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Mohammedia – Microsoft has released an emergency out of band update to fix a set of problems triggered by the January 2026 Windows security update, after users reported serious disruptions affecting shutdown behavior and remote access across multiple versions of Windows.
The update, rolled out on January 17 through the Microsoft Update Catalog, addresses two main issues confirmed by the company.
One problem caused certain Windows 11 devices to restart instead of shutting down or entering hibernation.
Another led to connection and authentication failures in remote connection applications, preventing some users from logging into their devices remotely.
Microsoft said the shutdown and hibernation issue was limited to Windows 11 version 23H2 systems that have Secure Launch enabled.
Secure Launch is designed to protect devices from firmware level threats during startup, but following the January security update, affected machines were unable to complete normal shutdown or hibernation processes.
The remote connection issue had a broader impact, affecting Windows 11 version 25H2, Windows 11 version 24H2, Windows 10 version 22H2 under Extended Security Updates, and several Windows Server editions.
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According to Microsoft, users encountered credential prompt failures when attempting to access their systems through remote desktop and similar applications.
To mitigate the problems, Microsoft advised organizations and users who had not yet deployed the January 2026 security update to apply the out of band update instead, particularly in environments that rely on remote access or use the affected security features.
Separate knowledge base updates were issued for each supported Windows version, including Windows 11, Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC editions, and Windows Server 2019, 2022, and 2025.
The emergency fix restores expected shutdown behavior on affected Windows 11 devices and resolves the authentication failures tied to remote connections on both Windows 10 and Windows 11.
Microsoft directed users to the Microsoft Update Catalog for manual installation instructions.
Reports from WindowsLatest indicate that some users are still experiencing other issues following the January updates, including blank screens and crashes in Outlook Classic.
These problems were not listed among the issues addressed by the out of band release.
This is not the first time Microsoft has issued an emergency update in recent months. In October, the company released a similar fix related to the Windows Recovery Environment on Windows 11.
Meanwhile, Microsoft continues to offer extended security updates for Windows 10, allowing users to receive critical patches beyond the operating system’s standard support period.
