Windows 10 October Update is causing BSOD borkage on HP machines

Microsoft is not having a fun time at the moment. After discovering that Windows 10's October 2018 update made the OS a fan of wiping drives without warning, the firm rushed out an emergency update which is causing blue screen crashes on a handful of lucky computers. Whoops.
 
The problem seems to be down to incompatible keyboard drivers on certain HP machines throwing a wobbly at the KB4464330 patch - and if that sounds a bit vague, it's because it is.
 
One user discovered that his HP EliteDesk 800 G3 refused to boot after applying the patch, spitting out the old classic "WDF_VIOLATION" as an explanation. Relax though, HP fans - Microsoft's support said it was aware of the issue, and hinted that it may extend to other providers.
 
"Actually HP computers are not the only product affected for this issue other computers as well like DELL etc," a support agent reportedly said, adding that the update has been temporarily paused and that a "higher level of support" is "already working on it."
 
Not much consolation to those that can't boot right now, of course, but some users have reported success by deleting the HpqKbFiltr.sys file in the system32/drivers folder. A full explainer on how to do that on a PC that won't boot has been shared on Reddit, but follow those instructions at your own risk, obviously.
 
Okay, so a handful of bricked HP laptops is probably less of a big deal than deleting entire hard drives in the greater scheme of things, but it's still leaving many wondering if automatic updates are worth the hassle.
 
Hopefully fixing this will be a case of third-time lucky so everyone can go back to moaning about Microsoft Edge, giving Windows 10 a much-needed break.

---