24H2 Upgrade via Windows Update, major mess now

Nipdawg · Nov 21, 2024

Microsoft pushed Windows 11 24H2 through Windows Update. Some time throughout the day 24H2 installed on all of my computer except for one so far, and this has created a major mess for me.

Summary of my "major mess" from 24H2:

* Lost all my virtual machines in VirtualBox. VirtualBox runs, however, all guest OSes crash, error, etc. Some guest OSes are backed up, other are not as they were not that important to do so.

* 3 NVME SSDs got wiped out because Microsoft encrypted them without providing a recovery method from Bitlocker. Bitlocker has been disabled on my systems, I never use Bitlocker.Luckily I have them backed up (imaged).

* MS Edge imported all Google Chrome settings, etc., and now Google Chrome has been set to default. Mozilla Firefox disappeared, doesn't run, but files exist on systems.

* A blue icon appears in the system tray by the clock with no identity. While Microsoft Support said it was "Recall" icon, they executed a .CMD file that disabled and removed Recall "features", removed OneDrive including the temporary profile login to an unknown Microsoft account linked to Recall feature. Due to a "bug" in the upgrade, all data saved to OneDrive from the faulty Recall feature got removed as well. Note: this system uses an AMD Ryzen 5 7600X3D processor (no NPU here).

I spent hours and hours building my system under Windows 11, and now I have to do it again. Microsoft UEFI dbx update failed with the Bitlocker update (according to Microsoft Support) causing the 3 NVME SSDs getting wiped out. Strangely, I never have used Bitlocker ever and Microsoft said I did.

I am so fed up with all the time and effort wasted, Linux looks like a great option right now.

Josey Wales · Nov 21, 2024

Nipdawg said:
Microsoft pushed Windows 11 24H2 through Windows Update. Some time throughout the day 24H2 installed on all of my computer except for one so far, and this has created a major mess for me.

Summary of my "major mess" from 24H2:

* Lost all my virtual machines in VirtualBox. VirtualBox runs, however, all guest OSes crash, error, etc. Some guest OSes are backed up, other are not as they were not that important to do so.

* 3 NVME SSDs got wiped out because Microsoft encrypted them without providing a recovery method from Bitlocker. Bitlocker has been disabled on my systems, I never use Bitlocker.Luckily I have them backed up (imaged).

* MS Edge imported all Google Chrome settings, etc., and now Google Chrome has been set to default. Mozilla Firefox disappeared, doesn't run, but files exist on systems.

* A blue icon appears in the system tray by the clock with no identity. While Microsoft Support said it was "Recall" icon, they executed a .CMD file that disabled and removed Recall "features", removed OneDrive including the temporary profile login to an unknown Microsoft account linked to Recall feature. Due to a "bug" in the upgrade, all data saved to OneDrive from the faulty Recall feature got removed as well. Note: this system uses an AMD Ryzen 5 7600X3D processor (no NPU here).

I spent hours and hours building my system under Windows 11, and now I have to do it again. Microsoft UEFI dbx update failed with the Bitlocker update (according to Microsoft Support) causing the 3 NVME SSDs getting wiped out. Strangely, I never have used Bitlocker ever and Microsoft said I did.

I am so fed up with all the time and effort wasted, Linux looks like a great option right now.

Almost the same thing happened to me on a previous update. It set bitlocker to active and I never used it.

Nipdawg · Nov 21, 2024

Josey Wales said:
Almost the same thing happened to me on a previous update. It set bitlocker to active and I never used it.

Furthermore, I had a GPO set (gpedit.msc) to prevent 24H2 from installing on these computers. I guess from Microsoft pushing the update out, the GPO was ignored. Then why even have or even allow policies if they are useless in situations like these.

gpedit.msc: Computer Configuration \ Administrative Templates \ Windows Components \ Windows Update
\ Manage updates offered from Windows Server Update Service
and
\ Manage updates offered from Windows Update

Many policies were configured to disable.

Josey Wales · Nov 21, 2024

I have Linux on another Machine, But what MS is doing with Windows 11 is not good.

Nipdawg · Nov 21, 2024

Josey Wales said:
I have Linux on another Machine, But what MS is doing with Windows 11 is not good.

I agree. Microsoft is "forcing" its user base to horrible times.

So glad that I know Linux. I have been running Linux from 1994 to date. Unfortunately my career is based on supporting Microsoft's ecosystems and hardware. Job security for me, but personally, I use Linux/Windows dual boot.

XxXxX · Nov 21, 2024

i used NTLite to remove bitlocker and a few other items from the 24H2 ISO before i did my clean install. i use VeraCrypt.
which i had to do because the in-place upgrade using the ISO failed and wiped out the computers, 2 of them.
so i know your pain.

if you reinstall FF and the files are there on the system FF should pick up the data and carry on nearly as normal.
Mozilla FF is very good that way.

but. a question if i may, do you login with a local account or a microsoft account.
if its a microsoft account aren't the bitlocker keys stored within that MS account.

also with VirtualBox i keep the images on another partition other then C: drive that way i can just bring the image back into VirtualBox if and when required. it saves a lot of messing about if a clean install is required.

just a thought, not much help. best of luck, Steve ..

