Category Archives: Windows Update

KB5053643 Kills Mouse, Keyboard

Last Thursday, I downloaded and installed a new Preview CU for Windows 10 — namely KB55053634. After lunch Friday, I finally got around to rebooting to complete that process. Eventually, it succeeded. But first, just to make things incredibly exciting KB5053634 kills mouse, keyboard — my vital USB peripherals — dead. Here’s the story of what I had to do to bring those devices back to life, and actually log in to Windows 10.

KB5053643 Kills Mouse, Keyboard: Now What?

Because I couldn’t get past the lock screen without a valid input device, that turned out to be a little more vexing than one might guess. So first, of course, I rebooted again. Still no joy: the keyboard didn’t respond to keypresses (a good test on my Comfort Curve 4000 is to toggle the Function Lock or Scroll Lock keys because those also toggle handy little green indicator LEDs). Nor did a mouse click open the PIN input box as usual.

So I tried again. Still no dice. Then I thought: “maybe the device needs a cold, hard boot?” That means powering off the PSU, waiting 1-2 minutes, powering back up, and pressing the power button. And indeed, that did the trick. Once I went through that maneuver, the hardware got completely reset, reinitialized and enumerated. It was enough to restore my key USB peripherals to working order.

What (Would Have Been) Next?

If the cold boot or hard boot didn’t work, I’d have had to jump into UEFI, turn off Secure Boot, and then target bootable repair media to get something running on that PC. I’ve done it many times before and will no doubt do it again. But hey: I was glad not to have to do it this time. Cold, hard boot did the trick.

Makes me feel like I dodged a bullet. Remember to give that a try if you find yourself bereft of mouse and/or keyboard after installing a Windows update or upgrade. If you’re lucky like I was, that will bring the USB drivers back into play, and let your PC get back to work. Cheers!

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Ghost in the Machine Needs Printout

I have to chuckle when I read about these kinds of things. For much of the week I’ve been reading online (see list of articles near the end) about printers waking up and printing stuff on their own. On  Windows 11 PCs running Build 2263.4825, it seems that those with specific printers may start printing garbage output spontaneously. ICYMI, “ghost in the machine” is a British philosopher’s shorthand phrase for Descartes mind-body dualism. In this case, I’m twisting that metaphor further to impute independent action to a Windows print driver gone wrong. That’s why I aver that the Ghost in the Machine needs printout.

Why the Ghost in the Machine Needs Printout…

Newer printers (mid-2010s and afterward) that support driverless printing technologies such as Mopria  (a printer maker alliance that includes Canon, HP, Samsun and Xerox) and AirPrint (an Apple technology widely used by printer makers, too) also support dual-mode printers. For the ghost to start printing on its own, such devices much support both USB print and IPP over USB protocols (IPP is the Internet Printing Protocol). After updating Windows via KB5050092 (release 1/29/2025) such printers may start spewing pages, no user print requests nor print spooler files needed.

You can read about this specral phenomenon from a plethora of sources including:

BleepingComputer Recent Windows updates make USB printers print random text (March 12)

Windows Forum Windows 11 Printing Glitch (March 13)

PC Gamer Haunted printers turning on by themselves and printing nonsense (March 12)

I’m not the only industry follower who’s picked up on the “ghost in the machine” metaphor, apparently. And you thought Windows was a brute and soulless beast, I’ll bet…NOT! Anybody who works with the OS for any length of time knows full well it’s possessed of a host of spirits that range all the way from the most angelic to the deepest of deviltry. I’ll let you decide how magnificent or malefic this particular haunt might be for yourself.

One more thing: the uber-cutesy graphic that starts off this blog post is Copilot’s response to a prompt that reads “show a PC printer possessed by a ghost.” Another clear case of you get what you pay for, IMO.

 

 

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Installing Build 27802 Throws Memory Error

Here’s a new one on me. Last Friday, as I was installing the latest Canary Channel upgrade, the installer threw an error code that I’d not seen before. That code is 0x8007000e; its output from the Microsoft Error Lookup Tool (err_6.4.5.exe) appears as the lead-in graphic above. That error occurred during the GUI portion of the install. And it occurs to me that while installing Build 27802 throws memory error, it might have been because I was running WinGet in parallel, installing other stuff at the same time. I’m guessing was a self-inflicted thing…let me explain.

