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Posts tagged "broken"

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Windows 10 latest update is broken and riddled with bugs – with no fix in sight
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Back in January, we reported on a small security update patch for Windows 10 that brought on a lot of headaches for IT admins and brought on a veritable cavalcade of error codes. Microsoft promised a fix was in the works ASAP, but here we are months later and the problem has still not been fixed. 

Windows 10 update KB504441 arrived as a patch to security issues brought on by another previous update, specifically to fix a flaw that could allow attackers to bypass certain encryptions within the OS. According to Windows Latest, readers have reached out to Microsoft for an update on the fix. The company referred users to an existing support document and is apparently “[not] planning to make an easier fix or update to automatically solve this problem any time soon,” which is frustrating.

Users have also reported difficulties downloading the update at all now, with an error thrown up stating that it ‘cannot be installed at this time’. The error code given (0x80070643) usually alludes to you not having enough storage space for the update, but that’s not the case here.

I can’t believe we’re still waiting 

While Microsoft continues not to share an estimated time for a fix, the company has released a shared workaround that allows you to increase the recovery partition size and let the Windows install smoothly.  The official document reiterates that a plan to fix the issue is in the works for the next automatic update, but it sounds like an automatic fix isn’t on the cards. 

As we said in our original report, if you haven’t installed the update yet you might be better off holding off until an actual fix has been released – but if you’re feeling brave, the workaround should be enough to get the update installed, especially if you’re a casual Windows user. These issues have proven more of a problem for networked work devices (and therefore invoked the fury of many IT system admins) than for individual private users.

There have been several other updates between the original security patch and now, including a cumulative update, so it’s strange that we’re still waiting for this pretty important fix. Given how important the security patch is, we do hope a fix is on the way soon.

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ChatGPT is broken again and it’s being even creepier than usual – but OpenAI says there’s nothing to worry about
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OpenAI has been enjoying the limelight this week with its incredibly impressive Sora text-to-video tool, but it looks like the allure of AI-generated video might’ve led to its popular chatbot getting sidelined, and now the bot is acting out.

Yes, ChatGPT has gone insane–- or, more accurately, briefly went insane for a short period sometime in the past 48 hours. Users have reported a wild array of confusing and even threatening responses from the bot; some saw it get stuck in a loop of repeating nonsensical text, while others were subjected to invented words and weird monologues in broken Spanish. One user even stated that when asked about a coding problem, ChatGPT replied with an enigmatic statement that ended with a claim that it was ‘in the room’ with them.

Naturally, I checked the free version of ChatGPT straight away, and it seems to be behaving itself again now. It’s unclear at this point whether the problem was only with the paid GPT-4 model or also the free version, but OpenAI has acknowledged the problem, saying that the “issue has been identified” and that its team is “continuing to monitor the situation”. It did not, however, provide an explanation for ChatGPT’s latest tantrum.

This isn’t the first time – and it won’t be the last

ChatGPT has had plenty of blips in the past – when I set out to break it last year, it said some fairly hilarious things – but this one seems to have been a bit more widespread and problematic than past chatbot tomfoolery.

It’s a pertinent reminder that AI tools in general aren’t infallible. We recently saw Air Canada forced to honor a refund after its AI-powered chatbot invented its own policies, and it seems likely that we’re only going to see more of these odd glitches as AI continues to be implemented across the different facets of our society. While these current ChatGPT troubles are relatively harmless, there’s potential for real problems to arise – that Air Canada case feels worryingly like an omen of things to come, and may set a real precedent for human moderation requirements when AI is deployed in business settings.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman speaking during Microsoft's February 7, 2023 event

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman doesn’t want you (or his shareholders) to worry about ChatGPT. (Image credit: JASON REDMOND/AFP via Getty Images)

As for exactly why ChatGPT had this little episode, speculation is currently rife. This is a wholly different issue to user complaints of a ‘dumber’ chatbot late last year, and some paying users of GPT-4 have suggested it might be related to the bot’s ‘temperature’.

That’s not a literal term, to be clear: when discussing chatbots, temperature refers to the degree of focus and creative control the AI exerts over the text it produces. A low temperature gives you direct, factual answers with little to no character behind them; a high temperature lets the bot out of the box and can result in more creative – and potentially weirder – responses.

Whatever the cause, it’s good to see that OpenAI appears to have a handle on ChatGPT again. This sort of ‘chatbot hallucination’ is a bad look for the company, considering its status as the spearpoint of AI research, and threatens to undermine users’ trust in the product. After all, who would want to use a chatbot that claims to be living in your walls?

