Microsoft's February Windows 11 security update unravels at 96% for some users
- Reference: 1709042561
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2024/02/27/windows_11_installation_problems/
- Source link:
Installation may get as far as 96 percent, but for some unlucky Windows 11 customers a message is then shown: "Something didn't go as planned. No need to worry – undoing changes. Please keep your computer on."
[1]Complaints about installation problems have rumbled since patch KB5034765 was released, and last night Microsoft finally [2]admitted via its Windows Release Health dashboard that there is a problem.
[3]
Windows 11 23H2 and 22H2 are affected, though Microsoft has yet to detail precisely what might have gone wrong. The current workaround is to delete the hidden folder C:\$WinREAgent , possibly restart, and then try the update again. According to Microsoft: "After following these steps, installing the February 2024 security update should succeed."
[4]
[5]
Microsoft has promised a fix that won't involve hacking around with hidden folders. "We are working on a resolution for this issue and will provide an update in an upcoming release."
While Windows 10 users are unaffected, Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) issues are becoming depressingly familiar. In January 2024, Microsoft [6]emitted a patch for Windows 10 users which required some to tweak partitions via the command prompt in order to stave off a Windows Update failure.
[7]Dell promises 'every PC is going to be an AI PC' whether you like it or not
[8]Musk 'texts' Nadella about Windows 11's demands for a Microsoft account
[9]Microsoft catches the Wi-Fi 7 wave with Windows 11
[10]Microsoft adds more AI to Photos in Windows 10 and 11
In this latest instance we can only speculate that there might be something lurking within that C:\$WinREAgent folder which is causing the Windows 11 updater to choke.
KB5034765 is an important update for Windows 11 and, as well as fixes for Copilot, it addresses a number of [11]security issues . Fixes included one for [12]CVE-2024-21412 , whereby a malicious shortcut file could kick off an attack on a vulnerable Windows machine without security checks.
[13]
At the time of writing, Microsoft's [14]support forum says it is "not currently aware of any issues with this update." However, the corp's release health dashboard tells a very different story as far as installing it is concerned, with instructions for deleting a hidden folder to allow the installation to proceed. ®
Get our [15]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.reddit.com/r/sysadmin/comments/1auktt6/issue_with_the_202402_win_11_update_kb5034765/
[2] https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/release-health/status-windows-11-23h2#3253msgdesc
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2Zd4VOsPRXf4mTLB9h6t7dwAAAII&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Zd4VOsPRXf4mTLB9h6t7dwAAAII&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Zd4VOsPRXf4mTLB9h6t7dwAAAII&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2024/01/12/microsoft_update_for_bitlocker_vuln/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2024/02/26/dell_ai_pc/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2024/02/26/musk_windows_11_account/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2024/02/24/microsoft_adds_wifi_7_to_windows_11/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2024/02/23/microsoft_adds_more_ai_to_windows/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2024/02/14/patch_tuesday_feb_2024/
[12] https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2024-21412
[13] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Zd4VOsPRXf4mTLB9h6t7dwAAAII&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[14] https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/topic/february-13-2024-kb5034765-os-builds-22621-3155-and-22631-3155-023d9141-a5b0-470a-b0f5-2ee3b48f48ce
[15] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
@Dan 55 - Re: "Something didn't go as planned. No need to worry – undoing changes....
Yes, and you will learn to love it. :)
Re: "Something didn't go as planned. No need to worry – undoing
Well, the first warning sign was that those pop-up notification things are called toast notifications.
Can I interest you in a toasted teacake?
Re: "Something didn't go as planned. No need to worry – undoing
I don't want any toasted teacake. In fact, no-one around 'ere wants any toasted teacake!
Or muffins, we don't like muffins round 'ere! We don't want muffins, no toast, buns, baps, bagets or bagels, no croissants, no crumpets, no teacakes, no potato cakes and no hot cross buns! And definitely no smegging flapjacks!
They still haven't fixed the issue with the January Updates for W10 and Server 2022 which refuse to install in many cases.
Here's radical idea.. How about Microsoft tell us what didn't go as planned? Windows Update really doesn't handle errors well from a user point of view..
I had an error on a couple of Windows VMs. Windws gave an error code and a generic install failed error. Windows Update Troubleshooter kept on telling me it had detected and fixed the problem, but did nothing.
When I googled the error code, I did get a well written blog post on the Microsoft website explaining that the error was likely to be that my recovery partition was too small, and giving a script I could run to re-create it at the correct size..
Note: With Window being a Microsoft Product, for the hell of it, I used Bing to search for the error. I didn't expect a good result, and I didn't get one. The error didn't really bother me, but if, instead of some random error code, I'd been told my Recovery partition was too small, I'd probably have sorted it more quickly.
"Something didn't go as planned. No need to worry – undoing changes. Please keep your computer on."
Christ, they've turned Windows into Talkie Toaster.