Self-Inflicted: Installing Build 27802 Throws Memory Error

The recommendation that comes with this error, is to restart the PC and try again. As soon as I did that — without added activity on the side — the upgrade installed successfully with no further errors along the way. As I look back on what got updated during my first botched attempt, I see that some fairly intense items were involved. Most notably, it included Visual Studio, for which a typical install is usually around 50GB in size. I can see where trying to juggle both on a 2021 vintage laptop (Lenovo ThinkPad X12 Detachable Tablet with 16GB RAM) might cause resource issues.

Anyway, the proof’s in the observation that a second attempt worked. That’s probably because I didn’t try to multi-task while the GUI install was underway. The only reason I haven’t done this to myself before is that you can’t do anything to the PC except let the installer run, during the post-GUI phase!

27802 Takes a While to Complete, Too

I couldn’t help but notice — because I perforce went through the process twice on the X12 — that the upgrade process to this latest build takes some time to complete. Normally, a Canary Channel upgrade finishes in under half an hour. This time around, the whole process — including download, GUI install, and post-GUI install — took about 75 minutes to complete from desktop to desktop.

At least I now know I should leave my PCs (mostly) alone while the GUI phase of a Windows upgrade is underway. I wonder what my next creative abuse of the runtime and installer will teach me? There’s always something new and interesting to learn, here in Windows -World!

 

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WU: How Long Is Too Long?

Here’s a Windows road I’ve been down many times. Indeed, it’s the kind of road, as in Robert Earl Keen’s excellent song, that “goes on forever…” It’s the road you walk on when WU hangs during download, GUI install, or post-GUI install. I read with amazement this morning in an ElevenForum thread that some poor soul waited THREE HOURS on a stuck install before asking for help. Ouch! Of course this raises the question with WU: How long is too long when things get stuck?

For me, the TLDR; answer is “10-15 minutes.” I just don’t have the patience to wait much longer. And FWIW, I’ve only seldom seen something that’s been stuck that long succeed after such a delay.

In WU, How Long Is Too Long Depends on You

At some point, the stuckee realizes that nothing is going to change, no matter how much longer one waits. That’s the point at which one must bite the bullet, and restart the stuck PC. Holding down the power button for 10 or more seconds until the PC shuts down will usually do it. Sometimes, however, one must either power off the PSU (desktops) or take more drastic steps (e.g. disconnect battery or wait for it to drain completely on a laptop).

Surprisingly, in the dozens of times I’ve had to do this when stuck in the past 5 years or so, the aftermath has mostly been positive. Often, Windows will simply pick up where the stuck update left off and finish up from there. Sometimes, it will roll back to the pre-install state instead.

Only in a handful of cases has the affected PC refused to boot correctly. When that happens, it’s time to pull out your rescue media and perform an image restore to your last known,good, working image backup. You have one of those, right? I’ve learned the answer to that question had better be “Heck, yeah. Let’ s go!”

Overcoming The Worst Case Scenario

No image backup and no working PC can be problematic. Hopefully, you’ve got at least some important stuff backed up someway, somehow (OneDrive, maybe?). You’ll either find a way to run a repair install (works sometimes) or you’ll have to choose between a clean install or a factory reset. Hopefully, it won’t come to that. I haven’t had to go there but once or twice in the 30-plus years I’ve been running Windows. Hopefully, your odds and experience will be the same. Good luck!

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Long Hard 27788 Upgrade Road

Whoa! In the realm of Windows Insider Preview upgrades, sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. This time around — starting from Build 27783 — I found myself on a long, hard 27788 upgrade road for this latest Canary Channel version. When I tell you what happened, and how I surmounted the obstacles on that path, you may be able to save yourself some unnecessary time and effort.

To begin with, what I lost on this upgrade road was time. I spent most of yesterday afternoon going through various motions to try to get the Insider Preview for 27788 and a companion KB5053390 (CU for .NET Framework…) up and running. All such attempts, alas, proved fruitless.

Traversing That Long Hard 27788 Upgrade Road

Getting to the state depicted in the lead-in graphic — showing that the Lenovo ThinkPad X12 Hybrid Tablet is up-to-date in WU and running Build 27788 in Winver — took some doing and some time. In fact, it wasn’t until I read about a workaround in an ElevenForum post from Russian user @Dronix that I made any real headway. Along the way, each update/upgrade cycle took about 1:10 (70 minutes) to work through.

