Microsoft has provided a temporary solution to the Windows 10 blue screen crashes that plague customers when they install after installing the March 2021 cumulative updates.
Redmond has confirmed the well-known problem that caused Windows 10 BSOD crashes after BleepingComputer reported a wave of user complaints about system crashes during printing.
“After installing the updates that were released during this Patch Tuesday, you will encounter an APC_INDEX_MISMATCH error with a blue screen when you try to print to certain printers in some applications,” Microsoft explained.
“We are working to resolve an issue that is affecting a subset of customers using certain printers,” a Microsoft spokesman told BleepingComputer.
Platforms affected by Windows 10 BSOD crashes include the following client and server versions running cumulative updates as of March 2021:
- KB5000802: Windows 10 2004 / 20H2 and Windows Server 2004 / 20H2
- KB5000808: Windows 10 1909 and Windows Server 1909
- KB5000822: Windows 10 1809 and Windows Server 2019
- KB5000809: Windows 10 1803 and Windows Server 1803
According to Microsoft, this issue “affects a subset of type 3 printer drivers and does not apply to type 4 printer drivers.” Use the steps available here to find the type of printer driver installed on your system.
According to user reports, Kyocera, Ricoh and Dymo are the printer brands affected by this known issue.
“I am the technical support manager for KYOCERA printers in my country,” one user said on March 12, three days after the updates were announced.
“We are experiencing hundreds of phone calls from customers whose computers crash after an KB5000802 update.”
Official solution available
While Microsoft investigates the crash and is working on an update, you can remove the offensive updates by describing the steps here to restore the printing functionality and remove the blue screen errors.
However, if you do not want to remove the security updates that were deployed with the March Cumulative Updates, you can use an official Microsoft Temporary Workaround to mitigate this issue.
While Microsoft provides a video outlining the solution instructions, we’ve also outlined the steps below the embedded video.
To print 64-bit Windows versions from 32-bit applications (eg Acrobat, OpenOffice) without crashing, Microsoft recommends switching on Direct printing for your printer according to the following procedure:
- Open an elevated command prompt and execute the following command to determine if the feature is already enabled (replace PRINTERNAME with the name of your printer):
rundll32 printui.dll,PrintUIEntry /Xg /n PRINTERNAME
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If direct printing is not enabled, execute the following command from the same elevated command prompt (replace PRINTER NAME with the name of your printer):
To print from 64-bit programs on 64-bit operating system or to use 32-bit programs on 32-bit operating system, you must download and install the application compatibility application to apply the PrinterIsolationAware fix to affected applications using the Compatibility Manager tool.