Windows 11’s latest patch, the January Cumulative Update, is failing to install for some users, and adding to the woes is that the reason for this spanner in the works cannot be determined.
This is update KB5034123 and the problem is that the installation process fails, in some cases repeatedly, with the usual useless error codes.
If Windows Latest I’ve noticed that some of these contain the error ‘0x80188309’ and apparently more common is ‘0x800f081f’, although whatever string is spit out is unlikely to be of any use.
The only thing you can do with these stop codes is search for them on the internet and see if there is any mention of the specific problem in question and possible solutions or workarounds, but in this case no clear cause has been found yet.
There have been reports of a failed installation of Windows 11’s January Update via Microsoft’s Feedback Hub and Reddit, and Windows Latest noted that it has received a number of reports from “many users” claiming that it is “almost impossible” to install KB5034123 to install.
There are also some people who are report that they get the same type of error, namely that the update starts downloading, gets halfway through (25% in many cases), and then Windows Update comes up with an error message, offering to try again. However, trying again produces exactly the same problem, which, as you might imagine, pushes the limits of patience for some people.
As a final note, some of those who successfully install the January update are finding that the patch causes sound to stutter and stutter, and Windows Latest itself experienced this issue when watching Netflix and playing games.
This may be a more isolated issue, although we have seen one spreading complaints elsewhere about audio bugs, graphical corruption, and mouse-related hiccups with KB5034123. However, until they are reported to be more common, take them with a grain of salt.
Analysis: a possible solution?
As a possible solution, Windows Latest recommends performing an in-place upgrade of Windows 11 (using the Media Creation Tool). After that, the problem that is in your operating system can be resolved so that patch KB5034123 can then be installed successfully.
However, since this is a clumsy and somewhat complicated process, with no guarantee that it will work in the end, it seems like a drastic step to us. Rather than go this route, we recommend that you hold off for now to see what Microsoft has to say on this topic. We contacted the company to find out. If we hear anything, we will of course update this article.
While it’s far from ideal to be without a cumulative update – especially since you don’t have the latest security fixes – it’s probably the lesser of two evils at this point. Rather than messing around with internal upgrades and hoping, rather blindly (let’s be honest), that this can fix the problem causing the installation errors.
Note that these Windows 11 installation issues were first observed just after the January update was released (two weeks ago), but they were very widespread in nature – and now they are noticeably more common. Hopefully Microsoft is looking into the matter as we type this.