I’ll deliver a recitation of what I tried that didn’t help my problems. I am also speculating when I say this, but I believe one can’t upgrade to 27788 until KB5053390 for .NET completes successfully. There may be dependencies in the upgrade that need the previous CU to complete successfully. And indeed, once I did that, the upgrade went through without further issues.

Here’s my list of failed strategies:
1. Simply retry the failed KB or upgrade item.
2. Run Eleven Forum’s Reset_Reregister_Windows_
Update_Components.bat from this Reset WU tutorial
3. Run the built-in WU Troubleshooter

What Worked: DISM-GUI 1.3.1.02

Turns out there’s a German software tool named DISM-GUI that lets one install KB .cab files from failed installations. You have to know the name (a partial name will do) of that file to provide it as a target. The afore-linked Eleven Forum thread identifies it, and it includes the KB number as a sub-string. Using Voidtools Everything, I found it immediately (search string *KB5053390*.cab). For the record, the filename is:

Windows11.0-KB5053390-x64-NDP481.cab

Click on the box in DISM-GUI that reads “CAB Install” (lower left) and the program will prompt for the file location. You can get that from Everything, then left-shift click and use the “Copy as Path” option (you’ll have to delete opening and closing quote marks).

This opens a Command Prompt session and uses DISM to install the package for you. Unlike the WU driver install, this actually works. And it takes less than two minutes to complete. Then, when you’ve got the CU installed, the follow-up upgrade to 27788 works, too.

TLDR: Possible Problems with 27788 Are Fixable

If you read through the whole Eleven Forum thread about 27788, some posters were able to install KB5053390 and the 27788 upgrade without any difficulties. Numerous others — myself included– got exactly nowhere until they used DISM-GUI to get over the KB5053390 hump.

Should you find yourself in the same boat, you can go straight to the workaround using that tool, and avoid the hours and hours of thrashing about I went through yesterday. Why not learn from my experience, instead of repeating that misery?

Providing such info explains why I write this blog. It also explains why I expect lifetime employment doing that kind of thing here in Windows-World. It’s always something…

But Wait! There’s More… (Added Jan 7)

When I logged into the X380 and the X12 this morning, KB5053390 again showed up as needed. And again, a regular WU install failed. So this time, I fired off DISM-GUI taking the left-click “Run as administrator…” option. Apparently that did the trick. Here are some screencaps along the way:

Between the 2nd and 3rd screencap, I ran DISM-GUI again (as admin) and it showed a successful conclusion at the command line, then reboot with successful update there after). Once I rebooted the system and it worked through the rest of the process, I got the 3rd figure above from WU. Gadzooks! I hope it’s finally over…

 

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Decoding Builds Requires Keen Attention

Ha! I have to laugh at myself. I just tried to update my Beta Channel Insider Preview test PC (one of my two aging X380 Yoga laptops) for no good reason. Or, perhaps it was for a bad reason — namely, I read about a new beta with a lesser build number of 4870. It wasn’t until I got further into the story that I figured out the update was for version 23H2. I’m running 24H2 so my minor build number is properly at 3073 right now (as you see in the lead-in screencap). Its higher major number: 26120 vs 22635 reminds me that decoding builds requires keen attention. Oops!

Truly, Decoding Builds Requires Keen Attention

What got me this time was that I looked only at the digits after the period, rather than checking both sides. If I’d really thought about what I was seeing, it would have instantly been clear. Because I’m running 24H2, perforce its major build number (26120) is greater than the same number for 23H2 (22635). Thus, even though the minor build number is higher (4870 vs. 3073) it doesn’t signify to my test PC because it’s not the same thing.

There’s never any shortage of confusion around here at Chez Tittel for all kinds of reasons. Alas, today’s ration was self-induced. But it did give me chuckle and remind me that it’s always important to put news of changes and updates into their complete context. Other-wise, who knows what one might expect or believe? Words to live by, not just here in Windows-World but in the wider world as well.

