New Windows 11 update fixes a seriously frustrating bug that messed with AMD GPUs

A bug that’s been frustrating Windows 11 users with AMD graphics cards (and CPUs to an extent) has been fixed in the latest update for Microsoft’s OS – or mostly fixed, anyway, going by reports.

This glitch was brought in with the Moment 4 update (it was first seen in the preview of that upgrade), and it messed with AMD profile settings. Every time affected users restarted their PC, those GPU settings (and reportedly CPU settings too, in some instances, like overclocking) went back to their defaults.

The good news is that the Windows 11 update for November (which began rolling out last week) cured this issue, albeit with some caveats.

As Windows Latest reports, the bug has been squashed according to its own testing. The tech site has also been talking to a selection of users hit by the bug and the majority said that this new patch from Microsoft fixed things – however, a few observed that their profile was still being reset.

It appears there are still minor gremlins kicking about, perhaps, though it should be noted that for the fix to work, as well as the November update for Windows 11, you also need to be running AMD’s Adrenalin graphics driver version 23.10.2.

Another slight caveat, too: the November update that resolves this issue has some vexing problems itself.


Analysis: A thornier problem for some?

This is a nasty bug. Having your settings reset and having to redo any customization from scratch after every single PC restart is going to get very annoying, very quickly. Especially if you’ve done a lot of tweaking on your AMD system.

Seeing the fix arrive is great news, although there’s the slight catch of apparently not everyone getting the benefit. Windows Latest doesn’t make it clear if those who found the bug still present after the latest Windows 11 update were using the mentioned version of AMD’s GPU driver (v23.10.2), but presumably they were, as the site would’ve surely clarified that if not.

The tech site suggests that those continuing to be affected may be suffering a profile reset from another cause other than Windows 11 updates.

Whatever wrinkles are left in the solution, if any, Microsoft will hopefully iron them out quickly – although the software giant hasn’t actually confirmed the presence of this fix in the new update.

You might also like

TechRadar – All the latest technology news

Read More

Moment 4 update is reportedly slowing down Windows 11 and playing havoc with some AMD GPUs

Some Windows 11 users are reporting problems with the update that provided the Copilot AI when it arrived last week (among a good deal of other features).

That’s the KB5030310 update, which we should note is a preview update for those using Windows 11 22H2. (Folks can get the upgrade, and Copilot plus other goodies, by ensuring that they have chosen the option to ‘Get the latest updates as soon as they’re available’ in Windows Update).

As Windows Latest reports, some users who have installed KB5030310 (with the mentioned option to get the latest features activated) have run into some fairly nasty gremlins.

That includes reports of File Explorer – the central part of the Windows 11 interface that lets you work with folders and files on the desktop – becoming more prone to buggy behavior, and running noticeably slower in general. (Including sluggishness rendering the actual interface which sounds jarring indeed, as mentioned on Reddit).

Other folks are complaining about weirdness with the search box in the taskbar, with it failing to work, or the magnifying glass icon not rendering properly (in fact it’s shown as a letter ‘C’, oddly).

More worryingly, Windows Latest brings our attention to system crashes post-update, and black screens (the latter aren’t complete lock-ups, at least in some reported cases, and can be escaped from by bringing up the Task Manager).

Another bigger glitch here affects those who are using AMD graphics cards, and running the latest driver – apparently, KB5030310 doesn’t play nice with the Adrenalin driver 23.9.3. Every time the PC is restarted, those AMD GPU owners are telling us that their settings are being reset, which is going to get pretty old, pretty fast.


Analysis: The perils of previews

That’s a fair old raft of problems, then, some of which are going to be unpleasant to be visited on your PC. However, this is a preview update, and Microsoft is still working on the functionality therein – so it’s hardly unexpected to see flaws popping up. In fact, it’s very much expected, and of course, we get glitches on finished updates for Windows 11, not just those still officially in testing.

Unfortunately, if you want to get the latest features like Copilot straight away – as per the aforementioned toggle – via a preview release, then you have to be aware that you’re running some level of additional risk for encountering bugs.

What’s a bit more baffling is despite the reports coming in via Reddit and Microsoft’s Feedback Hub that Windows Latest has highlighted here, Microsoft still doesn’t see anything wrong.

In the support document for KB5030310, the company states: “Microsoft is not currently aware of any issues with this update.”

There may, however, be investigations underway regarding the reports of the various glitches covered above, so we might hear soon enough from Microsoft as to what’s going on with these apparent issues (and how widespread they might be, perhaps).

You might also like

TechRadar – All the latest technology news

Read More