Ask Dave Taylor
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Home
  • Videos
  • Most Popular
  • Top Categories
  • Books
  • About Dave
  • Ask Me
  • > Donate <
  • Home
  • Windows 10 Help
  • How Can I Safely Uninstall a Windows 10 Update?

How Can I Safely Uninstall a Windows 10 Update?

February 2, 2021 / Dave Taylor / Windows 10 Help / No Comments

The latest Windows 10 update seems to have made my photo editing software super unstable. It’s now crashing all the time! How can I uninstall or back up from a Windows update so I can use the app again?

Between the thousands of hardware configuration possibilities and the millions of programs running on PCs around the world, it’s perhaps no surprise that some of the Microsoft Windows Updates end up having unexpected consequences. There’s no way that the company can test every possible program, configuration and setup, even with its Windows Insider program and beta release strategy. Usually, however, the responsibility falls on the app developers so in reality it’s your photo editing software that’s probably at fault in this situation. But… there are thousands of obsolete programs that are no longer maintained but still a critical part of people’s computing experience and usage. And sometimes Microsoft does get something wrong with an update and needs to fix the fix, as it were.

Given that one of the features of Windows is the ability to uninstall an update with a click or two, it’s clear that you are not an isolated case. Plenty of people dutifully apply an update when it appears – or have their computer apply it automatically – and the find that something on their system no longer works properly. So let’s look at how to uninstall a patch or system update and why sometimes that still won’t fix the problem…

HOW TO UNINSTALL A WINDOWS UPDATE

Easiest way to start on your PC is to search for “view update history“. In fact, you probably won’t even need to type that many characters to get to the right system setting:

windows 10 taskbar search - uninstall

That’s what you want: “View your Update history“. Click or tap to choose that and you’ll see a list of the various app and system updates you’ve applied in the last few weeks or months:

win10 windows update history - uninstall update

You can see that I’ve applied both Feature Updates (most recently on 10/21/20) and Quality Updates (most recently on 1/22/21, just a few days ago). Handy to know is that you can always jump here and look at “See what’s new in this update” if you’re ever curious about what has actually updated.

For our task, however, click on “Uninstall updates” and the next window basically offers up the same information, but in a more succinct manner:

win10 update history - uninstall update -

This shows that I have 12 Microsoft Windows update, 1 Microsoft Visual C++ update and 1 Adobe Acrobat Reader DC update. Not every update can be uninstalled, however, and some simply don’t show the uninstall button, as you can see when I click on the Acrobat Reader entry:

win10 update history - uninstall update -adobe acrobat

The help message is reasonable, but there’s no actually “Uninstall” or “Change” link anywhere. That’s because you can’t reverse the Acrobat Reader update (which makes me wonder why it shows up on this list at all, but that’s another story).

Click on one of the Windows updates, however, and you’ll see something subtly different:

win10 update history - uninstall update - uninstall button

In this instance, I’m going to uninstall the latest Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 x86 Redistributable update, known informally as KB2467173. Okay, so maybe that’s not its informal name, but you get the gist!

Because this update has a checkpoint in the system, the Uninstall button shows up, as highlighted. A click on that and…

win10 update history - uninstall update - sure you want to uninstall

Why not? After all, “check for updates” will just surface the update again and it’s easily remedied if anything goes wrong.

A click on “Yes” and you’ll be again prompted, but this time by the Windows security subsystem:

allow uninstall C++ windows 10

It’s verified publisher Microsoft, but it’s also a bit confusing that the app itself is vc-red.msi rather than something a bit more mnemonic (and less worrisome) like uninstaller.msi. Anyway, another “Yes” and it’s uninstalled. Done.

REINSTALLING AFTER AN UNINSTALL

What if you then test out your program and find that it’s still unstable? That would point to the update not being the culprit but something else going on. In that instance, it might be worth re-installing the update after all. Problem is, sometimes you can’t do that because it’s not recognized as an applicable update. For example, I rolled back C++ earlier, but now when I Check for Updates you can see that it does not show up as an available update:

windows 10 check for updates - up to date

In this situation, there’s not much you can do other than simply wait for the next update in the cycle that will include the update you uninstalled and more additional. Also note that sometimes comprehensive system updates can override individual uninstalls too. It’s a complicated system!