 

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Weird Win10 Insider Mismatch

When I report a Windows puzzle, I usually like to provide a solution. But I just noticed something odd I may not have time to solve today. It looks to me like a weird Win10 Insider mismatch. Let me explain: my production PC is signed up for the Beta Channel, as you can see in the lead-in graphic. But a quick Winver run shows that PC running version 19045.5371 (see below). Alas, the current Beta Channel Insider Preview Build is 19045.5194. And there’s the mismatch in plain sight!

The Build number on this supposed Beta Channel PC corresponds to the current public/production release.

Fixing Weird Win10 Insider Mismatch

Upon closer examination, the Beta build is lower than the current production build. Looks like I want to switch to the Release Preview channel at Build 19045.5435 instead. Let me try that… No joy.

So then, I do some more poking around online, turns out I need to re-select the Beta Channel item (see lead-in graphic) and open its subsidiary window. That lets me switch to the Release Preview channel. Then when I pop back up two levels to re-run an update check, I get what I want:

Turns out my problem is an error in understanding how to switch from Beta to Insider Preview channel: problem solved!

Looks like the download and install are working. I’ll be rebooting soon: installing has reached 100% but not yet flipped over to “Restart pending…” Now it’s installing again … 20% … taking much longer … 45% … 73% … 88% … done. Restarting now… AAAAND winver now shows 19045.5435.

Turns out it wasn’t a channel mismatch: I was on the wrong channel FWIW, Copilot tells me that MS is shutting down Beta Channel, but is continuing to release into the RP (Release Preview) Channel. Hence, my need to change channels to get to the right build level. Apparently, I missed that memo. All fixed now!

As always here in Windows-World, fixing things is easy when one knows what to do. This time, it took me a while — and some new info — to figure out what that was. Go figure!

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Overcoming KB5050009 Update Errors

I’ve seen it before. And I’m grimly resigned to seeing it again. Every now and then, a Windows PC has issues with some Windows Update (WU) item. Mostly, though, I’ve seen this with Cumulative Updates (CUs) rather than security, MSRT, or servicing stack items. Indeed, this very situation popped up on a brand-new review unit from Lenovo following Patch Tuesday this week which brought KB5050009 to Windows 11 24H2. On all four of my other production level 24H2 PCs, no problem. On the ThinkCentre M90a (see yesterday’s intake review) however, I spent some time overcoming KB5050009 update errors. Let me explain…

Escalating Steps When Overcoming KB5050009 Update Errors

I’ve been through this kind of thing often enough that I’ve got a series of steps I follow when a WU update fails and throws an error. Here it is:

1. Write down the error string ( 0X800F081F in this case)
2. Run the WU update again (helpfully, it offers a “Retry” button)
3. If it fails, note the error message. Record only if different from 1.
4. Download and run the batch file from Eleven Forums Reset Windows Update tutorial (Batch file named Reset_Reregister_ Windows_Update_Components_for_Windows11 .zip).
5. Try again. It it fails. note the error message if different from 1.
6. Download the self-installing update file (.msu) from the Microsoft Update Catalog, then install.
7. If it fails, note the error message. Record only if different from 1.
8. Visit UUPdump.net. Create an ISO file for the target Build (26100.2894, as per KB5050009 support note).
9. Perform an in-place upgrade repair install on the affected PC. This applies the already-integrated CU as part of that process.
10. If that fails, perform a clean Windows install using the UUPdump ISO.

I’ve only had to beyond step 5 in a small number of instances in the 30-plus years I’ve been using Windows. This was one of those cases. To my surprise the catalog download failed the the same error message as before. Next, it took an hour and half to download and build the 26100.2894 ISO, and another 50 minutes or so to install that image on the ThinkCentre. Ouch!

One Step Short of Clean Install Works

But when the PC rebooted, it came up with no errors. Interestingly, the Update History does not show KB5050009, even though it must be present for the build number to reach 26100.2894. You can see this in the lead-in graphic, which shows that very build number, but not the CU entry for KB5050009. That’s because it was part of the install image when the upgrade repair install occurred, not added separately via WU.

But it does go to show that here in Windows-World, when WU won’t work, there may sometimes be a way to work around its failings. This is such a tale…

PostScript: About the 0X800F081F Message

Here’s what Copilot says about this error message, thanks to info from answers.microsoft.com:

The error code 0x800F081F typically occurs when the Deployment Image Servicing and Management (DISM) tool is unable to find the necessary source files to repair the Windows image. This can happen during Windows updates or when running the DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth command.

