Windows 11 driver updates crashing and burning? You’re not alone
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Driver updates for Windows 11 reportedly don’t work with version 22H2 of the OS in some cases, though we’ve heard that Microsoft may be working on a fix for this frustrating issue (more on that later).
As noted by Newwin (opens in new tab)the bug was highlighted on Twitter by Barb Bowman, a veteran Microsoft beta tester and MVP.
.@WindowsUpdate @Windows see https://t.co/tc6cVThOWT and several posts in the Surface forums. There are more and more reports about it and I see it here on Surface Laptop Studio. pic.twitter.com/6lLjNFTICPFebruary 16, 2023
As Bowman points out, the failed driver updates — and there are many — seem to affect Surface device owners, but there are also reports from people with other types of PCs.
In replies to that thread on Twitter, users with Dell Inspiron and HP PCs further report to let us know that they too have been impacted by these update bugs.
The driver update overflows with the error code ‘0x80070103’, which is one of the typically useless messages Windows sometimes produces when something goes wrong.
Analysis: A solution is being worked on, we hope
This is rather odd and affects a range of hardware drivers including Intel and Realtek on some Windows 11 22H2 PCs.
As for a possible solution, Intel does offer a few staff (opens in new tab) regarding this error code, which is to “use the Windows Update troubleshooter” to fix the problem, but that feels like rather generic advice. We’re not sure how much hope we have that this will actually fix any update bugs (to say the least).
It’s possible that these update errors are being produced because Windows 11 is trying to install an older version of the driver in question, Neowin points out, but that begs the question: why is the operating system doing this in the first place?
Be that as it may, hopefully Microsoft will already be looking into this, and indeed on Twitter named (opens in new tab) Please note that this is a known issue and that a fix is being worked on. However, it’s not clear how the source of that tweet is connected to Microsoft, other than their profile says they’re: “Working to help IT admins manage Windows Updates with the Windows Insider Program for Business.”
Fingers crossed that a solution is on the horizon, as apparently promised anyway.