Vsynced · Nov 21, 2024

Nipdawg said:
Furthermore, I had a GPO set (gpedit.msc) to prevent 24H2 from installing on these computers. I guess from Microsoft pushing the update out, the GPO was ignored. Then why even have or even allow policies if they are useless in situations like these.

gpedit.msc: Computer Configuration \ Administrative Templates \ Windows Components \ Windows Update
\ Manage updates offered from Windows Server Update Service
and
\ Manage updates offered from Windows Update

Many policies were configured to disable.

That's not cool. I have mine set to stay on 23H2.
We'll see what happens, I suppose...

wowchick · Nov 21, 2024

Vsynced said:
That's not cool. I have mine set to stay on 23H2.
We'll see what happens, I suppose...

my pc checked for updates and i got the 24h2 hoping i dont have problems

glasskuter · Nov 21, 2024

Josey Wales said:
But what MS is doing with Windows 11 is not good.

What MS has been doing for a while now has not been good but I won't go into one of my rants about something I can not change.
At the end of the day, it all boils down to user either living with whatever MS forces on us, and battle it as best we can. It's their OS. They can do what they want with it at any time despite any changes or policies we apply.

My biggest objection is the lack of integrity and deviousness in which MS does some things, leaving millions of unsuspecting and oblivious users in the dark. I wish every user in the world would visit this forum just so they can be made aware of things like the Onedrive debacle, automatic drive encryption and other ramifications of using a MS account. But sadly, they don't and some who do still will have absolutely no understanding of it.

As users we can only do so much, but ultimately we are at Microsoft's mercy. I truly believe in the very near future we will be able to do even less. We have to either accept it or get off this bumpy ride MS has put us on.

BamaInArk · Nov 21, 2024

I finally went ahead and did an In-Place upgrade to 24H2 on the last 2 systems I have. Just yesterday. However I used Rufus to build the flash media which was slightly modified especially disabling Bitlocker. No issues with either one AFAICT.

Nipdawg · Nov 22, 2024

XxXxX said:
if you reinstall FF and the files are there on the system FF should pick up the data and carry on nearly as normal.
Mozilla FF is very good that way.

The 24H2 upgrade should not have removed Firefox. I re-installed Firefox and all settings remain intact through the refresh.

XxXxX said:
but. a question if i may, do you login with a local account or a microsoft account.
if its a microsoft account aren't the bitlocker keys stored within that MS account.

I only use local accounts. I never have used Bitlocker. If it gets enabled, I disable it.

XxXxX said:
also with VirtualBox i keep the images on another partition other then C: drive that way i can just bring the image back into VirtualBox if and when required. it saves a lot of messing about if a clean install is required.

just a thought, not much help. best of luck, Steve ..

Here are the steps I did to get all my guest OSes to run in VirtualBox 7.1.4:

* Since VirtualBox opens without any errors or problems, just guest OSes would not run, I uninstalled VirtualBox (7.1.4).
* Restarted Windows 11 24H2, and re-installed VirtualBox 7.1.4 again.
* Install Oracle_VirtualBox_Extension_Pack-7.1.4.vbox-extpack.
* I restored the guest OSes ("%UserProfile%\Virtual VMs") and each guest OS experienced the same errors/problems.
* I removed "%UserProfile%\.Virtualbox" folder (note the dot-virtualbox folder).
* Moved the guest OSes from "%UserProfile%\Virtual VMs" to C:\VirtualBoxVM.
* I added each guest OS back to VirtualBox and each one ran without any errors or problems.

Nipdawg · Nov 22, 2024

glasskuter said:
What MS has been doing for a while now has not been good but I won't go into one of my rants about something I can not change.
At the end of the day, it all boils down to user either living with whatever MS forces on us, and battle it as best we can. It's their OS. They can do what they want with it at any time despite any changes or policies we apply.

My biggest objection is the lack of integrity and deviousness in which MS does some things, leaving millions of unsuspecting and oblivious users in the dark. I wish every user in the world would visit this forum just so they can be made aware of things like the Onedrive debacle, automatic drive encryption and other ramifications of using a MS account. But sadly, they don't and some who do still will have absolutely no understanding of it.

As users we can only do so much, but ultimately we are at Microsoft's mercy. I truly believe in the very near future we will be able to do even less. We have to either accept it or get off this bumpy ride MS has put us on.

Since I find solutions and/or solve these problems for my clients and myself, I use my experiences and others as a way to create my own knowledgebase to correct these problems. I know there will always be something not working correctly and broken, just finding ways to get them working again keep me researching and fixing these problems.

With the upcoming Windows 365 Cloud solutions that Microsoft is hoping to push and dominate on all businesses, this looks like the freedom to use the computer like you want and privacy is out of the window in to Microsoft's mercy. This is why I prefer Linux, I have control of the computer, control of my data, and flexibility to configure how I want the system to appear and run. With Windows, not possible any longer. Microsoft (aka Big Brother dominance) is controlling you.

stevehaz_uk · Nov 22, 2024

FIO - for anyone blue screening updating to 24H2

My machine W11 22631-4460 ... offered me 24h2 on windows update ... took all morning then when restarting got to 30% ... then restarted and blue screened. It restarted and I was put back to 22631-4460.

