March 2020 Patch Tuesday Windows 10 updates were released on 10th March 2020. The cumulative KB4540673 needs to be installed on Windows 10 Version 1909 and Windows 10 Version 1903.
Most cumulative updates come with security fixes and enhancements and don’t include any significant new features. The March 2020 update is no different. It comes with a lot of security fixes.
It is important to update to the latest version of Windows 10 to make sure you are protected in an Internet-connected world of computers.
Owing to the fact that most recent Windows updates had problems, I decided to write about this update after a day delay. In this time I have been following different forums for possible issues users may encounter after installing this cumulative update.
Let’s first start with the update and download section.
Upgrade to Windows 10 1903-OS Build 18362.719 and 1909-OS Build 18363.719
The easiest way to download and install this update is to use Windows Update. The update size is around 350 MB for 64-bit Operating System and 200 MB for 32-bit Operating System.
To install the latest update using Windows Update, go to Settings –> Update & Security –> Windows Update. Press the Check for Updates button. You should see at least the following updates come up:
- 2020-03 Cumulative Update for Windows 10 Version 1909 for x64-based Systems (KB4540673)
- Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool x64 – March 2020 (KB890830)
Press the Download button. The update will download and install automatically. You will need to restart the system for the changes to take effect. The new build no. will appear after restarting the system. You can check the build no. by going to Run –> winver.
Download KB4540673 Cumulative Update Standalone installers
You can also download KB4540673 as a standalone offline installer. The benefit of this is when you have to install this update on multiple systems that do not have an active Internet connection or have limited bandwidth.
Download KB4540673 MSU for Windows 10 v1903 and v1909 32-bit [191.6 MB]
Download KB4540673 MSU for Windows 10 v1903 and v1909 64-bit [354.6 MB]
Download KB4540673 MSU for Windows 10 v1903 and v1909 ARM64 [396 MB]
KB4540673 fixes and improvements
Microsoft has documented all the fixes and improvements included in this update for both versions 1909 and 1903 here. Here are the highlights:
- Updates to improve security when using Microsoft Edge and Internet Explorer.
- Updates for verifying user names and passwords.
- Updates to improve security when using external devices (such as game controllers, printers, and web cameras).
Specifically, the following quality improvements were made:
- Issue address for users preventing upgrading the OS because of corrupted third-party assemblies.
- Security updates to Windows App Platform and Frameworks, Windows Media, Windows Silicon Platform, Microsoft Edge, Internet Explorer, Windows Fundamentals, Windows Authentication, Windows Peripherals, Windows Update Stack, and Windows Server.
If you want to go in more detail, you can check out the Microsoft security portal where Microsoft lists down the CVEs with additional information about the issues and their fixes included in this update.
Troubleshooting issues with KB4540673
I have been following forums over the Internet especially Windows10Forums, Twitter and Reddit. There are a few people who have reported issues after installing this update.
For example, a user complained that he got a black screen after installing the KB4540673 update and restarting the computer. He was able to fix it by using the recovery disk to uninstall the latest update.
I woke up this morning with a black screen after BIOS. and nothing. Using the recovery disk to uninstall the last update. hope this does it. but im thinkin its kb4540673. or it could be the hard drive, or a gpu update. but we shall see. I have been totally borked since this morning
Reddit
Another user also had the same issue but he was able to fix it after restarting the system a couple of times.
Had a black screen after BIOS, too, thought it was just my RX 5700 XT acting up again and pulled the plug on my PSU for a second like I always do. Works again now. kb4540673 is not installed yet, last update was on 2/29/2020 KB4052623. Probably unrelated but now I’m unsure if it was just my GPU.
Reddit
Another user reported error 0x80070002 while installing this update. He was not able to install the update successfully. He had Windows 10 Version 1903 running on his system.
2020-03 Cumulative Update for Windows 10 Version 1903 for x64-based Systems (KB4540673) – Error 0x80070002
Microsoft Answers
when I update win 10 above sited error message show and update not perform do needful
The solution to this error 0x80070002 was given by a user on tenforums. He updated using Windows Update but failed. Then he tried to download and install the update manually but failed. He restarted the system after second failed attempt and was successful in installing the update manually on the third try.
Another user from tenforums did an interesting performance test of his system before and after installing this update. He found that his system performed significantly higher after installing this update.
Inspired by this, I also did the same performance test on my system and here are the results:
Before installing KB4540673
After installing KB4540673
The overall score is low because the 3D Graphics Mark test didn’t complete successfully. Otherwise, I can see the overall better CPU and memory performance. There should be some update that is affecting the graphics card performance but I’m not sure of it.
What are your experiences after installing KB4540673? Did you see any significant performance improvements after installing this update? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.
