Windows 10 V1903: Search and Cortana bug in Update KB4512941 confirmed (09/05/2019)

[German]Microsoft hat confirmed officially (09/05/2019) the bug in update KB4512941 for Windows 10 version 1903, which damaged the desktop search and caused a high CPU load due to the language assistant Cortana. 

The background of the problems

On August 30, 2019 the cumulative update KB4512941 for the Windows 10 May 2019 Update (Version 1903) came out. The update fixes over 30 minor and major bugs in the current Windows 10 version.

I had described the details in the blog post Windows 10 V1903: Update KB4512941, KB4515530 (08/30/2019). The update had been tested 'extensively' with Windows insiders in the Release Preview Ring since August 21, 2019. And Microsoft wrote in the support article at release, that there were no known issues with this update. So I was confident, that everything is fine.

Desktop search broken, Cortana causes high CPU load

However, users had already noticed during the Insider Preview that the desktop search no longer works after installing the update. In addition, the update used up the CPU or individual cores.

  • Cortana causes a high CPU load, which can use a core of the CPU to 44% to 100%.
  • The search does not work if the Bing search has been disabled.

I had already reported about it at the Insider Preview in the article Windows 10 V1903: Updates KB4512941 and KB4515530 and hoped that this would be fixed until the release of the final. A few hours after this update was released, there was confirmation that the bugs were still present.

Confirmation by Microsoft, what can you do?

On September 5, 2019, Microsoft added the following text to the support article for KB4512941 (thanks to the German and English blog readers for the note).

Microsoft is getting reports that a small number of users may not receive results when using Windows Desktop Search and may see high CPU usage from SearchUI.exe. This issue only occurs on devices that have disabled searching the web using Windows Desktop Search.

Microsoft assumes that a small number of people are affected and it's planned to release a fix by mid-September 2019. Whoever is affected by this error should simply uninstall the update via the Settings app (update history) or the Control Panel.

Windows 10 V1903 Update KB4512941

Because this update is optional, it is not automatically downloaded and installed by Windows Update if the user triggers the search for updates. Rather, you have to trigger the download explicitly (see screenshot above). You can try the workarounds described in the following articles. But since I received feedback from readers almost every hour that this and that didn't work, the whole thing remains a tinkering. Just wait until Microsoft has repaired the issues. If the repair reveals new bugs, I will report as soon as possible. 

Similar articles:
Windows 10 V1903: Updates KB4512941 and KB4515530
Windows 10 V1903: Update KB4512941, KB4515530 (08/30/2019)
Windows 10 V1903: High CPU load from Cortana, Search broken, blame August 2019 Updates
Windows 10 V1903: MS investigating the Search/Cortana issue (09/03/2019)
Windows 10 V1903: Review of update KB4512941

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3 Responses to Windows 10 V1903: Search and Cortana bug in Update KB4512941 confirmed (09/05/2019)

  1. EP says:

    guenni

    read this recent ZDNet article from Liam Tung about the KB4512941 update:
    https://www.zdnet.com/article/windows-10-1903-buggy-update-slows-pcs-breaks-desktop-search-says-microsoft/

    a quote from his article:

    "Microsoft estimates a resolution will be available in mid-September, so it will probably not be fixed by the upcoming Patch Tuesday on September 10, but by a subsequent optional cumulative update."

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