Update and shut down no longer restarts PC, 25H2 patch addresses decades-old bug

taubek | 119 points

"Microsoft shipped a broken “Update and shut down” toggle with Windows 10, and it never acknowledged it until now."

I guess they know what's best for the user base, and this was obviously deemed not important. But boy did they get Copilot integrated in everything post haste.

Typical Microsoft hubris.

SirFatty | 2 days ago

I had often reboots followed by more update installation and then a shutdown, so I assumed this was working as intended (i.e. finish installing the updates, which might require a reboot, and then power off).

ale42 | 2 days ago

That was a bug? I always thought it was because of my dual boot configuration.

waltbosz | 2 days ago

Looking at the rest of their recent update history, this likely just broke...

Task failed successfully.

cybrox | 2 days ago

For a long time, windows had two options:

1. Update and restart and prompt for bitlocker password and update and restart and prompt for bitlocker password and restart

2. Update and restart and prompt for bitlocker password and update and restart and prompt for bitlocker password and shut down (and restart)

Finally, they fixed the last bit of option 2

yalue | 2 days ago

I can't believe I'm alive to witness this.

poolnoodle | 2 days ago

My laptop did something like it last night but not exactly : it booted from HIBERNATION to apply updates and reboot. Auto updates have been turned off for a while and yet this happens. You can't trust micro$oft for even the smallest thing. Edit: And I'm fairly sure this is a wanted malicious behavior. The thing was hibernating for quite a time before doing it, like it would wait for me to leave the office/for the computer to be in a bag on the way back home and I wouldn't notice what happened.

hollow-moe | 2 days ago

I noticed Windows's start menu only updates certain tracked files (e.g., remove deleted files) on a normal shutdown + start, and not on a restart.

Which is odd because I was under the impression a restart is the only "true" shutdown due to fastboot behavior.

I didn't look too much into it and chalked it up to a quirk of Windows start menu behavior in tracking recent files.

8cvor6j844qw_d6 | 2 days ago

Oh so it wasn't a business decision for such horrible behavior,it was an actual bug.

Fire-Dragon-DoL | 8 hours ago

I wonder if they'll backport this fix to Windows 10 (Very much doubt).

I also wonder if they'll ever fix the menu entry delay bug. At the moment neither of the "Update and ..." options is in the menu when you first open it. Opening the shutdown menu then checks if there are updates available to install and will then add those options, shifting the existing menu entries. Which makes it incredibly easy to quickly click on an option you didn't want.

aaronmdjones | 2 days ago

This happened to me last night! I was going to bed and I clicked Update and Shut Down, then I went in to the other room.

After a few minutes I could see the blue glow of my Windows background shining on the wall.

Glad it is fixed!

AJRF | 2 days ago

I’ve always assumed it’s either just something my corporate laptops like to do (my older HP would often switch itself back on even when you told it to shut down, forgetting about any updates), or that I had just clicked the wrong button.

Well, guess that’s my mentally stability so slightly restored!

portugueasey | 2 days ago

Microsoft denied a bug for a decade that harmed 100% of users every month in an obvious way.

It is the denial that is so very Microsoft.

xbar | 2 days ago

I have always blamed my Dell desktop for this.

Incredible.

AaronAPU | 2 days ago

About time... I guess

SurceBeats | 2 days ago

Oh. My God.

Finally.

fennecfoxy | 2 days ago

For me 25H2 was the first update that didn't update and shut down. All the previous ones did (on multiple computers).

TiredOfLife | 2 days ago

it'd be nice if Microsoft paid just a bit of attention to the immutable/atomic Linux ecosystem a bit and if they could finally ship an OS that wasn't always a dearly loved "pet".

pity to those who have to work on/with this jank.

riffic | 2 days ago

How dare you shut down such a great operating system?

OCTAGRAM | 2 days ago

Seriously, on a Linux system, I update everything except the kernel without a reboot. Why can’t Windows do this?

chris_wot | 2 days ago

What a joke of an OS and company.

throwaway106382 | 2 days ago