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Microsoft blames PC makers for broken Windows 11 update – but I think that’s a copout
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A recent Windows 11 update (which also came to Windows 10) has been causing some serious problems for some users – and it seems Microsoft is trying to pass the buck.

As Bleeping Computer reports, some people who installed the optional August 2023 updates for Windows 11 or Windows 10 were getting the dreaded Blue Screen of Death, where their PC stops responding, with the error being labelled as an ‘UNSUPPORTED_PROCESSOR’ issue.

In a statement posted on its ‘Release Health’ website, that tracks known issues, Microsoft states that the “’UNSUPPORTED_PROCESSOR’ error was not caused by issues in KB5029351 and is limited to a specific subset of processors.”

Microsoft claims it is “collaborating with device manufacturers (OEMs)” by pausing the update being offered to Windows devices that may be affected.

If the KB5029351 is already installed and causing an issue, it will automatically uninstall, which should fix the issue.

Whose fault is it anyway?

Microsoft is usually pretty good at being transparent about Windows 11 problems, so it’s interesting that with this one, it’s saying that the error isn’t being caused “by issues in KB5029351” and that you should “contact your device’s processor manufacturer” if the problem persists.

That seems to be washing its hands of the problem a bit. After all, this issue only affects the KB5029351 update – and presumably these unsupported processors work fine with other Windows 10 and Windows 11 updates.

You’d also think it would be easier for Microsoft to release an update that was supported by these processors, rather than have the processor makers build their chips to be compatible with all future Windows updates.

It all seems a bit odd, but there must be some reasoning behind Microsoft’s blame game. The good news, at least, is that this only affects an optional update, which means it’s not going to be forced on you, and the fix seems relatively easy to apply.

Whether or not device manufacturers will be happy with Microsoft pointing the finger at them over this latest Windows 11 problem, however, is another story.

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Windows 11 is so broken that even Microsoft can’t fix it
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Microsoft has just made a pretty remarkable admission, essentially conceding that it doesn’t have a solution for some Windows 11 problems.

As Neowin reports, some people using Windows 11 and Windows 10 have found a bug which prevents the Start menu, Windows search bar and some Universal Windows Platform (UWP) apps from starting or working correctly.

It appears that the bugs coincide with damaged registry keys and data related to Microsoft Office apps, and apps that are integrated with Office software, as well as Windows and Outlook.

The bugs don’t affect everyone, but those who are encountering them first noticed something wasn’t right back in January of this year. If you were hoping that during that time Microsoft had figured out how to fix the problem, then I have some bad news for you.

Giving up?

On Microsoft’s ‘Health’ webpage regarding the issue, Microsoft notes that the “Windows search, and Universal Windows Platform (UWP) apps might not work as expected or might have issues opening,” and in a recent update it has provided a workaround for the problem.

Not only is the lack of a definitive fix disappointing, but the workaround isn’t great, with Microsoft stating that to “mitigate this issue, you can uninstall apps which integrate with Windows, Microsoft Office, Microsoft Outlook or Outlook Calendar.”

Essentially, it seems like Microsoft is admitting that it’s as baffled as us by the problem, and that the only way to avoid the issue is to start uninstalling apps. That’s pretty poor, especially as Microsoft doesn’t list the apps that are causing the issue, just that they integrate with “Windows, Microsoft Office, Microsoft Outlook or Outlook Calendar,” which doesn’t narrow it down at all.

It’s also not a great solution for people who depend on any of the apps causing the issue, as uninstalling them may not be a viable option.

Microsoft claims that it is working on a resolution, and I hope it's able to roll one out that fixes the issue without making users uninstall certain apps. It's concerning, though, that there seem to be areas where Windows 11 (and Windows 10, which is also suffering from this problem) is so broken that Microsoft simply can’t fix it.

Operating systems like Windows 11 are complicated pieces of software that have to work with myriad combinations of hardware and software, but this still doesn’t make it any less embarrassing for Microsoft. It also doesn’t give me a huge amount of confidence about Windows 12, which the company is rumored to be working on – I’d rather Microsoft concentrated on fixing the current versions of Windows first.

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My one wish for iOS 16 is to fix FindMy and its broken notifications from iOS 15
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Let me set the scene: I was walking back from a friend's house one evening, and I receive the first of two notifications that I've left my AirPods Pro somewhere, along with with an approximate address. However, after a frenzied check, I found they were still in my pocket.

