Microsoft Resolves Restart Loops and Taskbar Problems on Windows 11 Systems
Microsoft has successfully addressed a known issue that was causing restart loops and taskbar problems on Windows 11 systems following the installation of the June KB5039302 preview update. The company announced that the problem has been fixed in updates released on July 9, 2024 (KB5040442) and later.
In an update added to the Windows release health page, Microsoft advised users to install the latest security update for their devices, as it includes important improvements and resolutions for various issues, including the one related to restart loops and taskbar problems.
The issue primarily affected systems running Windows 11 23H2 and Windows 11 22H2, with users of Windows Home edition less likely to experience it due to the lower prevalence of virtualization in home environments.
Following reports of devices restarting repeatedly or failing to start altogether after the June update, Microsoft temporarily pulled the KB5039302 update on June 27. The issue was found to impact devices using virtual machine tools and virtualization features such as CloudPC, DevBox, Azure Virtual Desktop, and VMware VMs.
Additionally, the update caused the taskbar to freeze or display incorrectly on systems running the Windows N edition or with the ‘Media Features’ feature disabled. Microsoft later resumed the KB5039302 rollout, restricting the update for Windows customers using virtualization software.
While the availability of the update via Windows Update and Windows Update for Business was briefly paused, it has now been resumed for most devices. However, the update offering remains paused for devices affected by the issue, particularly Hyper-V virtual machines running on hosts with specific processor types.
Microsoft’s recent efforts to address software issues include the removal of the Copilot app from Windows 10/11 systems in April and an emergency fix for Windows Server 2019 update errors caused by the 2024 Patch Tuesday security updates in May.
