Not long ago, Microsoft issued a ‘retirement notice’ for Windows 10: Windows 10 will retire on October 14, 2025. Before that, users can pay to extend the support period for Windows 10 or directly upgrade to Windows 11.
Faced with Microsoft’s multiple-choice question, some netizens at the time stated: not switching to Windows 11, too many bugs, might as well wait for Windows 12 – unexpectedly, this statement has come true!
Last Tuesday, Microsoft released security updates for Windows 11 22H2 and 23H2, numbered KB5033375. However, numerous users from various universities reported: that after the system update, Wi-Fi cannot connect!
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University Suggestions: Uninstall Windows 11 Update
It’s understood that the KB5033375 update, issued this time, is a mandatory update addressing numerous security issues reported and exposed across various versions of Windows 11. It integrates the content of the KB5032288 update released on December 4, 2023. However, some users have reported varying degrees of Wi-Fi connection malfunctions after installing this update, especially among users in universities and small to medium-sized enterprises. Many have encountered issues with slower Wi-Fi speeds.
For instance, a user running Windows 11 22H2 mentioned a significant decline in Wi-Fi connection quality after the system update. Even while sending ping requests to Google, the connection became extremely unstable. Half of the requests couldn’t be resolved, while the other half experienced a substantial loss of data packets and latency. Perplexed, upon uninstalling the KB5032288 update, the Wi-Fi immediately returned to normal.
A university system administrator speculated that the issue might revolve around compatibility problems between the Qualcomm QCA61x4a wireless card and the KB5032288 update. This old Qualcomm wireless card is primarily used in some public universities.
The University of New Haven cautioned: “The recent Windows update KB5033375, released on December 12, 2023, has resulted in users being unable to connect to wireless networks.
Brunel University London has also confirmed that students using Windows 10/11 computers and downloading the latest updates might face difficulties accessing the campus Wi-Fi. They advise uninstalling the update, stating, “If you have an exam next week and need to use your laptop on campus, we recommend following the instructions to uninstall the update.”
However, according to WindowsLatest’s report, while this bug indeed affects Qualcomm wireless cards, it’s more likely due to the update disrupting the PEAP (Protected Extensible Authentication Protocol) settings in Windows: “Some have observed that Wi-Fi connections using the PEAP protocol have also been affected.”
Additionally, a post on the Microsoft forum highlights that when using WPA2 Enterprise SSID in conjunction with 802.11r, Wi-Fi problems frequently arise. One of the solutions involves disabling the 802.11r protocol. However, considering potential roaming issues, this isn’t the optimal solution. Therefore, for the universities affected by the bug, most advise students to uninstall the update and roll back the system to a state before the update.
(1) Step 1: As uninstalling updates may take some time, it’s advisable to plug in your laptop to a power source before proceeding.
(2) Step 2: Go to the Windows Start Menu and type “Update.”
(3) Step 3: Click on “Update history” under the More options.
(4) Step 4: Click on “Uninstall updates.”
(5) Step 5: Next to the update you wish to uninstall, click “Uninstall.” Typically, it’s best to uninstall all updates from the past 7 days if encountering issues.
(6) Step 6: After the updates are uninstalled, immediately restart your computer. This process usually takes 10-15 minutes, so ensure your laptop is plugged in and charging.
As of now, Microsoft has yet to respond to the Wi-Fi connection issues caused by the KB5033375 update. However, WindowsLatest has revealed that Microsoft is investigating the specific causes and potential solutions. It’s understood that this bug initially appeared in the KB5032288 update (an optional update). Later, this update was integrated into the mandatory security update KB5033375, causing a significant increase in the number of affected users.
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After waiting for over a year, a “nightmare bug” has finally been fixed.
However, the KB5033375 update not only brought bugs but also introduced several new features:
Use Copilot (Preview) in Windows across multiple monitors.
Use Copilot (Preview) in Windows via Alt+Tab.
In the upcoming weeks, Windows Spotlight might be set as the default background.
Request assistance ten times from Windows (Copilot in Preview) when logging into Windows with a local account, after which a verified account must be used.
Introduce account-related notifications for Microsoft accounts in “Settings” > “Home.”
In addition, the KB5033375 update fixed a long-standing “nightmare bug” affecting Windows 11 users: “This update resolves an issue with File Explorer pop-ups that would often appear in the foreground when users did not expect them to.”
Since October of last year, many users reported unpredictable and frequent appearances of File Explorer in Windows 11, regardless of their activities. Microsoft acknowledged this issue early in the support documentation for Windows 11 22H2, yet it was only completely resolved in December of this year. However, there has been no explanation throughout as to why this bug occurred, including a lack of detailed information in the update logs about this particular fix.
Whether it’s the unintended new bugs introduced by this update or the old bug that took over a year to resolve, it has sparked dissatisfaction among many netizens towards Microsoft and Windows 11:
“This is not surprising at all; Microsoft’s updates often break something. After all, what better way to test than this? I bet Microsoft will continue lowering standards in the future.”
“Though I haven’t encountered it, this fixing speed is in line with Microsoft’s style.”
“bug11, bug11, bug11, important things said three times.”
So, what’s your take on Windows 11? Have you also experienced similar bugs due to system updates?
Reference:
- https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/topic/december-4-2023-kb5032288-os-builds-22621-2792-and-22631-2792-preview-538fbe4a-e9de-4312-85cd-d870444341d0
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