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After an unexpected delay — it’s time to update your Windows 11 PC.
The latest operating system update, codenamed KB5039302, was pulled within hours of its initial release following reports of a devastating bug that left laptop and desktop owners unable to use their devices. The problem caused people to get stuck in an endless reboot loop, with their computers constantly restarting for no reason.
If you’re caught in this endless loop, Microsoft recommends trying to put your computer into safe mode.
To do this, at the first sign that your Windows PC has booted up—usually the manufacturer’s logo on a blank screen—hold the power button for 10 seconds to turn off the device, press and hold the power button to turn the computer back on and then when Windows restarts for the second time, hold the power button for 10 seconds to turn off your device again. Powering up twice in quick succession should mean you’re booted into auto-repair mode on the third reboot. Then choose Advanced options to enter winRE.
Microsoft has in-depth instructions on how best to deal with this harmful bug on your forum.
Due to the severity of the problem, Microsoft decided to completely abandon the release of KB5039302 last week.
The Redmond-based company has since spent some time investigating the cause of the error and found that it only affected those using virtual machine tools such as CloudPC, DevBox and Azure Virtual Desktop. Some reports suggest that it affects VMware, but this has not been confirmed by Microsoft.
After the investigation was completed, Microsoft restarted the release of KB5039302 on July 1, 2024.
“Availability of this update through Windows Update and Windows Update for Business was paused for a few days, but is resuming today for most devices,” a Microsoft spokesperson said in the Windows message center.
“This update offer is now paused for affected devices only. As a result, this update may not be available on Hyper-V virtual machines running on hosts that use certain processor types.”
If you use any of the virtualization tools listed above that allow you to run a virtual machine on your existing operating system or from the cloud, you will not be able to install KB5039302 for now.
But provided you have not installed any of these tools, you will be able to start the update process immediately.
Microsoft is aware of another bug in KB5039302 that causes the taskbar at the bottom of the screen to display incorrectly for everyone with media functions enabled. Head to Control panel > Programs > Programs and Features > Turn Windows features on or off to disable the feature and remove the error.
This also affects those using Windows N Edition.
Microsoft is already working on a fix for both issues and will release them in an upcoming release.
Most laptops and desktops will update their operating system automatically. However, it is possible to speed up the process by heading to Settings > Windows Updateand click on Check for updates to manually start the process.
KB5039302 is a routine security and bugfix release from Microsoft, so don’t expect any notable new features. Last month, Microsoft released the first so-called Copilot+ computers — a new category of Windows 11 devices with advanced artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities not found in other versions of the operating system.
You’ll need a device with a chipset that’s equipped with a Neural Processing Unit (NPU) to access these features, so you’ll need to upgrade to a brand new laptop from Microsoft, Samsung or Lenovo to access these Copilot+ PC tricks. It is no case of installing a new software update.
Whether your machine can run Copilot+ PC features or not, Microsoft will release new capabilities for everything users with a free operating system update later in the year.
The American company releases two major updates full of new apps and features every year, one in the spring and another in the fall. In the meantime, it’s important to keep your Windows device up to date with the latest software to protect yourself from vulnerabilities exploited by hackers.
