- Windows 10’s October patch contained a confusing bug
- Microsoft has now confirmed that some people who had extended support were told they were not supported
- This was not the case, and it worried some of those who saw the warning
Microsoft has admitted that a bug meant that some Windows 10 users were wrongly informed that their PC is out of support after a patch for the operating system was pushed out last month.
Tom’s Hardware reports that Microsoft has confirmed the issue, which primarily affects business users, but also some consumers, namely those running Windows 10 Pro.
The problem was introduced in the last October update to Windows 10 – or at least it was the last upgrade for those who haven’t signed up for the extended support program.
However, the bug meant that even those on Windows 10 Pro who had signed up for extended updates until October 2026 were told their system was now out of support. This also happened to business and education users on Windows 10 and those running Windows 10 LTSC, which is a special version of the desktop operating system that offers long-term service for businesses.
Microsoft said in a statement: “The message ‘Your version of Windows has reached the end of support’ may appear incorrectly on the Windows Update settings page.”
However, there has already been a fix that should remove the erroneous message, so you shouldn’t see it anymore.
If you’re still getting this warning, the problem may be that you haven’t connected to the Internet since you downloaded the patch with the error – you’ll also need to restart your PC after the fix is implemented on your system.
The bug was highlighted on Reddit last month, not long after the October patch was installed, but Microsoft has only just confirmed the issue. It was apparently fixed pretty quickly, at least for business customers who followed the feedback on Reddit.
Analysis: Confused? Lots of people were…
This has caused some confusion among business users and consumers alike. If you’re running Windows 10 Pro and you signed up for Extended Security Updates (ESU) last month, to receive a message informing you that your system is no longer supported might make you worry that your PC has somehow been dropped from the ESU scheme (or the sign-up process failed).
Rest assured that this is not the case, and those IT administrators dealing with fleets of PCs that also produced this unsupported message can also breathe a little easier with this official confirmation from Microsoft that this was a bug.
That said, some people still subscribe to the belief that it was some kind of scare tactic from Microsoft, while noting that Windows 10 LTSC versions (from both 2019 and 2021) were actually listed as out of support in Microsoft’s official end of service statement earlier – but they’ve now been removed from that list (fixing another bug, perhaps).
Still, such controversies aside, it’s clear enough that Microsoft intends to maintain support as promised, meaning another year of updates for consumers or businesses on ESU. (And the LTSC IoT Enterprise version of Windows 10 – a very limited install, it should be noted – actually has support all the way to 2032, but that’s only for businesses, of course).
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