Microsoft has fixed a known issue that resulted in black screens, desktop loading issues, and Explorer crashes after installing Windows 11 updates released since August.
As Microsoft explained last month when it confirmed the issue, affected users experienced several symptoms, most commonly a black screen after logging in, not being able to access their desktop until they manually started the desktop session, and Windows Explorer crashes in the application event logs.
However, this known issue primarily affects Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) hosts that use the following FSLogixa software solution that speeds up the loading of user profiles in virtual desktop environments.
Microsoft has now fixed the bug in the cumulative updates released as part of this month’s Patch Tuesday and urged affected users to update their systems.
“This issue was resolved by Windows updates released on October 13, 2026 (..) and updates released after that date. We recommend that you install the latest update for your device as it contains important improvements and fixes, including this one.” it said in a release health dashboard update. “If you install an update released on October 13, 2026 (..) or later, you do not need to use a workaround for this issue.”
Microsoft has also provided a temporary workaround for those who are unable to install this month’s Windows Updates, requiring them to manually launch Windows Explorer. This can be done by opening Task Manager (Ctrl+Shift+Esc) and selecting Run a new taskenter explorer.exeand click OK.
Microsoft has also mitigated the issue for enterprise customers through Known Issue Rollback (KIR), which must be applied to enterprise-managed devices by installing one of the following Group Policies:
“You must install and configure Group Policy for your version of Windows to resolve this issue. You must also restart your devices to apply the Group Policy setting.” Microsoft noted. “Note that this Group Policy will disable the change that is causing this issue until a fix is released in a future Windows update.
For more details on deploying and configuring KIR Group Policy, IT administrators can visit Microsoft support website.
This week, Microsoft also fixed a known issue that resulted in Always On VPN connection issues after installing the September 2026 security updates, and confirmed that recent Windows updates may cause Remote Desktop errors for non-administrator users when the Administrator Protection security feature is enabled.
