The latest Windows 10 update has fixed many problems while creating others. The soap opera of Windows updates, then, continues with a new installment: this time, after performing the update, user profiles and file icons placed on the desktop disappear.
The problematic update seems to be KB4532693, released a couple of days ago within the February cumulative security update. This is a highly recommended update from Microsoft, because it fixes as many as 99 security issues, 12 of which are deemed “critical”. But, as is now the practice, while it fixes something this update breaks something else. Users have flocked to Microsoft’s forums and Reddit to report several anomalies, two of which seem to be more frequent. Fortunately, it’s already been discovered where the error lies, and while Microsoft hasn’t fixed it yet, you can fix it yourself.
The problem with the latest Windows 10 update
Almost all reports after installing update KB4532693 talk about a reset desktop, as if it’s back to the one from the basic Windows 10 installation and without all the icons users placed there over time and with the default background, and user accounts being loaded as temporary profiles. If the user uninstalls the update, however, everything goes back to the way it was. As usual, “Microsoft is not aware of any problems with this update.”
How to troubleshoot Windows 10 update
Uninstalling update KB4532693 is not the best choice to make, if this update has caused the problems just described. For two reasons: the first is that the update protects our PC from very high risks of hacker attack, the second is that you can put everything back in place, although the procedure is not very simple.
At the root of the KB4532693 problems, in fact, there is a trivial installer error that does not rename the temporary folder used during installation. Users who are experiencing these problems, therefore, should open File Explorer and go to the path c:Users. Inside they will find a folder for each user of the operating system, and if they see a profile with a name ending in “.000” or “.bak” they have found the problem. Very often it’s enough to rename the profile by removing this extension and restart the PC to go back to using your profile as before. Sometimes it isn’t even necessary to do this: just restart the machine a few times and the operating system will notice the error and correct it. In any case, the good news is that no files are really deleted.