Microsoft fixes Windows 10 bug forcing restarts

Users had less than 60 seconds to save their work before the reboot

Microsoft has finally fixed a troublesome bug in Windows 10 that caused forced reboots on some systems running the October 2020 Update.

The affected machines showed users a dialog box, telling them that their PC would automatically restart in one minute because 'Windows ran into a problem'.

The dialog box advised users to close the message box immediately and save their work before the machine reboots.

Microsoft confirmed the bug in November, stating that it stemmed from issues with the Local Security Authority Subsystem Service (LSASS) on some PCs.

The software giant said that the problem occured for users who have renamed local accounts when they were 'interacting with any dialog window that lists users - for example accessing the sign-in options settings app page or the users folder in the Local user and groups MMC snap-in'.

Microsoft said at the time that it was releasing an upgrade block to stop vulnerable systems from updating to the October 2020 Update. It also advised users to roll back to the previous version of Windows if they got the Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) error or forced reboot warning after sign in.

The company is now informing users that it has lifted the 'compatibility hold' to allow users to install the upcoming feature updates.

Microsoft's support document states that the bugfix is bundled with the latest updates, and users won't see the error message if they're using the latest version of Windows 10 (version 20H2).

"As of January 7th, 2020, this issue is now resolved and the safeguard hold has been removed when devices are using the latest feature update bundles and refreshed media," Microsoft said. "Please note, if there are no other safeguards that affect your device, it can take up to 48 hours before you will be able to the update to Windows 10, version 2004 or Windows 10, version 20H2."

Microsoft is also rolling out a fix for an issue that deletes passwords from different applications, such as Outlook, Chrome and Edge. The issue caused users to re-enter their passwords after a reboot, even if the save password option was chosen.

The issue, however, affected only a limited set of Windows 10 users and has now been resolved.

Microsoft is reportedly working to overhaul the Start menu, Taskbar, Action Center and built-in apps with its 'Sun Valley' update for Windows 10, expected to arrive in the second half of 2021.

The firm is also expected to launch Windows 10X, a 'Lite' version of the OS, by spring this year. This new system is likely to feature a familiar but modern Windows experience, as suggested by Microsoft's preview of its new File Explorer last year.