Nvidia fixes a weird GPU driver bug that tanked CPU performance

Nvidia’s GPU driver was recently found to have a bug that was spiking processor usage after quitting out of a game, but the good news is this problem has been fixed in a freshly released hotfix.

Neowin reports that the affected GeForce driver version, 531.18, now has a hotfix (531.26), and it cures two issues including the gremlin that was eating CPU resources.

This was an odd bug which saw an Nvidia Container process hang around after you’d stopped playing a game and exited. Going into Task Manager, gamers were seeing CPU resources being eaten up to the tune of 10% or even 15%, causing some slowdown to the host gaming PC.

If you didn’t open Task Manager and notice this process, then manually close it, your machine could run rather sluggishly and you’d have no idea why.

Still, the cure has arrived now, and if you were holding off updating to version 531.18 due to the presence of this bug, you can now go ahead.


Analysis: Notebook crashing blues also fixed

This fix has been deployed quickly, which is good to see. Nvidia chose the route of a hotfix because that can be pushed out immediately to those with GeForce graphics cards, rather than having to wait for a cure bundled with the next version of Team Green’s graphics driver.

The hotfix also comes packing a resolution for a second problem. Namely a random crash (stop error) happening with some laptops that have GeForce GTX 10 Series, or MX 250 / MX 350 mobile GPUs.

Both of these are quite nasty little glitches, so it’s good to see them stamped out by Nvidia in a swift manner. Indeed, because there was apparently some noticeable slowdown evident with the persisting Nvidia Container bug, slightly more paranoid types may even have wondered if something had happened malware-wise, as sudden system slowdown or lack of responsiveness can be a symptom of infection – so they may have worried unduly.

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Windows 11 updates are failing to install with this weird error

Windows 11 users are reporting some installation failures when trying to update the OS, with an uninformative error not throwing much light on the cause of the apparent problem – although it’s an issue that Microsoft is ‘closely monitoring’.

Windows Latest reports that an error code 0xc1900101 is being produced for some folks when trying to update, and the operating system then rolls back to the previous build with no further details on the cause of the issue being provided.

This is apparently happening mostly with preview builds of Windows 11, and other error codes have been witnessed as well, Windows Latest notes, but the aforementioned one is the most commonly seen and reported on Microsoft’s Feedback Hub.

One user posted to the Hub: “All my physical machines updated ok, but on a virtual machine running either Hyper-V, VMWare, or VirtualBox, it almost gets to the end of the update, and then rolls back. Worse, on VMWare and VirtualBox, the virtual machine software crashes at the end of the update.”

Another observed: “Mine has the same problem. The first time I update the pc to the latest build it showed an error about my graphics driver so it rolled back. I was suspecting that the windows update corrupted my graphic driver as after rolling back my graphics card was not working, it just works after I reinstall driver. I reinstall the update later and it was a success.”

Microsoft has confirmed that it knows about the error which it describes as a ‘generic’ failure and an area that the company is watching closely.

Microsoft advised one affected user: “Thanks for taking the time to report this – error code 0xc1900101 is a generic error displayed when an update fails and rolls back for some reason. This is an area we monitor closely and can have different root causes depending on which build you were attempting to upgrade to and your setup.”

No firm advice was given, then, as to how someone might get around this gremlin in the works, but Microsoft does say that users should try updating to the very latest preview build (if they were attempting to upgrade to a previous version, of course).


Analysis: Some possible workarounds, but the waiting game might be best

There are various theories about the cause of this – and similar – update failure errors, including suggestions of app compatibility or driver issues (as we saw above), or even low disk space. But as Microsoft mentions, this is a ‘generic’ error and one which could have a number of different causes.

If you encounter this problem, aside from making sure you are attempting to install the very latest build, there are a few things you can try. It certainly won’t hurt to ensure that you aren’t running low on drive space, and maybe run a disk clean (it’s a good idea to do this periodically anyway). Also, we’ve seen another user report that disabling their antivirus resolved the installation failure of a recent preview build, and there are some further suggestions of potential action to take in this thread from the Microsoft Tech Community.

What’s also worth noting here is that this error has been a problem in the past, for example with Windows 11 preview build 22504 (back in November 2021). At the time, Microsoft’s advice was that users “may want to pause updates until we release a fix”, although in the past Microsoft has also said that those encountering this error code with Windows 10 should try to install the update again after a clean boot (find instructions here – and interestingly as observed above, another potential mitigation mentioned is to disable your antivirus temporarily).

In short, while you may get some joy from the potential solutions floated in the links above, your best bet might be to simply wait for the issue to resolve itself, providing you don’t have an urgent need to get the update in question up and running.

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Windows 11 updates are failing to install with this weird error

Windows 11 users are reporting some installation failures when trying to update the OS, with an uninformative error not throwing much light on the cause of the apparent problem – although it’s an issue that Microsoft is ‘closely monitoring’.

Windows Latest reports that an error code 0xc1900101 is being produced for some folks when trying to update, and the operating system then rolls back to the previous build with no further details on the cause of the issue being provided.

This is apparently happening mostly with preview builds of Windows 11, and other error codes have been witnessed as well, Windows Latest notes, but the aforementioned one is the most commonly seen and reported on Microsoft’s Feedback Hub.

One user posted to the Hub: “All my physical machines updated ok, but on a virtual machine running either Hyper-V, VMWare, or VirtualBox, it almost gets to the end of the update, and then rolls back. Worse, on VMWare and VirtualBox, the virtual machine software crashes at the end of the update.”

Another observed: “Mine has the same problem. The first time I update the pc to the latest build it showed an error about my graphics driver so it rolled back. I was suspecting that the windows update corrupted my graphic driver as after rolling back my graphics card was not working, it just works after I reinstall driver. I reinstall the update later and it was a success.”

Microsoft has confirmed that it knows about the error which it describes as a ‘generic’ failure and an area that the company is watching closely.

Microsoft advised one affected user: “Thanks for taking the time to report this – error code 0xc1900101 is a generic error displayed when an update fails and rolls back for some reason. This is an area we monitor closely and can have different root causes depending on which build you were attempting to upgrade to and your setup.”

No firm advice was given, then, as to how someone might get around this gremlin in the works, but Microsoft does say that users should try updating to the very latest preview build (if they were attempting to upgrade to a previous version, of course).


Analysis: Some possible workarounds, but the waiting game might be best

There are various theories about the cause of this – and similar – update failure errors, including suggestions of app compatibility or driver issues (as we saw above), or even low disk space. But as Microsoft mentions, this is a ‘generic’ error and one which could have a number of different causes.

If you encounter this problem, aside from making sure you are attempting to install the very latest build, there are a few things you can try. It certainly won’t hurt to ensure that you aren’t running low on drive space, and maybe run a disk clean (it’s a good idea to do this periodically anyway). Also, we’ve seen another user report that disabling their antivirus resolved the installation failure of a recent preview build, and there are some further suggestions of potential action to take in this thread from the Microsoft Tech Community.

What’s also worth noting here is that this error has been a problem in the past, for example with Windows 11 preview build 22504 (back in November 2021). At the time, Microsoft’s advice was that users “may want to pause updates until we release a fix”, although in the past Microsoft has also said that those encountering this error code with Windows 10 should try to install the update again after a clean boot (find instructions here – and interestingly as observed above, another potential mitigation mentioned is to disable your antivirus temporarily).

In short, while you may get some joy from the potential solutions floated in the links above, your best bet might be to simply wait for the issue to resolve itself, providing you don’t have an urgent need to get the update in question up and running.

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Read More