On August 12th, Microsoft released several updates for Windows 8.1, collectively and unofficially referred to as the August update for Windows 8.1. This update was originally labeled as “Update 2” for Windows 8.1. Unfortunately, Microsoft pulled the update a few days after releasing it due to select number of users experiencing the dreaded blue screen of death.
No explanation was given as to why the update was pulled, until a few days later when Microsoft identified the faulty update that was causing the blue screens. Today, Microsoft has offered another explanation as well as an update to the faulty update (pun intended). No longer referred to as KB2982791, the update is available once again for download, now known as KB2993651.
“This month we had our first roll out with additional non-security updates. A small number of customers experienced problems with a few of the updates. As soon as we became aware of some problems, we began a review and then immediately pulled the problematic updates, making these unavailable to download. We then began working on a plan to re-release the affected updates,” Microsoft stated in an official blog post.
If you have KB2982791 installed, Microsoft recommends that you uninstall it and apply KB2993651 instead. You don’t necessarily have to uninstall the old update, but it is highly recommended that you do so. Head over to Windows Update to snag the newer update.
One thing to note about this month is that Microsoft has begun to release more non-security updates alongside typical security updates during the company’s monthly Patch Tuesday. Microsoft mentioned this in the blog post and indicated that only a small number of customers experienced blue screen issues. We hope Microsoft is able to quickly resolve any issues that come up in subsequent updates and we hope to see more non-security updates to Windows on Patch Tuesday!
Editor’s note: Only one part of the August update has returned — KB2993651. Microsoft has yet to re-release KB2975719, which was also part of the August updates.
Further reading: Microsoft, Patch Tuesday, Windows 8.1