This has happened numerous times before, ever since iOS 15 launched in September 2021. Even when my AirPods Pro were replaced the month after, the issue remains to this day – and it's a notification that can cause me anxiety in record time.

Having to quickly check my pockets or my bag to see if the AirPods case and two earphones are there can result in a frustrating swipe on my Apple Watch to be rid of the FindMy notification. It's got to the point where I'm tempted to remove my AirPods from the app completely.

Frankly, it's ridiculous that these false notifications are still occurring, especially as I was hoping for it to be fixed in iOS 15.4. But as it still remains, and the fact that it's not a hardware issue, what could it be?

One false notification is more than enough

FindMy showing missing notification on AirPods

(Image credit: TechRadar)

FindMy has been around since iOS 5, where it was previously called Find My Friends, and used as a way of keeping track of friends and family who would allow their devices to be followed through the app.

But in 2019 it was turned into FindMy, where you could look at all your devices registered to your Apple ID, and in 2020, with the introduction of AirTags, other products could be registered to the app.

I've never had an issue with Find My. In fact, I've found it to be a useful app to play a sound from my iPhone for when I'd lose it deep in the couch, for example. But my patience is starting to wear thin with these notifications.

The above image is when I received the final notification, after my walk home, where this appeared as I was sitting down at home, playing Fortnite.

Granted, I can go to my AirPods Pro in FindMy, go to 'Notify When Left Behind', and switch this off. But, what happens if I actually do lose my AIrPods?

It only takes one mistake to leave them behind, and as AirPods, bafflingly, don't have an AirTag or a speaker built into their cases, it can be tricky to find them, ironically.

This feature works by measuring the proximity between your iPhone and your AirPods, and will send a notification with its last known location. But far too often now, I'll get these as I'm walking home, or on a train, or just sitting down.

This isn't good. It reinforces a growing narrative that the software quality of some Apple apps is degrading, and one of the worst things that a user can feel when using a product is frustration.

This is what's happening now to FindMy, and hopefully, once iOS 16 is announced, we'll see this feature either fixed or replaced with a better method for judging proximity between devices.

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My one wish for iOS 16 is to fix FindMy and its broken notifications from iOS 15
  • No Comments

Let me set the scene: I was walking back from a friend's house one evening, and I receive the first of two notifications that I've left my AirPods Pro somewhere, along with with an approximate address. However, after a frenzied check, I found they were still in my pocket.

This has happened numerous times before, ever since iOS 15 launched in September 2021. Even when my AirPods Pro were replaced the month after, the issue remains to this day – and it's a notification that can cause me anxiety in record time.

Having to quickly check my pockets or my bag to see if the AirPods case and two earphones are there can result in a frustrating swipe on my Apple Watch to be rid of the FindMy notification. It's got to the point where I'm tempted to remove my AirPods from the app completely.

Frankly, it's ridiculous that these false notifications are still occurring, especially as I was hoping for it to be fixed in iOS 15.4. But as it still remains, and the fact that it's not a hardware issue, what could it be?

One false notification is more than enough

FindMy showing missing notification on AirPods

(Image credit: TechRadar)

FindMy has been around since iOS 5, where it was previously called Find My Friends, and used as a way of keeping track of friends and family who would allow their devices to be followed through the app.

But in 2019 it was turned into FindMy, where you could look at all your devices registered to your Apple ID, and in 2020, with the introduction of AirTags, other products could be registered to the app.

I've never had an issue with Find My. In fact, I've found it to be a useful app to play a sound from my iPhone for when I'd lose it deep in the couch, for example. But my patience is starting to wear thin with these notifications.

The above image is when I received the final notification, after my walk home, where this appeared as I was sitting down at home, playing Fortnite.

Granted, I can go to my AirPods Pro in FindMy, go to 'Notify When Left Behind', and switch this off. But, what happens if I actually do lose my AIrPods?

It only takes one mistake to leave them behind, and as AirPods, bafflingly, don't have an AirTag or a speaker built into their cases, it can be tricky to find them, ironically.

This feature works by measuring the proximity between your iPhone and your AirPods, and will send a notification with its last known location. But far too often now, I'll get these as I'm walking home, or on a train, or just sitting down.

This isn't good. It reinforces a growing narrative that the software quality of some Apple apps is degrading, and one of the worst things that a user can feel when using a product is frustration.

This is what's happening now to FindMy, and hopefully, once iOS 16 is announced, we'll see this feature either fixed or replaced with a better method for judging proximity between devices.

TechRadar – All the latest technology news

Read More