Microsoft blocks Windows May 2019 Update on computers with external drives
Computers with external drives installed cannot install the Windows May 2019 Update. Otherwise, the update could give internal and external drives a different drive letter. Therefore, USB sticks and SD cards must be disconnected before the update.
Microsoft warns about this on a support page. If you try to perform the update while an external drive is connected to the computer, you will see an error message. It states that the computer cannot be updated to the latest version.
The support page shows that the problem is with ‘incorrect renaming of drives’. When that happens, drives are assigned a different drive letter. For example, an external G: drive can become an H: drive after the update, Microsoft writes as an example. This renaming could also affect internal drives. According to Microsoft, this renaming can take place on computers that have an external hard drive attached. Therefore, the update is blocked in those cases.
Renaming a drive affects how a computer works. At best, desktop shortcuts stop working. However, it can also cause programs to stop working correctly. Microsoft recommends that users who want to install the update disconnect all external drives from the computer. The company writes that the problem will be fixed “in an upcoming support update”. The bug has been corrected in the upcoming Windows Insiders build 18877 and later. According to Microsoft, the issue only affects Windows 10 computers that have the April 2018 or October 2018 update installed.
The May 2019 Update, or version 1903, is expected to be released in late May for Windows 10 computers. The update introduces several graphical and technical changes, such as a revamped start menu. Microsoft recently announced the hardware requirements for the May 2019 update. Users and businesses who want to install Windows 10 on computers now need at least 32GB for the 32bit and 64bit versions. First it was 16GB for the 32bit version; the 64-bit variant needed 4GB more.