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Windows 11’s latest optional update – which is the Preview of Moment 3 (KB5026446) – is causing problems for some users, coming with some bugs, and worse, in some reported cases the upgrade itself Getting installed.
Windows Latest reports that when the update was checked on the PC it experienced the installation of KB5026446 proceeding automatically. Note that as an optional update, which may have Gremlin in the works (which it apparently does), the user will have to trigger the update manually.
In other words, you must choose to install this preview update, it should not install automatically.
Windows Latest noticed that it’s received reports from readers that this unexpected installation of KB5026446 has occurred, and indeed, elsewhere online we’ve seen other reports of this happening (even, in some cases, if people Haven’t checked for updates).
As for the problems caused by the Moment 3 Preview update, there are various reports of miscellaneous issues, as you might expect with the patch still in testing. One of them is that it breaks the Microsoft Store, or messes with Game Pass on PC (making the game unplayable, we’re told).
There are other reports of worrying system freezes, some apps failing to open, and some users’ keyboards and mice failing to work after the update.
There were also installation failures with the usual meaningless error messages (strings of hexadecimal), but these days it’s pretty much the same with Windows 11.
Analysis: The clue is in the name – ‘Optional’
The good news, as it is, is that in all of these cases, simply uninstalling the update (via Windows Update, under Update History) cures the PC of the various ailments mentioned. Here it is for those who definitely didn’t want to install the optional update in the first place.
How widespread is this problem with the KB5026446 preview update installing itself? It’s hard to say, but it’s definitely happening to a lot of people. Windows Latest sees that if you check for updates, and looks to install it, if you press ‘Pause Update’ that will abort the installation. So it’s worth keeping in mind.
One theory is that this sneaky installation may be linked to people who have selected the new option in Windows 11 to ‘Get the latest updates as soon as they’re available’ (and used that to enable the new features of Moment 3 in KB5026446). required) , as Bleeping Computer clarified earlier).
However, even if you’ve selected this option, you shouldn’t receive an optional update without warning (especially if you haven’t even checked for updates, as is happening in some cases). Optional updates should always be exactly that – an option, not an automatic installation (and certainly doesn’t happen stealthily behind the scenes, as it were).
Hopefully we’ll hear from Microsoft soon to clarify what’s going on here.
