Windows 11 bug is randomly freezing PCs with AMD CPUs
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Windows 11 users with AMD Ryzen processors are reportedly affected by a bug that causes various issues in some cases, including PC freezing and affecting game performance.
The issue was introduced with the December Cumulative Update for Windows 11 22H2 (patch KB5021255), and windows newest (opens in new tab) highlighted a number of users who are suffering at the hands of this gremlin and have posted complaints on Microsoft’s Feedback Hub and Reddit.
While this problem doesn’t seem to be that widespread, those affected by it are becoming quite frustrated as some of the observed effects are indeed dire.
A poster on the Reddit thread (opens in new tab) wrote: “After installing this update [KB5021255] on Windows 11 22H2, our customers with AMD CPUs started to completely freeze at random times for minutes and then unfreeze.
Apparently, removing the patch fixed the problem (and according to the poster, the same thing happened with KB5019980). In addition, they noted that the same type of PCs running Windows 11 21H2 were not affected by these patches.
Another person with a PC powered by an AMD Ryzen 9 5900X chimed in on the thread: “These CUs [cumulative updates] cause my computer to randomly freeze and release after 10-20 seconds. I have deleted apps that I recently put on my computer, but still [have] the same problem.”
In addition to hang issues, Windows Latest notes that some users (presumably on the Feedback Hub, though not named) are experiencing further poor performance with games and dropping frame rates and stuttering. (This may also cause deja-vu for some people as stuttering was a major issue with a previous bug that has only just been fixed).
Analysis: Bugs causing more grief than usual
While not widespread, as we mentioned above, for some people – with PCs apparently freezing for 20 seconds or even minutes at a time – the severity of the bug will be extremely irritating. And, of course, anything that disrupts game frame rates is also very unwelcome.
It’s not the first time Windows 11 has become detached from Ryzen CPUs, either. In October 2022, high-end Ryzen models ran into problems due to the operating system’s thread scheduler effectively throttling them.
With any luck, Microsoft and AMD will investigate this latest issue, although if the number of affected users isn’t that large, it may not be high on the priority list. Because there are a lot of things to fix with Windows 11 lately, as you can see from that Reddit thread where there are some other miscellaneous complaints. An example that immediately comes to mind that we just highlighted is another annoying File Explorer bug (where it randomly jumps to the front of the desktop, on top of other apps you may be using, obscuring them).
Indeed, there seem to be a few too many strange and frustrating bugs plaguing Microsoft’s desktop operating system lately – let’s hope this doesn’t become a trend for Windows 11.