New update, new problems.
Windows users are being warned that Microsoft’s latest critical software release could be hiding some nasty surprises. The “install fails” for a notable number of users, “and in the worst cases could crash your PC with a Blue Screen of Death.”
This comes courtesy of Windows Latest, which has been quick to identify the litany of update issues that have hit in recent months, telling me the new release is “a mess.” The website reports that “KB5053598 is a mandatory release for Windows 11 24H2, so it’s supposed to download and install automatically whether you check for updates or not. That’s because it’s part of the March 2025 Patch Tuesday cycle and has all critical security fixes, including a fix for zero-day vulnerabilities.”
Microsoft points users to its dashboard, which sets out known issues and mitigations. According to Windows Latest, “we’ve seen PCs failing to boot after the patch. It’s also causing problems with RDP (Remote Desktop Session) where RDP would connect and automatically disconnect after a few minutes.”
The website says in its tests “Windows 11 24H2 Patch Tuesday update gets stuck at various percentages 6%, 20%, 38%. We’ve also seen reports that it would get stuck at ‘Something didn’t go as planned’ error message. In other cases, this patch download and installation starts. However, at 30%, the system restarts and the update continues, [but]
at 98% the system restarts again and then shows ‘starting restart update,’ followed by a dialog stating, ‘Something didn’t go as planned – don’t worry, we’re uninstalling.”
This is painful for Windows 11 users hit with the latest update challenges, but it’s also painful for Windows 10 users being pushed to upgrade or face the risks of PCs falling off support in October. Upgrades to Windows 11 are now accelerating as the countdown to the end-of-support deadline gets closer. With perhaps as many as 800 million users yet to move, of which maybe half don’t have the right hardware, these are worrying times.
It’s not clear why there have been so many update issues this year, but something needs to change as the constant headlines don’t present well. As ZDNet explains, “Before you dive into the 2024 update, know that you may run into some problems and conflicts. The new version has been plagued by bugs that could prevent you from using Windows reliably and effectively. Microsoft has documented many of the glitches, and Windows users have reported a lot more. In response, Microsoft has put the update on hold for problematic PCs that could encounter blue screens and other issues.”
Windows Latest says it “isn’t aware of any possible workaround to deal with the March 2025 Update issues. We recommend uninstalling the update from Settings > Update History > Uninstall updates, and finally, select the uninstall button next to the patch.”
I have reached out to Microsoft for any comments on these latest reports.
