Microsoft improves Windows 11 Setup, Recovery with KB5046915 / KB5046910 / KB5046906 Hallie Frederick | usagoldmines.com

This week, Microsoft released its Patch Tuesday update for November 2024. On the Windows 10 side we have KB5046613, KB5046615, KB5046612, KB5046665, and the Windows 11 side we have KB5046617, KB5046633.

The Windows 11 update resolves an annoying Task Manager bug that would incorrectly show the number of background processes and Windows processes count as zero. Meanwhile, the Windows 10 update fixes a bug wherein non-admin users couldn’t launch certain apps like Teams, Quick Assist, and more.

As often, aside from Patch Tuesday, Microsoft has also released new dynamic updates for WinRE (Windows Recovery Environment), also called Safe OS updates, and Setup updates. This time there is a whole bunch of them as there are updates for all Windows 11 versions, namely, 24H2, 23H2, and 22H2.

First up we have the setup binary update:

KB5046906: Setup Dynamic Update for Windows 11, version 22H2 and 23H2: November 12, 2024

Summary

This update makes improvements to Windows setup binaries or any files that setup uses for feature updates in Windows 11, version 22H2 and Windows 11, version 23H2.

Up next, we have the Safe OS WinRE updates:

KB5046910: Safe OS Dynamic Update for Windows 11, version 24H2: November 12, 2024

Summary

This update makes improvements to the Windows recovery environment in Windows 11, version 24H2.

..

KB5046915: Safe OS Dynamic Update for Windows 11, version 22H2 and 23H2: November 12, 2024

Summary

This update makes improvements to the Windows recovery environment in Windows 11, version 22H2 and Windows 11, version 23H2.

For those who may not be aware, these Dynamic Update packages are meant to be applied to existing Windows images prior to their deployment. In a Techcommunity blog post about Windows 10 Dynamic Updates, Microsoft explained Dynamic Updates in more detail regarding its various components and uses. These packages include fixes to Setup.exe binaries, SafeOS updates for Windows Recovery Environment, and more:

As soon as a Windows 10 feature update initiates, whether from media or a Windows Update service-connected environment, Dynamic Update is one of the first steps invoked. Windows 10 Setup reaches out to an Internet-facing URL hosted by Microsoft to fetch Dynamic Update content, then applies those updates to your OS installation media.

Content acquired includes:

• Setup Updates: Fixes to Setup binaries or any files that Setup uses for feature updates.
• Safe OS Updates: Fixes for the “safe OS” that are used to update Windows recovery environment (WinRE).

In addition to these updates, Dynamic Update will preserve Language Pack (LP) and Features on Demand (FODs) content during the upgrade process. These are not updates to LPs and FODs, but reacquisition to ensure the user has these elements present with the update completes.

These dynamic updates are not pushed through Windows Update and are only available for manual downloading from the Windows Update Catalog website. You can find them here: KB5046910, KB5046915, and KB5046906.