- Windows 10 has released an emergency patch to fix an extended support bug
- The error meant that the wizard to sign up for extended updates failed
- With this issue resolved, if you catch the out-of-band update, you should be good to sign up for extended support
Microsoft has released a patch to fix an issue where some Windows 10 PCs could not enroll in Extended Security Updates (ESU scheme) due to a bug.
As we reported earlier this week, there was a bug with the ESU enrollment that meant it simply didn’t work for some Windows 10 users, crashing with an unhelpful error message that simply said, “Something went wrong.”
Fortunately, Windows Latest discovered that Microsoft has released an emergency update to fix this problem.
This is patch KB5071959, which has been deployed out of band, meaning outside the normal release cadence of Windows patches.
Microsoft says about the update: “This update resolves an issue in the Windows 10 Consumer Extended Security Update (ESU) enrollment process where the enrollment wizard may fail during enrollment. After applying this update, consumer devices should be able to enroll in ESU using the ESU wizard.”
Note that no one in the ESU will get this patch; it is only for those who have not been able to sign up for extended updates due to the aforementioned error and error message.
Analysis: Extended problems have come to an end
It’s good to see that Microsoft is on the case here, and just in time, as the first security update for Windows 10 PCs enrolled in Extended Support just appeared yesterday (November 11). In fact, I just got this patch – which is KB5068781 – on my Windows 10 PC, which is in the ESU scheme, this morning (it took a surprisingly long time to install, considering it’s just a barebones set of security fixes – or maybe there’s a little more to this first delivery).
Windows Latest states that “all ESU-related issues” are fixed with this emergency update, but as we saw earlier this week, aside from the bug, there are also regional barriers that prevent signing up for extended updates in some cases. I’m not sure if all of these will have been fixed, but granted, it makes sense that they should be – given that the first update to ESU is now out as mentioned.
Regardless of whether the entire world now has access to the ESU (which it should), you should not see the unhelpful “Something went wrong” error message after applying this emergency patch.
It will no doubt save a lot of frustration, and if you’ve been one of those who’s been annoyed by these ESU signup errors, head over to Windows Update now. Run a check for updates and you should see KB5071959, and after you install that you should be good to go for a successful ESU enrollment – and then you can grab the November security update for Windows 10.
Extended support means you’ll be covered by security updates until October 2026, but then you’re faced with the same dilemma you’ve been putting off for a year – upgrade to Windows 11 (if possible) or look at an alternative operating system, such as a Windows-like variant of Linux.
The best mini PCs for all budgets
Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews and opinions in your feeds. Be sure to click the Follow button!
And of course you can too follow TechRadar on TikTok for news, reviews, video unboxings, and get regular updates from us on WhatsApp also.
