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Main Technology Emergency Windows update fixes broken "Reset this PC" feature

Emergency Windows update fixes broken "Reset this PC" feature

20 August 2025 15:45
Photo: Unsplash
Lana Matias
Editor

On August 19, 2025, Microsoft issued critical out-of-band updates to address a significant issue affecting Windows reset and recovery operations after the August 2025 security updates were deployed.

This was reported by Cybersecuritynews.

Emergency fix for Windows reset failures

The emergency patches resolve issues that prevented users from resetting their PCs or performing recovery operations on various versions of Windows.

These issues arose after the August 12, 2025, Patch Tuesday security updates were installed on affected systems. Users who attempted to use the "Reset this PC" feature or the "Fix problems using Windows Update" cloud recovery option experienced complete failure.

The problematic updates included: KB5063875 for Windows 11 versions 23H2 and 22H2; KB5063709 for Windows 10 22H2 and LTSC editions; KB5063877 for Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC 2019 variants. When users initiated a reset, Windows began the process and rebooted to continue the reset. However, it then immediately started rolling back the changes without completing the recovery process.

Reset this PC feature. Photo: Cybersecuritynews.

These failures impacted a broad range of Windows installations, including:

  • Windows 11 versions 23H2 and 22H2.
  • Windows 10 version 22H2.
  • Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC 2021 and IoT Enterprise LTSC 2021.
  • Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC 2019 and IoT Enterprise LTSC 2019.

Microsoft’s emergency response

Recognizing the severity of the issue, Microsoft expedited the release of emergency out-of-band updates instead of waiting for the next Patch Tuesday in September. The company released three specific fixes:

  • KB5066189 for Windows 11 versions 23H2 and 22H2 (OS Builds 22621.5771 and 22631.5771).
  • KB5066188 for Windows 10 22H2 and LTSC 2021 editions (OS Builds 19044.6218 and 19045.6218).
  • KB5066187 for Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC 2019 and IoT Enterprise LTSC 2019 (OS Build 17763.7683).

These emergency updates are cumulative, meaning users don’t need to install earlier updates before applying them because they replace all previous updates for affected versions.

Microsoft strongly recommends that organizations that haven’t deployed the August security updates yet install these out-of-band (OOB) patches instead.

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