Update to Windows 10 Compatibility Alert

UPDATE:

Microsoft has issued a patch in Windows 10 to fix a serious corruption issue with regards to .wav media files written by Sound Devices recorders.

Windows 10 introduced the Encrypting File System (EFS) for removable FAT media, by using a reserved bit to indicate whether or not a file was encrypted. This caused Windows 10 to treat the file as EFS encrypted and overwrite the RIFF/WAVE header, making broadcast wave files unreadable. Prior to Windows 10, Microsoft did not use this bit, which was used by Sound Devices, so Quality Assurance testing would not have revealed any conflict.

The patch, KB3093266 issued by Microsoft on 30 September 2015, addresses this issue and has been verified by Sound Devices.

To get the Windows 10 patch, ensure that Windows Updates is set to Automatic, by doing the following:

  1. Go to Start > Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update, and then select Advanced options.
  2. Choose how updates are installed by selecting Automatic (recommended).

Note: If a temporary workaround registry key was used to disable EFS, that key may be deleted at any point after the patch is installed. Deleting the registry key will require a system reboot.


Original Tech Note

We have confirmed user reports of a serious issue with Windows 10 and removable media formatted as FAT32. Users are experiencing corruption of .wav media files by simply inserting FAT32 formatted SD or CF cards into a Windows 10 computer. Files do not need to be opened or accessed in order for them to become corrupt. <!–

We wish to emphasize that this problem exists with .wav files regardless of whether they were recorded on Sound Devices equipment or not. We strongly recommend not using Windows 10 with your Sound Devices created audio files.

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This problem has been reported to Microsoft. If we learn of any new information we will share it at the earliest. Thank you for your continued support!