If you’re an IT admin that often diagnoses systems using Safe Mode, we have a warning for you. Spotted by Deskmodder (via Neowin) there’s an ongoing issue with the optional Windows 11’s optional KB5012643 preview update where Safe Mode might not work right.
According to the report, this update can cause the screen to “flicker” when Safe Mode is entered, rendering it hard, if not impossible, to use. We installed and tested this on our end on a Surface Pro 8, and can confirm that this is indeed true. The issue was also spotted by @xanxogaming on Twitter, who provided the following video.
With acumulative patch. pic.twitter.com/ZhTG4h24rC
— XanxoGaming (@xanxogaming) April 28, 2022
Safe Mode is not something that’s used by everyone, but if you’re worried about this issue, it’s best to uninstall the update in question. If that doesn’t work, then Deskmodder also suggests that you use Safe Mode with networking, rather than the offline version of Safe Mode.
Strangely enough, Microsoft hasn’t yet updated the changelogs for this optional Windows 11 update to mention this bug. Rather, it just mentions the ongoing issue where CD and DVD backups won’t work with Backup and Restore. Based on feedback, though, it might not be too long before the issue is acknowledged.
