Windows 11 users have run into trouble with the latest patch for the OS going by some reports, and that includes nasty boot loops.
This is the cumulative update for November that Microsoft deployed last week, known as KB5032190, and Windows Latest has picked up on some problems with the patch.
As noted, the worst issue here is reports of people trying to install the update and getting stuck in a boot loop, meaning that their PC keeps failing during installation, rebooting, failing again, rebooting, and so on.
One Redditor reports: “I have tried installing this update twice now, only for it to get caught in an endless boot loop. It kept getting to 95% and restarting, then would try again. Now it just gives me the ‘Something didn’t go as planned. No need to worry – undoing changes’ message before going back into the endless reboot. At least I can do a System Restore.”
Another Windows 11 user replies to that post observing that they hit a few boot loops before their system rolled back the update – and that it was the same case with this update in preview (released in late October), noting that eventually they “got to the point the laptop wouldn’t boot” with that test update.
Ouch indeed, though that was the preview version, so hopefully any danger of having to reinstall Windows – which is what this user ended up doing – will now have been removed with the final release.
Needless to say, the user in question is not continuing to try to install the update, which certainly seems like a sensible precaution.
There are four reports of this problem in that Reddit thread, and it seems that the boot loop isn’t an endless one, and the system pulls itself out of the loop after a few fails – at least for most folks anyway.
Another problem that is bugging (literally) some Windows 11 users is disappearing icons on the taskbar.
Either the icons are vanishing – though the functionality is still present if you click the blank space on the bar – or there are reports of them being displaced by one, meaning that the icon for, say, Word will open Microsoft’s Edge browser (the icon next to it). Confusing, to say the least.
Analysis: Curious case of the invisible icons
The missing icons problem was introduced with Moment 4 (which ushered in all the new features that have come to Windows 11 lately, including Copilot). So, it has been hanging around for a while, and really annoying those who have encountered it – seemingly a fair few people judging from reports.
The good news is that Microsoft has actually fixed this glitch in the Canary preview build of Windows 11, so hopefully, the solution should be coming through testing soon enough to reach the release version of Windows 11.
Microsoft hasn’t said anything about boot loops, but there are far fewer reports of this from what we can see. Still, it’s a nasty problem, though as noted in most cases, it seems the looping will only run a few times before the system corrects itself and comes back to the desktop. (Still leaving the user unable to install the update, mind, so that’s not great of course).
It’s worth remembering that Microsoft itself has flagged up some known issues with the patch, including a bug whereby those with multiple monitors might see desktop icons shift between one display to another unprompted (or other icon alignment weirdness) when using Copilot. The software giant has pulled the AI assistant from those PCs, so if you aren’t seeing Copilot any longer on a multi-screen setup, that’s why. A fix is being worked on as we type this.
