New warning for Windows users.
Update: Republished on April 17 with Microsoft’s confirmation that ineligible PCs are mistakenly upgrading to Windows 11 and news that it’s not only Windows 10 that will be retired in October, users must now brace for another upgrade problem.
Microsoft is having a moment. April’s updates have caused as many problems as they’ve resolved, at least from a user perspective. Mysterious folders have appeared on PCs along with dire warnings. And now a new error pushes users to redo an update. But Microsoft has now warned that is not the case — no new update is required. The common theme is that Microsoft is warning users they must do nothing.
As I reported last week, the first and most innocuous of these issues is the empty “inetpub” folder that appeared on devices post April’s update. As tempting as it might be to delete this folder, don’t. Per Windows Latest, “you’re not supposed to remove the folder… That’s because it’s linked to a security patch for a bug titled CVE-2025-21204, which is a flaw that allows attackers to modify the system files or folders.”
Now we have another do nothing warning. Neowin reports that “sometimes, dealing with Windows Update issues is much simpler. As simple as just ignoring the error. In recently updated documentation, Microsoft notified users that Windows PCs might experience error 0x80070643 with an "ERROR_INSTALL_FAILURE" message when attempting to install an update for the Windows Recovery Environment or WinRE.”
This hits when installing the April 2025 KB5057589 WinRE update and makes it seem as though the update has failed and needs a redo. That’s not the case.
Microsoft says that “this error is observed when the device installs the WinRE update when there is another update in a pending reboot state. Although the error message suggests the update did not complete, the WinRE update is typically applied successfully after the device restarts. Windows Update might continue to display the update as failed until the next daily scan, at which point the update is no longer offered and the failure message is cleared automatically.”
Windows Latest explains that “many users couldn’t install the update because of the partition size for the Recovery disk, which caused the error. But the catch is that the error affected even those who do not have low storage. And that’s where things got tricker because nobody could go past the error message.” But according to Microsoft, “WinRE update is ‘typically applied successfully’ despite the failure message.”
All of which means once you have applied the April updates, do not update again regardless of the error messages you’re seeing, at least until you have restarted to see if that clears the issue. And don’t delete that “inetpub” security folder either.
There’s a chance the erroneous WinRE error might be a little persistent. But again, says Windows Latest, “just ignore… Microsoft has officially recommended users to ignore the errors.” Or to put it even more starkly: “If you run into Windows Update error code 0x80070643, don’t try to fix it because you can’t do that.”
Microsoft’s has also confirmed a blue screen of death (BSOD) risk for Windows 11 users with its recent updates. Per Windows Latest, “a recent Windows 11 24H2 update bug is causing BSOD with stop error code ‘SECURE_KERNEL_ERROR.’ This affects the last three releases: KB5055523, KB5053656, and KB5053598.” The specialist website says it first spotted “the BSOD SECURE_KERNEL_ERROR when Microsoft released the March 2025 updates. At that time, Microsoft did not acknowledge the complaints, as the problem appeared to be an isolated case. However, more users are now reporting Blue Screens following the Windows 11 April 2025 updates.”
Microsoft warns that “after installing this update and restarting your device, you might encounter a blue screen exception with error code 0x18B indicating a SECURE_KERNEL_ERROR.” The company says users can mitigate the issue “using Known Issue Rollback (KIR),” albeit “it might take up to 24 hours for the resolution to propagate automatically to consumer devices and non-managed business devices and business devices that are not managed by IT departments. Restarting your Windows device might help the resolution apply to your device faster.”
Windows Latest says “it looks like the BSOD is not just limited to March 2025 updates because you’ll also run into it if you install Windows 11 KB5055523 (April 2025 Update, and yes – it’s the same patch that created the inetpub folder out of nowhere). Based on our tests, this BSOD issue affects the following three releases of Windows 11 24H2: KB5053598, released on March 11 as a Patch Tuesday; KB5053656, released on March 27 as an optional update; KB5055523, released on April 8 as a Patch Tuesday update.”
To this you can add the Windows Hello bug that also follows the latest set of upgrades. Per Windows Central, “Microsoft confirmed an issue with Windows 11 that can prevent some people from signing in to a device using Windows Hello. The problem affects using facial recognition to unlock a device. Luckily, the issue only affects a subset of Windows 11 users. Microsoft refers to the issue as an "edge case" and notes that it only appears after installing a specific Windows 11 update and performing a Push button reset or using the Reset this PC feature while selecting Keep my Files and Local install.”
Beyond these issues, Microsoft also adds its usual reminder: “On October 14, Windows 10 will reach end of support. After this date, devices running Windows 10 will no longer receive fixes for known issues, time zone updates, technical support, or monthly security and preview updates containing protection from the latest security threats.”
That’s the much bigger issue, and does require you to update your Windows 10 PC.
But even here, it’s not currently smooth sailing for Microsoft. With so much attention focused on the hardware hurdles to be eligible for an upgrade to Windows 11, which have included Microsoft clamping down on various workarounds, Neowin reports that Microsoft has now admitted that Windows 11 “is offered to ineligible devices”
It turns out that “if your Windows 10 PC was offered to upgrade to Windows 11 even though it shouldn’t have, blame Microsoft. The company admitted that its systems ignore Intune update policies and offer Windows 11 to ineligible systems (PCs where IT admins block the updates), causing confusion among users and administrators.”
Bleeping Computer explains that “Microsoft is working to fix an ongoing issue causing some users’ Windows devices to be offered Windows 11 upgrades despite Intune policies preventing them. This known issue has impacted Windows desktop devices since Saturday, April 12, and is caused by what the company describes as a ‘latent code issue’. Redmond added earlier today in an update to the Microsoft 365 admin center (IT10561350) that a targeted code fix is now being deployed to prevent additional impact on other systems.”
The number of PCs that fail to make the cut for the upgrade remains as much guesswork as science, but is currently thought to be around 240 million devices, albeit that number will likely change as October approaches. Microsoft doesn’t really have a good Plan B for those with older hardware, which will hit enterprises especially hard. You can recycle those machines or consign them to landfill, but there’s no way to repurpose them as Microsoft Windows machines. There is the Linux option, though.
And while analysts study the accelerating upgrade numbers, which currently show Windows 11 installs fast approach the same number as Windows 10, we will soon get a better sense of how big a cybersecurity nightmare will be in place come mid October, with potentially hundreds of millions of PCs falling off security support.
October will be a redline for Microsoft users for more than just Windows 10 and the hard slog to push users to Windows 11. Per XDA Developers, “Microsoft will end support for Office 2016 and 2019 products on October 14, 2025, the same day Windows 10 reaches end-of-support. After this date, affected Office apps like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook will no longer receive security updates, bug fixes, or technical support. Microsoft recommends switching to Microsoft 365 for continued access to updated, cloud-backed apps and features like Microsoft 365 Copilot.”