I hope that helps you get back up and running with your photo editor. Good luck!

Pro Tip: I’ve been writing about Windows since they were running on a Xerox ALTO and Microsoft was focused on command lines. Please check out my quite extensive Windows 10 help area for hundreds of useful tutorials and how-to articles. Thanks!

Let’s Stay In Touch!

Never miss a single article, review or tutorial here on AskDaveTaylor, sign up for my fun weekly newsletter!
Name: 
Your email address:*
Please enter all required fields
Correct invalid entries
No spam, ever. Promise. Powered by FeedBlitz
Please choose a color:
Starbucks coffee cup I do have a lot to say, and questions of my own for that matter, but first I'd like to say thank you, Dave, for all your helpful information by buying you a cup of coffee!
safely uninstall update, safely uninstall windows update, uninstall windows update, win10 updates, windows update

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Search

Recent Posts

  • How do I Create an iPhone Playlist in iTunes?
  • Securing Shared Files: What You Need To Know
  • How to Record My PowerPoint Presentation (and save it as MP4)?
  • How Do I Switch Camera, Microphone or Camera in Zoom?
  • How to Fix Outlook Error 8004010F – Broken Outlook File

On Our YouTube Channel

FiiO FH3 Triple Driver Hi-Res Audio Earphones -- REVIEW

PuroPro Volume Limiting ANC Headphones -- REVIEW

Categories

  • AdSense, AdWords, and PPC Help (106)
  • Amazon Echo & Kindle Help (79)
  • Amazon, eBay, and Online Shopping Help, (157)
  • Android Help (160)
  • Apple Watch Help (49)
  • Articles, Tutorials, and Reviews (329)
  • Business Advice (192)
  • Computer & Internet Basics (721)
  • d) None of the Above (160)
  • Facebook Help (365)
  • Google, Chrome & Gmail Help (157)
  • HTML & Web Page Design (243)
  • Instagram Help (44)
  • iPad Help (137)
  • iPhone & iOS Help (572)
  • iPod & MP3 Player Help (173)
  • LinkedIn Help (79)
  • Linux Help (149)
  • Linux Shell Script Programming (86)
  • Mac & MacOS Help (834)
  • Most Popular (10)
  • Outlook & Office 365 Help (11)
  • PayPal Help (68)
  • Pinterest Help (53)
  • Reddit Help (12)
  • SEO & Marketing (80)
  • Spam, Scams & Security (84)
  • Trade Show News & Updates (23)
  • Twitter Help (212)
  • Video Game Tips (66)
  • Web Site Traffic Tips (62)
  • Windows 10 Help (828)
  • Wordpress Help (201)
  • Writing and Publishing (72)
  • YouTube Help (43)
  • YouTube Video Reviews (159)
  • Zoom, Skype & Video Chat Help (43)

Archives

Social Connections:

Ask Dave Taylor


Follow Me on Pinterest
Follow me on Twitter
Follow me on LinkedIn
Follow me on Instagram


AskDaveTaylor on Facebook



microsoft insider mvp


This web site is for the purpose of disseminating information for educational purposes, free of charge, for the benefit of all visitors. We take great care to provide quality information. However, we do not guarantee, and accept no legal liability whatsoever arising from or connected to, the accuracy, reliability, currency or completeness of any material contained on this site or on any linked site. Further, please note that by submitting a question or comment you're agreeing to our terms of service, which are: you relinquish any subsequent rights of ownership to your material by submitting it on this site. Our lawyer says "Thanks for your cooperation."
© 2020 by Dave Taylor. "Ask Dave Taylor®" is a registered trademark of Intuitive Systems, LLC.
Privacy Policy - Terms and Conditions - Accessibility Policy