only administrator users will be able to log in. Normal users will not be able to log in."

Also taking ~4-5 min before the Windows Audio Service starts and the red X over the speaker icon on taskbar disappears.

Rebooted 3-4 times but still the same issues.  A System Restore point appears to have been set prior to tonight's updates but I haven't tried it yet...

Anyone else with this problem?

My advice: DO NOT install this update..!

[RoHe]

WHEW!!

I used the System Restore point that was set right before the 2 updates were installed tonight.

Took a l-o-n-g time to run and I got the feeling it wasn't going to work, but it did - almost...

Boot times are back to normal, no more popups saying only administrators can log in. The audio service starts immediately and I hear the Windows log-on chime as soon as the desktop appears.

But, an issue remains with Event Viewer. When I try to open that app, there's a popup saying the snap-in is being loaded, but then an error message says Microsoft Management Console (MMC) is unable to load the snap-in. I have the choice to stop MMC or tell it to continue trying to load the snap-in. Stopping and restarting MMC or letting it continue never gets me anywhere...

Separately, I updated MSE definitions to .3194.0 using MSE itself, not via Windows Update, and that worked. Rebooted and no delays or popups...

I still have to see why the Event Viewer snap-in won't load, but that's minor considering the other issues after Preview Quality Rollup KB4480955 was installed.

If KB4480955 is offered to you, either hide or ignore it for a while until we see if my experience is common or just random bad luck...

[ky331]

For what it's worth, I have NEVER installed any of the PREVIEW updates... which basically is just an early version of NEXT MONTH's "regular" update.    They have enough headaches with the regular ones... so I say let other people be the guinea pigs for the previews.

[RoHe]

I don't normally install Preview updates either. Guess I wasn't paying attention yesterday and absentmindedly clicked Install without checking to see what was on the list. Hard lesson learned...!

PC booted up ok today, but some of my IE11 bookmarks are MIA. And ccleaner either won't open, or if it does manage to open, won't delete anything. The list may show a few MB of files that can be deleted, but after running ccleaner, it comes back saying "0 MB deleted".

I'll have to add those to my fix-it list along with Event Viewer for my weekend chores.  And wondering what other surprises are still waiting to be found...

[joe53]

On my Win 10 Pro system, I receive no offers to install Preview Quality Rollup updates.

Probably because I delay the regular monthly updates by 30 days in my Security and Updates Advanced Settings. After 2 years, I have no regrets in delaying updates. I consider them "Postview Quality Rollup" updates.

[RoHe]

Here's another update...

I ran chkdsk and sfc on my system today. chdsk reported no errors at all. On the other hand, the sfc log file was HUGE! 

The Event Viewer snap-in works again, but the System log scared me half to death! There were over 1500 Warnings and Critical errors, most after installing the Preview Rollup, but a share of them from before.

I cleared the Event Viewer logs and have been watching them all afternoon while I use the PC. The only Error reported for hours has been that dog-gone "Logitech Beep Suppression Driver service failed to start", something I've always had, but never been able to fix. It's probably related to my Logitech mouse and their SetPoint software.

ccleaner is working again too and successfully deletes files again. Some of my bookmarks are still MIA, but they're not coming back. I'll just have bookmark some web pages again.

I posted a query about this Preview Rollup on the MS forum and -so far- 5 others "have this problem too", but nobody else has posted anything. So it may not be a large-scale problem with the Preview, but I ain't the only one...

Not going to install this Rollup when it's beyond being a Preview until I'm certain it's fully fixed - or not...