Windows 11 22H2’s mess is getting messier: In a surprising move, Microsoft has blocked the major feature upgrade on some PCs due to potential gaming and performance issues.
Microsoft has removed Windows 11 version 22H2 from its Windows Update servers on certain devices after confirming reports of an issue affecting game performance on the machine. The company says it is working on another cumulative update to address the mess and will release it in the near future.
Windows 11 version 22H2 was released in September as part of the regular feature update cycle and was intended for all supported Windows versions via Windows Update. It is the first major feature update for Windows 11 and it comes with many features, which is why many users rushed the download.
In the documentationMicrosoft acknowledged a statement from Nvidia that Windows 11 accidentally enabled “GPU performance debugging features”.
One of the most frustrating issues with Windows 11 is affecting gamers, with some users complaining that the FPS would drop when they play games. Uninstalling the update fixes the issue and confirms speculation that the problem is with the feature upgrade.
Windows 11 22H2 causes games to perform poorly and audio is also affected, with some people noticing regular stuttering.
Nvidia has researched these reports itself and they have also published two official fixes through the GeForce app and driver updates, but the chipmaker’s efforts were not enough.
After several weeks of ignoring the reports, Microsoft is now actively investigating the issue and has withdrawn the update for the affected machines.
The tech giant say it is working on a cumulative update and it also warned users against manual upgrades using the ‘Update Now’ button or Media Creation Tool until this issue is resolved.
Microsoft would have ignored the reports
Windows Insiders have been testing the feature upgrade for several months now, and the issue was spotted by some testers earlier this year.
Some had highlighted the performance issues of Windows 11 22H2 themselves in March, but it seems the reports were missed by Microsoft and the company released this update without addressing those issues.
There have also been reports of other issues with the update.
We can only hope that Microsoft can fix these issues in the coming weeks, but Windows 11 2022 Update seems to be more stable than the previous Windows 10 feature updates. In most cases, problems are not too widespread and were resolved quickly.
