- Windows 10’s October patch carried a confusing bug
- Microsoft has now confirmed that some people who had extended support were told they weren’t supported
- This wasn’t the case, and it worried some of those who saw the warning
Microsoft has admitted that a bug meant some Windows 10 users were wrongly informed that their PC is out of support after a patch for the OS was pushed out last month.
Tom’s Hardware reports that Microsoft confirmed the issue, which is mainly affecting business users, but also some consumers, namely those running Windows 10 Pro.
The problem was introduced in the final October update for Windows 10 – or at least it was the final 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’d signed up for extended updates through to October 2026 were being told their system was now out of support. This was also happening to enterprise and education users on Windows 10, and those running Windows 10 LTSC, which is a special version of the desktop OS that offers long-term servicing for businesses.
Microsoft said in a statement: “The message, ‘Your version of Windows has reached the end of support’, might incorrectly display in the Windows Update Settings page.”
However, there’s already been a fix piped through which should remove the errant message, so you shouldn’t be seeing it any longer.
If you are still getting this warning, then the problem could be that you haven’t connected to the internet since downloading the patch with the bug – you’ll also need to reboot 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 deployed, but Microsoft has only just confirmed the issue. It was seemingly fixed pretty swiftly, at least for enterprise customers going by the feedback provided on Reddit.
Analysis: confused? Plenty of people were…
This has caused some confusion among both enterprise 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 somehow your PC has been dropped out of the ESU scheme (or the sign-up process failed).
Rest assured this isn’t the case, and the IT admins dealing with fleets of PCs which were also producing this message about being unsupported can also breathe a bit easier with this official confirmation from Microsoft that this was a mistake.
That said, some folks 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 previously – but they’ve now been removed from that list (the correction of another mistake, perhaps).
Anyway, 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 the ESU. (And the LTSC IoT Enterprise take on Windows 10 – a very limited installation, it should be noted – actually has support all the way through to 2032, but that’s for businesses only, of course).
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