Windows 10 version 1809 may have yet another file-deleting bug

It's not Halloween yet but Windows 10 version 1809, a.k.a. the October 2018 update, is already starting to fill with horror stories from users. It won't be long before the update becomes a scary anecdote in Microsoft's history again. After it had pulled the problematic update for deleting the files of a few users, some Insiders are reporting that the supposedly fixed version of the update is again riddled with frightening errors. One that won't directly delete your files but won't tell you that it deleted them either.

The previous version 1809 bug resulted in data loss for what Microsoft says is 1 in every 10,000 users. This was due to how the update moved default folders, just as Documents or Pictures, to another location without actually moving the files in them. Microsoft pulled the update and gave it another round of testing among the brave souls that make up its testers. Sadly, bravery is indeed needed in this case yet again.

gHacks reports that quite a number of users are complaining about how the new Windows 10 is mishandling files contained in compressed (ZIP) archives. Like any other file operation, Windows would ask the user's permission before overwriting a file in case conflicts between source and destination folders arise. According to affected users, version 1809 no longer does so and just overwrites the file as if they agreed.

It gets worse. Sometimes, the file operation never succeeds and Windows won't even tell you. If the file from a compressed archive is being moved, it would silently fail and won't even write the file, which, in effect, deletes the file from the archive and from all existence. It may not be as mysterious or random as the earlier bug but a bug that deletes files without user consent it still a critical bug, no matter how you try to sugarcoat it.

Windows 10 version 1809 is quickly turning out to be the worst update since Windows 10 first launched. Some news outlets are already calling out Microsoft not just for its broken updates but for its poor software development practices in general. Given how it has made Windows 10 updates practically inescapable, it should take extra care not to sacrifice quality and stability for the sake of speed.