Windows update problems: Unplanned update now available

Microsoft has acknowledged some problems with the Windows updates for the August Patchday. The company is now providing an update outside the regular dates that corrects the remaining error affecting the reset or restore function.

Microsoft points this out in the Message Center of the Windows Release Health notes. “Microsoft has discovered an issue that can cause the reset or restore of Windows devices to fail. The issue can be observed after installing the Windows security updates from August 2025 on some client versions of Windows,” the developers from Redmond summarize the issue.

“A non-security out-of-band (OOB) update was released today, August 19, 2025, to address this issue,” Microsoft continues. This is a cumulative update, so no other updates need to be applied beforehand. It replaces the previous updates for the affected versions. “If you have not yet installed the August 2025 Windows Security Update, we recommend installing this OOB update instead. If your device is not affected by the issue, you do not need to install the OOB update,” the developers explain. The classification that restoring and resetting Windows is not security-relevant is certainly debatable.

Several versions available

Microsoft provides separate updates for the individual Windows versions affected. According to the explanations in the support entries, the updates are available as optional updates in the integrated Windows Update Search, for example.

• Windows 11 23H2 and 22H2: KB5066189 - build numbers 22621.5771 and 22631.5771
• Windows 10 22H2, Enterprise LTSC 2021, IoT Enterprise LTSC 2021: KB5066188 - build numbers 19044.6218 and 19045.6218
• Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC 2019 and IoT Enterprise LTSC 2019: KB5066187 - build number 17763.7683

The updated update files are also available in Windows Update for Business and in the Windows Update Catalog. However, they are apparently not available for the WSUS services. The exception is the 2019 versions of Windows 10, for which Microsoft only provides the updates in the Windows Update Catalog.

(dmk)