Microsoft has successfully addressed a known issue that was causing erroneous 0x80070643 installation failure errors during the deployment of the April 2025 Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) updates. This resolution comes after the company acknowledged the bug two weeks ago, reassuring users that these errors could be disregarded as they were misleading and did not affect the functionality of their Windows devices.
Details of the Issue
The problem specifically affected the KB5057588 WinRE update for Windows Server 2022 and the KB5057589 update for Windows 10, versions 22H2 and 21H2. Microsoft clarified that after installing the April 2025 WinRE update, users might encounter the error message 0x80070643 – ERRORINSTALLFAILURE in the Windows Update settings. However, the company emphasized that this message was inaccurate and did not reflect the actual status of the update or the device’s performance.
According to Microsoft, the error typically occurs when a device attempts to install the WinRE update while another update is pending a reboot. Despite the misleading error message, the WinRE update is generally applied successfully after the device restarts.
Resolution and Future Guidance
In a recent update to the Windows release health dashboard, Microsoft confirmed that the bug has been resolved, and users will no longer see the incorrect error message following the installation of the affected updates. The company further noted, “If you have already installed this update, you will not see this update offered again and can check the status of this update with the Dism /Online /Get-Packages command.”
This isn’t the first time Microsoft has dealt with similar issues. In August of the previous year, the company retired the January 2024 Windows security updates that also triggered 0x80070643 errors during the installation of WinRE updates across Windows 10, Windows 11, and Windows Server devices. This announcement came just two months after Microsoft indicated that a fix would not be forthcoming, instead advising users to manually resize the WinRE partitions as a workaround.
During that period, the tech community observed a troubling trend where fraudulent IT support websites began promoting malicious PowerShell “fixes” for the 0x80070643 errors, leading to infections with information-stealing malware among unsuspecting Windows users.
