Windows 10 1607 patch KB 3206632 solves ‘dropped internet connection’ bug

If you’ve been concerned about—or bitten by—the dropped internet connection bug that flared up a week ago, take solace: The latest Windows 10 version 1607 (Anniversary Update) cumulative update appears to fix the problem. If you install KB 3206632, the Dec. 13 cumulative update for Windows 10 1607 that was released yesterday, and bring your build number up to 14393.576, that bug disappears.

That’s the good news. Unfortunately, a few niggling problems remain.

First, the bug heard round the world: There’s been an enormous amount of fake news floating around about this bug. Feel free to pepper your favorite mistaken blogger with these facts:

• Dropped internet connections are nothing new in Windows. This particular problem suddenly, spontaneously, turned Win10 1607 systems’ IP addresses to 169.x.x.x, thus breaking internet and all other network connections. Reports of the bug started pouring in on Dec. 7.
• In spite of what you may have read, the bug was not brought on by the KB 3201845 cumulative update, which was released on Dec. 9. Quite the contrary, Microsoft’s John Wink says:

We had an issue where some users were losing IP connectivity (getting APIPA addresses) and Friday’s (Dec. 9) release was a mitigation step to help with that problem.

• Wink goes on to explain the source of the problem:

[A] service crash that broke DHCP. The correct mitigation was/is a restart (not shutdown/reboot, but start – power – restart). Friday’s (Dec. 9) update mitigated by triggering such a restart, but today’s update (Dec. 13) has the actual fix.

The aberrant, fixed component of Win10 is called the Connected Devices Platform Service (CDPSvc).

Microsoft issued a statement about the patch, but it’s confusing—at least to me:

We released an update on December 13 that will automatically install and resolve connectivity difficulties reported by some customers. To receive the update, customers may need to first restart their PCs by selecting Start on the taskbar, clicking the Power button, and choosing Restart (not Shut down). Additional guidance can be found on our support forum here.

Not surprising, that link takes you to a nearly identical message in a locked thread, where you couldn’t ask a question if you had to.

Here’s what the statement should say: If you aren’t connected to the internet, you can get reconnected temporarily by clicking Start > Power > Restart. To permanently fix the problem, install KB 3206632.

Now, those niggling problems.

• KB 3206632 reintroduces (or at least it doesn’t fix) the absurd 3.99TB Windows Update Cleanup file bug. It looks like the 3.99TB cleanup file appears on 64-bit Win10 installations, but not on 32-bit. Go figure.
• It also doesn’t fix the long-standing version 1607 problem where creating a new folder or renaming a folder triggers a completely bogus message, “An unexpected error is keeping you from renaming the folder […] Error 0x8007003B: An unexpected network error occurred.”
• The current version 1607 still won’t generate a valid windowsupdate.log—follow the instructions and you get a windowsupdate.log file full of gibberish.

The 100 percent system disk usage bug introduced in last Friday’s cumulative update, KB 3201845, is gone. The Win10 DiagTrack service got a bit pushy, but it’s been tamed.

My test machines took an extraordinarily long time to install the KB 3206632 update. I have no idea why, but KB 3206632 is definitely a two-latte patch.

If you have problems installing KB 3206632, do yourself (and the rest of us!) a favor and post a description of the problem on the Reddit forum. Microsoft now has three employees monitoring that forum. They not only provide help “from the horse’s mouth,” they log and follow up on any sufficiently well-described problem. That’s good for you and for everybody else who uses Windows 10.

One tantalizing prospect: On the Reddit forum, theziofede commented:

It would be ok with me if they allowed to schedule downloads and install like you can currently do with restarts…

And ‘Softie johnwinkmsft responded with this:

Some improvements coming in the future for this. We heard you. 🙂

Hope springs eternal.

I’m seeing some reports of problems with KB 3206632, so don’t be in any rush to install it. As usual, I suggest you wait a week or two to allow time for the problems to shake out.

The discussion continues on AskWoody.com.