Windows Update then offered me another update - KB5046732 which is the normal cumulative update to 23H2, this successfully updated my machine to 22631-4541 and there are no further updates available, and the machine is working as before. The 24H2 update I ran this morning is not even listed as a failure under the update history. (The failure was shown as 0xc1900101 normally caused by driver issues.)

colinp · Nov 22, 2024

Nipdawg said:
Microsoft pushed Windows 11 24H2 through Windows Update. Some time throughout the day 24H2 installed on all of my computer except for one so far, and this has created a major mess for me.

I am so fed up with all the time and effort wasted, Linux looks like a great option right now.

I'd say it's certainly prudent to be proficient in both OS's

I can always rely on the stability of linux, however YMMV.

andrew129260 · Nov 22, 2024

That is really odd you had so many problems with the upgrade. Also what probably got enabled was device encryption, not bitlocker.

If a device uses only local accounts, then it remains unprotected even though the data is encrypted
Starting in Windows 11, version 24H2, the prerequisites of DMA and HSTI/Modern Standby are removed. As a result, more devices are eligible for automatic and manual device encryption. For more information, see BitLocker drive encryption in Windows 11 for OEMs.
Unlike a standard BitLocker implementation, device encryption is enabled automatically so that the device is always protected. When a clean installation of Windows is completed and the out-of-box experience is finished, the device is prepared for first use. As part of this preparation, device encryption is initialized on the OS drive and fixed data drives on the computer with a clear key that is the equivalent of standard BitLocker suspended state. In this state, the drive is shown with a warning icon in Windows Explorer. The yellow warning icon is removed after the TPM protector is created and the recovery key is backed up.

I do agree that encryption should not be enabled in any shape or form for a user unless asked to do so. It can cause issues and a performance hit.
If it is bitlocker, you can open a Command Prompt as Admin, and put in manage-bde -off then wait for it to disable the encryption.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The one thing I will say is when windows breaks, it is in my opinion a lot easier to fix.

If linux breaks, it is not a fun time.....

Josey Wales · Nov 22, 2024

glasskuter said:
What MS has been doing for a while now has not been good but I won't go into one of my rants about something I can not change.
At the end of the day, it all boils down to user either living with whatever MS forces on us, and battle it as best we can. It's their OS. They can do what they want with it at any time despite any changes or policies we apply.

My biggest objection is the lack of integrity and deviousness in which MS does some things, leaving millions of unsuspecting and oblivious users in the dark. I wish every user in the world would visit this forum just so they can be made aware of things like the Onedrive debacle, automatic drive encryption and other ramifications of using a MS account. But sadly, they don't and some who do still will have absolutely no understanding of it.

As users we can only do so much, but ultimately we are at Microsoft's mercy. I truly believe in the very near future we will be able to do even less. We have to either accept it or get off this bumpy ride MS has put us on.

Then we will have to just agree to disagree.

pietcorus2 · Nov 22, 2024

andrew129260 said:
That is really odd you had so many problems with the upgrade. Also what probably got enabled was device encryption, not bitlocker.

I do agree that encryption should not be enabled in any shape or form for a user unless asked to do so. It can cause issues and a performance hit.
If it is bitlocker, you can open a Command Prompt as Admin, and put in manage-bde -off then wait for it to disable the encryption.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The one thing I will say is when windows breaks, it is in my opinion a lot easier to fix.

If linux breaks, it is not a fun time.....

Upgrading from 23H2 to ( buggy ) 24H2 is not either..................

Ghot · Nov 22, 2024

@Nipdawg

If you have a backup of 23H2, just restore 23H2, then do an In-Place Upgrade to 24H2.

Use Option #2 (ISO method)... (this is assuming that the Media Creation Tool is now creating the 24H2 ISO).

Repair Install Windows 11 with an In-place Upgrade

This tutorial will show you how to do a repair install of Windows 11 by performing an in-place upgrade without losing anything. If you need to repair or create a new recovery partition or having problems with the Windows 11 operating system on your PC, and the usual solutions will not fix it...

www.elevenforum.com

How to get 24H2... now.

Assuming you're on 23H2, and your CPU has the SSE4.2 Instruction Set... Make a fresh backup first. (Optional, but a good idea.) I used the Media Creation Tool to download the 24H2 ISO from Microsoft, and saved it to my desktop. Then I right clicked it and chose: MOUNT And... I just did an...

www.elevenforum.com

glasskuter · Nov 22, 2024

Josey Wales said:
Then we will have to just agree to disagree

Huh? I believe I was agreeing with you. Or maybe, I need a second cup of coffee to clear the cobwebs better.

Josey Wales · Nov 22, 2024

glasskuter said:
Huh? I believe I was agreeing with you. Or maybe, I need a second cup of coffee to clear the cobwebs better.

No sorry I probably do or a new pair of glasses.

24H2 Upgrade via Windows Update, major mess now

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