Fix for the System Service Exception of KB4490481

[harlan4096]

Microsoft released the second cumulative update KB4490481 for Windows 10 version 1809 on April 3, 2019 to address a large number of issues and make some changes to the system.

I ran into a brick wall each time I tried to install the update on a Windows 10 Pro machine. Windows Update would install the update just fine but would throw a blue screen error System Service Exception on the first boot of the system after update installation.

I had to use System Restore to restore the system state, other troubleshooting options, e.g. startup repair, did not work at that time.

Microsoft has not acknowledged the issue officially, it is not listed as a known issue on the support page of KB4490481.

Fixing System Service Exception

A user on the My Digital Life forum published a solution for the issue yesterday. The user suggested to remove certain entries in the Windows Registry to fix the issue and get KB4490481 to install on machines that threw bluescreens before.

Note: The process requires editing the Registry. More precisely, removing entries from the Registry. I suggest you back up the Registry, or at least the keys that you are about to delete, before you proceed. Creation of a System Restore point is also an option.

The process

1.Tap on the Windows-key, type regedit.exe, and load the Registry Editor.

2. Confirm the UAC prompt that Windows displays.

3. Go to Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\FontLink\SystemLink

4. Locate the following entries there and delete them with a right-click and selecting "delete" from the context menu:

1. MS PGothic MC
2. Segoe Media Center
3. Segoe Media Center Light
4. Segoe Media Center Semibold

Install the KB4490481 update again afterward. The update should go through this time without Windows 10 throwing a blue screen on the first full start of the system after update installation.

Closing Words

It is unclear why these entries would be the cause for a blue screen error after update installation. The four fonts appear to be linked to Media Center which Microsoft removed from Windows 10 (see our list of Media Center alternatives).

It feels strange that something as mundane as font entries in the Registry would cause the entire system to throw a bluescreen error.

Anyway, if you ran into the same System Service Exception error while installing KB4490481 you may want to try removing the entries in the Registry to see if it fixed the issue on your end.

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