Security Patches Are Now Windows' Biggest Threat
This time, virtual machines and sysadmins took the hit.
Once again, Microsoft is patching its own patch — after a recent update sent some Windows systems straight into recovery mode with a mysterious error.
The issue followed May’s Patch Tuesday, when updates failed to install on certain Windows 11 systems, primarily virtual machines. Affected devices booted into recovery mode showing an error related to ACPI.sys — either missing or corrupted — with error code 0xc0000098.
Both Windows 11 22H2 and 23H2 were impacted. While virtual environments took the brunt, some physical machines also experienced issues. The glitch mostly affected IT administrators managing enterprise deployments; home and Pro users were largely spared.
Microsoft has now released KB5062170 to fix the recovery boot issue. However, the update doesn’t fix another persistent bug — blurry rendering of Noto fonts in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean languages in Chromium-based browsers when screen scaling is set to 100%. For now, the only workaround is to increase scaling to 125% or 150%.
Unscheduled patch releases have become a routine necessity for Microsoft. Even server editions haven’t escaped unscathed: earlier this year, a separate update was required to fix a NUMA bug that prevented some servers from booting.
A similar emergency patch was also issued in May for Windows 10, addressing a bug that triggered BitLocker Recovery mode unexpectedly.
While Microsoft deserves credit for responding quickly, the constant need to fix fixes raises concerns. Ideally, updates shouldn’t break things in the first place.
This time, virtual machines and sysadmins took the hit.
Once again, Microsoft is patching its own patch — after a recent update sent some Windows systems straight into recovery mode with a mysterious error.
The issue followed May’s Patch Tuesday, when updates failed to install on certain Windows 11 systems, primarily virtual machines. Affected devices booted into recovery mode showing an error related to ACPI.sys — either missing or corrupted — with error code 0xc0000098.
Both Windows 11 22H2 and 23H2 were impacted. While virtual environments took the brunt, some physical machines also experienced issues. The glitch mostly affected IT administrators managing enterprise deployments; home and Pro users were largely spared.
Microsoft has now released KB5062170 to fix the recovery boot issue. However, the update doesn’t fix another persistent bug — blurry rendering of Noto fonts in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean languages in Chromium-based browsers when screen scaling is set to 100%. For now, the only workaround is to increase scaling to 125% or 150%.
Unscheduled patch releases have become a routine necessity for Microsoft. Even server editions haven’t escaped unscathed: earlier this year, a separate update was required to fix a NUMA bug that prevented some servers from booting.
A similar emergency patch was also issued in May for Windows 10, addressing a bug that triggered BitLocker Recovery mode unexpectedly.
While Microsoft deserves credit for responding quickly, the constant need to fix fixes raises concerns. Ideally, updates shouldn’t break things in the first place.
