- Microsoft Windows Recovery Environment Has Major Bug After Latest Update for Windows 11 25H2
- USB Mice and Keyboards Not Working in Windows Recovery Mode
- This means that people who have serious problems that prevent their PC from booting cannot resolve them in recovery mode.
Windows 10 finally came to an official end on October 14 last week, after a decade of existence, with users forced to upgrade to Windows 11 (or sign up for extended support). However, a bug in the most recent update to the latest version of Windows 11, 25H2, makes that upgrade path a bit risky.
As reported by Tom’s Hardware, the KB5066835 update for Windows 11 25H2 has broken the Windows Recovery Environment (WRE). The issue means that USB mice and keyboards will not work on the WRE, which is very bad news.
The Windows Recovery Environment is where you will end up if your PC won’t boot, and it is designed to allow you to fix the problem that caused this failure. However, if you cannot use the mouse or keyboard on the WRE, it obviously makes it impossible to recover the PC.
Microsoft has commented on the issue and said it is working on a fix that will roll out in the coming days, but there is currently no ETA on when exactly that will be.
This update for Windows 11 25H2 arrived on the same date as Windows 10’s end of life, which is bad timing for those who decided to upgrade and didn’t stick with Windows 10 through its Extended Security Updates (ESU) scheme.
People who haven’t yet made the decision whether or not to upgrade from Windows 10 to Windows 11 probably won’t be more excited about that option given the revelation of this potentially system-damaging bug.
This adds to the litany of bugs that have plagued Windows 11 systems, including the recent bug that is apparently destroying SSDs. All of this may cause people to consider other alternatives to Windows 11, such as the unofficial Tiny11, or perhaps even move to Linux.
Analysis: This is exactly why you constantly pause Windows 11 updates
Windows 11 has been a problematic operating system on my main PC, with frequent bugs and inexplicable freezing moments. This new bug is another reason why I constantly avoid installing new updates for as long as possible, even though they are forced on me (eventually) during system reboots or shutdowns. (You can’t avoid an update for long in Windows 11 Home.)
Having Windows Recovery go down is incredibly frustrating, as it is there to save your operating system when needed. It’s also not just intended for system repairs, as it can also be used to uninstall Windows 11 updates, which I was forced to do when Nvidia’s GeForce driver caused a black screen on startup.
While it’s impossible for operating systems to not have problems of some kind over time, problems have occurred far too often with Windows 11, including some major bugs that stop functionality.
If it weren’t for games like Battlefield 6 and others who use anti-cheat tools that don’t work on Valve’s SteamOS, I would have made the switch a long time ago. Let’s hope Microsoft can resolve this as soon as possible.
