Update Your PC Now to Patch This Windows RE Bug

When your PC is acting up, one diagnostic tool at your disposal is the Windows Recovery Environment (or Windows RE). Windows RE offers a series of functions to help you root out whatever is ailing your machine. Using it, you can choose to reset your computer, run an automated diagnosis and repair tool, adjust settings to see if any are causing the issue, uninstall previous updates that might be tripping up Windows, and restore to a previous back Windows backup, among other potentially helpful options.

It's a necessary feature of the operating system, meant for times when a simple shut down and restart doesn't help your PC get back to normal operations. So it's not ideal when Windows ships with a bug that not only breaks part of the OS, but also breaks the part of the OS designed to help fix your PC.

As spotted by Tom's Hardware, a bug in Windows 11's October update, KB5066835, hinders your ability to access Windows RE. The recovery environment can still load if you need it, but you'll find you won't be able to select any of the options it offers to try to fix your PC. That's because this bug breaks USB device functionality specifically in Windows RE. Simply stated, your mouse and keyboard will not work in Windows RE, preventing any navigation within the recovery environment.

This is obviously bad news for anyone who wants to use Windows RE to fix a problem with their PC-including, ironically, this Windows RE-specific bug. But you might think that so long as your particular issue with Windows isn't prohibiting you from actually using your computer, you could live without Windows RE for the time being. As Tom's Hardware points out, however, it's not so simple: When your PC has trouble starting up, it will automatically boot into the recovery environment. That's normally a good thing, since you'll have the tools to help diagnose and solve the issue. However, when Windows takes you to a screen where you can't use your mouse and keyboard, or interact with any elements whatsoever, you're kind of stuck.

Microsoft has issued a patch

The good news is a fix is officially here. Microsoft had called out the bug as a known issue in Windows 11, version 25H2, and said it was working on releasing a fix "in the coming days." That fix came sooner than expected. The new KB5070773 update restores USB device functionality in Windows RE, so you should update as soon as possible. If you have normal access to Windows, all you need to do is head to Start > Settings > Windows Update, and install it when it appears.

However, if your PC is stuck in Windows RE, it's a bit trickier to solve. As Tom's Hardware explains, Microsoft recommends users to use their touchscreens or PS/2 ports if available. If not, you may need to rely on a USB recovery drive to get your PC back up and running.

Windows is experiencing other issues, too

Windows is going through it this month. This same October update also broke localhost functionality, which impacted any apps that connect to services running locally on your PC. (Luckily, Microsoft did issue a fix for that bug.) Then, last week, the company also officially ended support for Windows 10, and though it still offers Extended Security Updates for any user that wants to enroll their PC in the program, it puts the security of roughly half a billion PC users into question.

This Windows RE bug is just one more critical issue PC users have to deal with. Hopefully, Microsoft's next Windows 11 build introduces only fixes, and no additional bugs.