4 Frustrating Issues on Windows 10 Upgrade and Possible Solutions

Microsoft Windows 10 pushed out the Windows 10 Anniversary Update to Windows 10 PCs on August 2 and the update’s chock-full of all sorts of new goodies for you to play with—some niche, some helpful, and all free. If you are not yet upgraded, here are 6 reasons to check out to get you started.

Microsoft has been offering Windows 10 as a free upgrade for genuine Windows 7, 8 and 8.1 users from the launching date. But that era is over as you now have to pay through your nose to upgrade your Windows from 7, 8, or 8.1. Meanwhile, for those who have been using Windows 10, they must notice some very annoying and frustrating things about the Operating System.

The popularity of Microsoft Windows 10 has swallowed up the ill-judged Windows 8, although it still lags well behind the trusted and reliable Windows 7. The anniversary Update is the best version of Windows 10 yet and now powers more than 350 million devices across the globe. Here, we have identified some of these annoyances and help find possible solutions to some of them.

4 Windows 10 Issues and Solutions

#1. Cortana Disabled or Not Supported in Your Region

Cortana is an exciting feature of the Windows 10. According to Microsoft, it is your clever new personal assistant. It will help you find things on your PC, manage calendar, track packages, find files, chat with you, and tell jokes. To get started, type a question in the search box on the taskbar. Or select the microphone icon and talk to Cortana.

Unfortunately, this feature is yet to be available in different parts of the world. The countries where Cortana is available includes Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Spain, The United Kingdom and the United States of America.

Also, Windows 10 Anniversary Update completely disables Cortana on some machines. A self-described Computer Science student with the handle @Ambious first posted the solution on the Microsoft Answers forum:

1. Start the Registry Editor (type regedit in the search box)

2. Navigate to

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Search

3. And change the key BingSearchEnabled from 0 to 1

You may have to log off, then back on again, but some report that it works straight away Ambious also advises to make sure that all the Cortana flags are set to 1. On the machines I’ve seen, that means you should ensure CanCortanaBeEnabledand CortanaConsent are set to 1.

#2. Forced or Automatic Updates

The only time you can escape Windows 10 automatic update is when you are not connected to either a wireless network or LAN. But, when you are, the periodic update will be forced you. You cannot update at your own convenience. Even if you suspend the update because you don’t have data, your system will update until your computer is connected. You are choiceless as when it comes to avoiding updates.

#3. Compatible drivers

The latest version 1607 of Windows 10, also known as the Anniversary Update comes with some specific driver signing changes. Beginning with the release of Windows 10 Anniversary Update, all new kernel mode drivers must be digitally signed by and submitted to the Windows Hardware Developer Center Dashboard portal.

Please note, that you will not need to re-sign the existing drivers on your Windows 10 PC, to get them work on your upgraded version 1607 of Windows 10. The drivers which are issued before July 29, 2016, and are signed by some valid signing certificate will continue to work on the Windows 10, version 1607.

The new signing policy

, however, includes many exceptions and the major ones are:

• PCs upgraded to Windows 10 Build 1607 from a previous version of Windows (for instance Windows 10 version 1511) are not affected by the change.
• PCs without Secure Boot functionality, or Secure Boot off, are not affected either.
• All drivers signed with cross-signing certificates that were issued prior to July 29, 2015, will continue to work.
• Boot drivers won’t be blocked to prevent systems from failing to boot. They will be removed by the Program Compatibility Assistant, however.
• The change affects only Windows 10 Version 1607. All previous versions of Windows are not affected.

That said, after upgrading your PC and you discover that some of these driver Softwares are not working, you can download the drivers without any fuss and install manually.

#4. Default App Choices Have Changed

Upgrading to Anniversary Update means that your system will be automatically controlled by the new Operating System. Your  default apps will now be related to Microsoft. In summary, it disrupts your system. For example, if your normal browser is Chrome, it changes to Microsoft edge. If this is not the case, whenever you open you your browser, a notification will keep popping up asking you whether you want to make Microsoft edge your default app. To pick your default apps yourself, just search for default app.

Here you go. The above is for identified frustrating things about Windows 10 Update you probably don’t know about. Are there any other known Windows 10 Anniversary Update you know about that is not listed here? Let us know using the comment box below.