To me that indicates there was some WU issue with the files included in the update package that got downloaded from the WU servers. Curiously it also seems to have affected the Catalog item. I’ve never had that happen to me before. Go figure!

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ThinkBook Hybrid Fails 24H2 Upgrade

I can’t say I’m surprised, but I can confess to mild bepuzzlement. Over the weekend, WU decided that a new test laptop — a Lenovo ThinkBook Plus G5  — was ready for 24H2. Alas, for a variety of good reasons that ThinkBook hybrid fails 24H2 upgrade and goes down in flames. Indeed, I had to use the WinRE “Uninstall upgrade” option for the first time ever to bring that machine back to life.

Why ThinkBook Hybrid Fails 24H2 Upgrade

Of course, when I checked the machine this morning, I hadn’t interfered with WU, so it was already attempting this doomed upgrade again. You can see it’s at 25% complete in the lead-in graphic. I foiled that by restarting the PC, then pausing updates for 7 days in the WU controls, as you can see here:

While I’m troubleshooting, I suspended updates.

What the Panther Logs Have to Say

There are two primary logs worth checking into if an upgrade fails to complete successfully — namely:


C:\$Windows.~BT\Sources\panther\setupact.log
C:\$Windows.~BT\Sources\panther\miglog.xml

These are liberally bestrewn with errors of all kinds including device drivers and storage items. The ThinkBook’s “hybrid drive” bridges between native Windows storage on the deck and native Android storage on the tablet. It takes the form of something called a Hybrid Tab in File Explorer (see next screencap). I believe it’s very likely involved in my snafu.

Because it uses a special driver and customized software, I’m betting that the Hybrid Tab is the source of storage and driver issues.

Copilot tells me that if I upgrade from bootable media, the ThinkBook may survive the upgrade process intact. Right now, I think it’s losing the Hybrid Tab scaffolding amidst the post-GUI reboots during the serious parts of OS install. That sounds like it’s worth a try. But first, I’ll make a fresh image backup and be ready to restore same should things go south again.

Stay tuned! This could get interesting…

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MSA Switch Brings Standard 24H2 Aboard

Here’s the happy, happy conclusion of my recent saga involving the ThinkPad X1 Extreme laptop. When I ran the clean install of 24H2, I also provided a different MSA than the one I’d used previously. Because that combination of MSA and machine name is not enrolled in the Insider Preview program, the Windows installer went with the standard General Availability (GA) channel. Hence, I aver that an MSA switch brings standard 24H2 to that PC.

Why Say: MSA Switch Brings Standard 24H2?

The results speak for themselves, as you can see in the Winver output in the lead-in graphic. You can also see that the machine is not enrolled in any Insider Channel. Instead it says “Join the Windows Insider Program.” That means it’s not enrolled.

Because I use this machine on the road, especially for legal cases, that’s a good thing. I’m actually pleased to have this laptop back on the primary GA track. That means it should be as stable as Windows 11 gets. So, all’s well that ends well, but it took some doing.

A Long and Winding Road to 24H2 26100.2314

After I completed the clean install and started into the OOBE, I supplied a different MSA for this machine setup. It was therefore happy to stick with the GA thread of 24H2 releases. I did have to apply two sets of updates (2 CUs and one preceding update, plus an MSRT and a Confugration Update). I show most of that history in the next screencap:

2 CUs, another update, MST and configuration stuff (plus 8 drivers and 2 Defender updates) make the install current.

The Rest of the Schlemozzel

Now, of course, I need to restore the applications I like to use on my production PCs. PatchMyPC Home Updater can handle many of them, but I’ll need to install Office 2024, Nitro Pro, WizTree, and a few other odds’n’ends to bring the machine back to its former glory. But hey! I’m caught up to 24H2, back in the GA channel, and ready to rock and roll. It’s what passes for a happy ending, here in Windows-World!

Bottom line: as soon as the installer recognized it could only handle a clean install, things got on the right track. I’m not sure how I got off that track when I manually installed a CU the other day, but I’m glad to have a clue as to what’s what on that laptop finally restored.

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