A forced Windows update is coming next month

By Willow Roberts September 10, 2024 1:03PM

Microsoft

Windows 11 version 22H2 will reach its end of servicing next month, and Microsoft has announced a forced update to 23H2 for October 8. This means machines running 22H2 (Home and Pro editions) will stop receiving updates after next month, leaving them vulnerable to security threats. Enterprise, Education, and Internet of Things (IoT) Enterprise editions running version 21H2 will also receive the automatic update.

In a post on the Windows Message Center, Microsoft urges users to update before October 8 or participate in the automatic update to keep themselves “protected and productive” since the monthly Patch Tuesday updates are “critical to security and ecosystem health.”

Microsoft releases feature updates every year, and they always come with 24 months of support for Home and Pro editions and 36 months of support for Enterprise and Education editions. This year’s version, 24H2, is expected to arrive this fall and is usually made available to Release Preview Insiders before rolling out to the public.

Once it’s out, anyone can upgrade to the latest version, but you can also stick with the forced upgrade to 23H2. If you don’t know how to upgrade to 23H2, there’s a video on the Windows community YouTube channel that walks you through the steps.

Windows updates have long been an annoyance to many since they seem to pop up at the most annoying moments — but this time you’ve got 30 days to prepare. The update is an important part of keeping your PC secure, so make sure you and any family members are safely updated by the time 22H2 reaches its end of servicing.

On the other hand, if you’re still using Windows 10, the end of service date is October 14, 2025, so you’ve got plenty of time to upgrade.

Topics

Computing Writer

Willow Roberts is a contributor at Digital Trends, specializing in computing topics. She has a particular interest in Apple…

Computing

You definitely want to install these 90 Windows security patches

Microsoft has issued security updates to address 90 vulnerabilities, some of which hackers are actively exploiting, in a blog post yesterday. These flaws allow hackers to bypass security features and gain unauthorized access to your PC's system, highlighting the need to keep your Windows computer updated.

Nine are rated Critical, 80 of the flaws are rated Important, and only one is rated Moderate in severity. In addition, the software giant has patched 36 vulnerabilities in its Edge browser in the past month to avoid issues with its browser. Users will be happy to know that the patches are for six actively exploited zero-days, including CVE-2024-38213. This lets attackers bypass SmartScreen protections but requires the user to open a malicious file. TrendMicro's Peter Girnus, who discovered and reported the flaw, proposed it could be a workaround for CVE-2023-36025 or CVE-2024-21412 that DarkGate malware operators misused.

Computing

Microsoft is axing this seven-year-old Windows app

Someone using Paint 3D on a tablet with a stylus.

As spotted by Windows Central, Paint 3D will stop receiving updates and be removed from the Microsoft Store on November 4 of this year. Although it was once intended as a replacement for the classic Paint program, Paint 3D will be outlived by its predecessor and some of its best features have been transferred to the older app instead.

However, anyone who downloads Paint 3D before the cutoff date should be able to carry on using it past November.

Computing

This Windows Update exploit is downright terrifying

Windows Update running on a laptop.

Windows Update may occasionally backfire with faulty patches, but for the most part, it's meant to keep us safe from the latest threats. Microsoft regularly pushes new patches that address potential vulnerabilities. But what if there were a tool that could undo every Windows Update and leave your PC exposed to all the threats Microsoft thought it had already fixed? Bad news: Such a tool now exists, and it's called Windows Downdate.

Don't worry, though. You're safe from Windows Downdate -- at least for now. The tool was developed as a proof-of-concept by SafeBreach researcher Alon Leviev, and although its potential is nothing short of terrifying, it was made in good faith as an example of something called "white-hat hacking," where researchers try to find vulnerabilities before malicious threat actors can do it first.