Microsoft has provided more detail into the number of phones that are having problems with a software update it began to roll out at the beginning of the week.

Speaking to ZDNet about reports that some phones were becoming unusable after the update, a Microsoft representative said the company had seen a 90-percent success rate by customers who were attempting to install the update.

"Of the remaining 10 percent, the top two issues encountered are the result of customer Internet connectivity issues and inadequate storage space on the phone or PC," the company representative said. "These account for over half of the reported issues with this update."

Reports of problems with the update, which had been pushed out to phones to help prepare them for the first of two updates that will add new features, began appearing shortly after the update began to make its way into the hands of users. Microsoft had sent out notifications about the update to users in waves, letting some grab the updated software before others.

Users with Samsung devices appear to have captured the brunt of the problems. Microsoft responded by temporarily pulling the update for Samsung Windows Phone users. For some updaters, the process hung just past the halfway point, leaving them with a non-functioning device. Microsoft yesterday told news site WinRumors that it had identified the cause of the problem, but had pulled the update as a precaution until a fixed version could be sent out.

Microsoft is urging those users with phones that had been left unusable after the update to contact their mobile operator or device manufacturer for repair options. In the meantime, the Hardware 2.0 blog over at ZDNet has instructions for doing a full restore of the phone for users who may have gotten stuck during the update process.

This update had been a precursor to the long-awaited first update to the Windows Phone 7 platform that will bring new features like copy and paste, an improved Marketplace search tool, and faster load times for some games and applications. This update had been sent out to ease the installation of that update package, much like Microsoft does ahead of major service packs for its Windows operating system.