Quelle surprise! Bug-fixing Windows 11 patch is causing a new batch of problems
Installing updates for Windows 11 has turned into something of a gamble in recent times, but this is never more the case than with the preview version of patches released by Microsoft each month. The latest example of a problematic update is KB5034204.
Released a week ago, the KB5034204 update preview was designed to fix a range of issues plaguing Windows 11 users, including troublesome searches, Bluetooth bugs and problems with zip files. But it has also been found to cause a number of new issues, including rendering Explorer unresponsive, 0x8007000d errors during installation, and more besides.
See also:
- Microsoft introduces much-needed changes to Windows 11 setup
- Microsoft is finally updating Sticky Notes for Windows 11 -- expect an AI upgrade
- Microsoft releases Windows Server 2025 for brave sysadmins to try out
There are various reports, including on Reddit and in Microsoft's Feedback Hub, of the KB5034204 update failing to install, but users experiencing repeated download and installation attempts. While this is certainly annoying, things are arguably worse for users who actually succeed in getting the update installed.
With the KB5034204 update installation complete, many users are experiencing a worrying array of problems including Explorer crashing and becoming unresponsive. Some people report that it is just the taskbar which freezes, with others reporting temporary black screens as the desktop appears to die and come back to life.
As Windows Latest shares, there are also report of desktop icons being rendered unusable and error messages relating to explorer.exe appearing when Windows is closed down.
Microsoft is yet to acknowledge the problems, so it is impossible to say how long it will be before a cause is determined or a fix issued.
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