Tech
April’s Windows 11 update is trapping some PCs in a boot loop
Summary created by Smart Answers AI
In summary:
- PCWorld reports that Microsoft’s April Windows 11 update KB5083769 is causing severe boot loops and Blue Screen of Death crashes on some PCs.
- The issue particularly affects HP and Dell computers, trapping users in “death loops” with pixelated screens and failed recovery attempts.
- Microsoft recommends using System Restore, Startup Repair, or Local Reinstall as potential solutions to resolve these critical system failures.
Last week, Microsoft released update KB5083769 for Windows 11 25H2 and 24H2 on April’s Patch Tuesday, and unsurprisingly that update is causing issues for users. We previously reported that users were being locked out of their PCs after being asked to input their BitLocker recovery keys. This is a different issue altogether.
A segment of affected users have reported on Microsoft’s support forums that their computers are ending up in “death loops” after installing update KB5083769. In such cases, their screens are reportedly showing a “mosaic of weird pixels” followed by a BSOD crash and a message that says Windows needs to be recovered—but attempting the recovery leads to a loop right back to the same issue.
So far, the issue has affected PCs from both HP and Dell.
According to Microsoft’s AI-generated Q&A Assist, this kind of issue has reared its head before with past updates that corrupt boot-critical components and/or drivers. It recommends going into the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) and attempting a System Restore. If that fails, then a Startup Repair, and then a Local Reinstall as a last resort.
Further reading: Protect your PC with Windows System Restore
This article originally appeared on our sister publication PC för Alla and was translated and localized from Swedish.