Microsoft has decided there will be no automatic fix for an issue with some Windows 10 devices while they attempt to install a BitLocker security vulnerability patch.
The issue surfaced in January and was related to a patch for a BitLocker bypass vulnerability and the Windows Recovery Environment.
Windows Update would throw an unnecessary error if the user does not have sufficient disk space in their recovery partition. Microsoft acknowledged the problem and issued frankly alarming instructions to manually resize the partition to resolve the problem.
It wasn’t for the faint of heart, and one user at the time noted, “This is a problem Microsoft needs to fix itself.”
A few days later, a Microsoft spokesperson said The register: “We are working on a resolution and will provide an update in a future release.”
Except that it seems that this is not the case for the Windows giant. Hidden in the Windows Release Health dashboard – and noted by the Windows Report – is news that Microsoft is not going to fix this problem. You will follow these manual steps and be grateful.
The issue has been resolved with the note: “Automatic resolution for this issue will not be available in a future Windows update. Manual steps are required to complete the installation of this update on devices that experience this error.”
Users who have not set up a recovery environment may ignore the error.
This is a surprising move given the large number of customers who encountered this problem earlier this year.
Windows 10 will remain supported until October 2025, at which point users will have to decide whether they’re willing to pay to keep the security lights on a little longer. It’s also more popular than its successor, Windows 11. We’ve asked Microsoft for an explanation of its decision and will update this article if the company responds.
According to the Windows Release Health dashboard, the issue also applies to Windows 11 21H2 and Windows Server 2022. However, KB5034441 is a Windows 10 hotfix. ®
