Microsoft has decided that there will be no automatic resolution for a problem with some Windows 10 devices as they attempted to install a BitLocker security vulnerability patch.
The issue cropped up in January and was related to a patch for a BitLocker bypass vulnerability and the Windows Recovery Environment.
Windows Update would throw up an unhelpful error if the user had insufficient disk space in their recovery partition. Microsoft acknowledged the problem and issued some frankly alarming instructions for manually resizing the partition to deal with the problem.
It wasn’t for the faint of heart, and one user at the time noted: “This is an issue that Microsoft needs to correct themselves.”
A few days later, a Microsoft spokesperson told The Register: “We are working on a resolution and will provide an update in an upcoming release.”
Except it appears that the Windows giant isn’t. Hidden away in the Windows Release Health dashboard – and noted by Windows Report – is news that Microsoft is not going to be sorting this out. You’ll work through those manual steps and be grateful.
The issue has been closed with the note: “Automatic resolution of this issue won’t be available in a future Windows update. Manual steps are necessary to complete the installation of this update on devices which are experiencing this error.”
Users who do not have a recovery environment configured can ignore the error.
It’s a surprising approach considering the large number of customers who ran into the problem at the start of the year.
Windows 10 will remain supported until October 2025, at which point users will need to decide if they are willing to pay to keep the security lights on a little longer. It is also more popular than its successor, Windows 11. We asked Microsoft for an explanation for its decision and will update this piece 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 patch. ®
