Microsoft has broken the Windows reset and recovery functionality so badly, it must push an out-of-band update.
While Windows 11 24H2 and Windows Server are not affected, the issue, which turned up in the August 2025 security update, has hit many other versions, including the outgoing Windows 10.
Thanks to Microsoft’s legendary approach to quality control, installing Windows patches these days is getting to be less like Russian Roulette and more like accidentally stepping on a rake left in the grass.
The problem is especially unfortunate since Microsoft issued a 60-day warning for the end of servicing for Windows 10 22H2 a few days earlier. The company’s approach to hardware compatibility means that millions of Windows 10 machines cannot be updated to Windows 11. The problem with the August 2025 security update also means that handing down an old machine could be problematic, since the “Reset my PC” function could fail.
According to Microsoft, “attempts to reset or recover the device might fail.” This could be through “Reset my PC” or “Fix problems using Windows Update” in the System/Recovery settings, or running RemoteWipe CSP.
Microsoft also confirmed that starting August 12, “some Windows upgrades might fail with error code 0x8007007F.” The problem affected the upgrade from Windows 10 to Windows 11 23H2 and 22H2, as well as Windows Server upgrades. The company reckoned the issue had been fixed by August 15, and the error should have gone away. However, if the code comes up, “retrying the upgrade process will typically resolve the issue.”
Comforting. Almost like waving away errors Microsoft acknowledged were caused by in-development code bobbing to the surface of production environments.
Affected users cannot ignore the reset and recovery issue, and there is no simple workaround, so Microsoft will be patching the patch ahead of the next scheduled round of updates. The company said: “Microsoft is working to release an out-of-band update for the affected platforms to resolve this issue in the coming days.”
In the meantime, affected users will have to hold off recovering or resetting their devices. ®
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