Windows 11’s August patch fixes hiccups and rolls out remote recovery

Remember the summer of 2024 when a faulty CrowdStrike update crashed millions of Windows PCs around the world, resulting in chaos and scrambling IT departments? Microsoft has taken steps to avoid and mitigate similar incidents in the future with a new feature.

Windows 11 update KB5063878 includes something called Quick Machine Recovery, a new feature that allows IT administrators to remotely troubleshoot and reboot PCs that are locked out, stuck in crash loops, or otherwise rendered inoperable.

This month’s mandatory August update also includes several changes from July’s optional KB5062660 update, like improved stability and performance on PCs under certain scenarios as well as replacing the Blue Screen of Death with a simplified black screen.

As this is a mandatory update, it will automatically download and install on eligible Windows 11 24H2 systems over the next few days. If you don’t want to wait, you can either run a Windows Update check in Windows Settings or download the update via Microsoft’s Update Catalog.