Microsoft cleans up hot mess of Patch Tuesday preview

Go forth and install your important security fixes

Microsoft says that the problems with the Windows 11 Patch Tuesday preview have now been resolved.

The non-security update preview, KB5043145, released at the end of September did not perform well for all users. Several reported issues with multiple restarts, blue or green screens, or the Automatic Repair tool opening after installing the update.

According to Microsoft, the restart issue has been dealt with and is listed as fixed in the known issues list for the original patch.

The problem facing administrators is that the security fixes released in yesterday's Patch Tuesday update are important. One addressed a remote code execution flaw already being exploited, though it required the victim to install a file locally.

However, as Microsoft wrote in the release notes for Patch Tuesday's fix, the update included all the "improvements" that featured in September's preview. But that's OK – multiple restarts following the installation of the September preview have been fixed.

The issue that caused the restarts also caused USB and Bluetooth connections to fail for some devices. Again, this should be fixed in the Patch Tuesday release. However, Microsoft advised users who have installed the earlier update to make use of a Known Issue Rollback (KIR) or a Group Policy to deal with the problem.

The Patch Tuesday release was also significant for Home and Pro users of Windows 11 22H2 since it was the last they would receive as that edition dropped out of servicing. Enterprise and Education editions have until next year, when they too will reach the end of servicing. Windows 10 will also reach the end of its life cycle at the same time.

October 8 also marked when the remaining editions of Windows 11 21H2 reached the end of security updates; Home and Pro went out of support in 2023. ®