Windows 10 Frozen Due to Update Issues as of May 9 2026

Timothy Angelone 25

Let me preface this by stating that there seems to be widespread issues with pcs running Windows 10 and 11 as of May 9 2026. I have never had this happen before. Then out of the blue one of my Dell desktops running Windows 10 just inexplicably began freezing up after a few minutes. Based upon information I have gathered this is due to the most recent Windows updates. Unfortunately every attempt I have made to remedy this has failed including trying to RESET WINDOWS 10 and trying to uninstall the most recent update which is said to be the root cause. My PC is running but is frozen. This is very frustrating. What is Microsoft doing to fix this?

Timothy Angelone 25 Reputation points

2026-05-10T13:22:47.66+00:00

It is now May 10 2026. I tried to uninstall the most recent quality updates via the recovery area and received an error message that states that the most recent quality updates cannot be uninstalled. I then tried to reset my pc and received an error message. This is infuriating! 2 days and still no fix? sorry, but this is unacceptable. I have owned this same Dell desktop for many years and have never run into issue like this prior to the dodgy update. Please do something to address and fix this.
Daniel See 20 Reputation points

2026-05-12T11:34:24.5033333+00:00

I am also seeing a full system wide freeze on my Dell Machine - OptiPlex 3040 running Windows 10 latest public update.
Doug Mavay 0 Reputation points

2026-05-17T06:49:38.1933333+00:00

I had the same problem following Win 11 May 2026 Update. I've used Daniel See's solution, and it works - for me anyway! Thanks Daniel. I have no idea of the consequences of turning off Secure Boot in the BIOS.
bob dole 0 Reputation points

2026-05-18T08:01:29.8766667+00:00

Yea the may 15 update basically bricked my my computer.

It would boot up fine then 3-5 mins it would totally freeze my computer.

I want no Microsoft updates any more. Ill take my chances with with the internet.

If anyone is wondering? I really dont know. After 20 times I restarted it said going back to normal or something like that. God damn know i know why people say avoide win 11.
LSF 0 Reputation points

2026-05-20T15:06:07.7066667+00:00

My husband and I have the same issue on both our computers (Windows 10 with extended support). After a recent update, both our computers freeze shortly after booting. We each were able to access recovery mode only once. I tried to go back to an earlier restore point but once Windows loaded, the screen froze and the changes could not be completed. My husband was able to uninstall the last update and his computer was fine, but Microsoft downloaded the update again before he could stop it and now he is back to a system that freezes. Microsoft needs to provide a fix for this. Both our computers are not usable and we paid for extended support!
Gremlin 0 Reputation points

2026-06-14T20:29:58.9566667+00:00

I've got two separate machines that are also exhibitng this exact behaviour, it'd be great if Microsoft could actually fix the issue.
Michael D 0 Reputation points

2026-06-24T03:30:51.5166667+00:00

Thank you. I just saw this tonight. I thought I was the only one with this problem or I am just getting old (74). Since right around May 9 my Lenovo, Windows 11, has been freezing. I thought it had something to do with the updates. Frustrating isn't the word for it but I won't put in here. So what can I (we) do about it. I will keep looking for fixes. Again, thanks, just so I don't drive myself crazy.
Todd Reser 0 Reputation points

2026-06-24T18:00:09.84+00:00

One of my Dell Inspiron 3250 (with BIOS 3.11.1) systems running Windows 10 extended support recently started randomly locking up after boot at different times. Disabling Secure boot in the BIOS has resolved the problem temporarily. I see there is an updated BIOS 3.12.1 which is "supposed to fix this problem" and allow me to turn secure boot back on. Hoping this might help others. Haven't tried it yet, but will https://www.dell.com/support/home/en-us/drivers/driversdetails?driverid=k07n5
Todd Reser 0 Reputation points

2026-06-25T14:37:56.28+00:00

Completed the BIOS update to version 3.12.1 on my Dell Inspiron 3250 yesterday and can still use "Secure Boot" in the BIOS now. I have had zero problems in the last 24 hours. Computer used to lock up within 5 to 7 minutes maximum after the last Microsoft Security Update.
Aleksandr 0 Reputation points

2026-09-11T08:36:04.8433333+00:00

Thank you! Your solution helped me as well.

I have a Dell Vostro 3900 running Windows 10 Pro 22H2 (build 19045), with BIOS A10, UEFI and Secure Boot enabled.

After the recent Windows updates, my system started experiencing complete hard freezes about 5 minutes after boot. The computer became totally unresponsive and required a forced power-off. Hardware diagnostics did not show any problems.

I eventually found this discussion and tried the suggested solution. I disabled the scheduled task:

Microsoft\Windows\PI\Secure-Boot-Update

After rebooting, the freezes disappeared. My Vostro 3900 has now been running normally for more than 50 minutes.

This is especially interesting because I had previously spent a considerable amount of time troubleshooting the system, and at one point even had to reinstall Windows. The problem eventually returned after Windows updates.

So far, disabling Secure-Boot-Update appears to have solved exactly the same problem on my Vostro 3900.

Thank you for sharing this solution — it saved me a lot of time and frustration!

Answer recommended by moderator

LTP 10

I had the same Windows 10 Windows locking up issue with the June 9th 2026 patch.

Based on your suggested fix, I did an internet search for details and found this attached instruction (see image I attached) that says after turning off Secure Boot in Safe Mode and logging into Windows, you should disable a certain item in Windows Task Scheduler. Then, log back out of Windows, reboot in Safe Mode, re-enable Secure Boot, save and re-log into Windows. I wouldn't have gotten there, however, without You providing the first steps which I did my search on.

I did these additional steps beyond what you suggested and my machine has been working now for 30 minutes without freezing up. 1000031568

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8 additional answers

nobuko c 125.1K Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-05-09T22:57:42.2133333+00:00

Hello,

First, please check the official Windows Release Health pages for Windows 10 and Windows 11:

Windows 10 22H2: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/release-health/status-windows-10-22h2

Windows 11 25H2: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/release-health/status-windows-11-25h2

As of May 9, 2026, Microsoft has not published any known issues related to system freezes.

The most recent updates were released in April (Windows 10: KB5082200 on April 14, Windows 11: KB5083631 preview on April 30).

Because of this, it is not possible to determine whether a recently released update is responsible for the issue.

If your system freezes before you can uninstall updates or perform a reset, one option is to perform an offline in‑place upgrade using a Windows ISO file.

When this is done offline, the system will revert to the build version contained in the ISO.

For Windows 11, recent testing confirmed that this method restored the system to a build from around March.

Steps:

Download the ISO file from the official Microsoft website.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows11

Open Control Panel → Network and Sharing Center → Change adapter settings.

Right‑click your network adapter and select Disable to go fully offline.

Open the downloaded ISO file and run setup.exe.

Proceed with the in‑place upgrade while remaining offline.

After the desktop appears, open Settings → Windows Update and temporarily pause updates to prevent newer updates from reinstalling immediately.

This method can repair system files and restore stability without deleting your personal data.
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nobuko c 125.1K Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-05-11T21:54:05.9366667+00:00

When the in‑place upgrade is performed offline, the system will revert to the build version contained in the ISO image.

For Windows 11, using the current ISO image restores the system to a state with updates from around March 2026 applied.

Windows 10 has not been tested in this scenario, but an offline in‑place upgrade will roll the system back to the older build included in the ISO (the exact build number has not been verified).

David Eatock 0 Reputation points

2026-06-17T21:02:24.92+00:00

Wish I had found these comments back on May 15 when my 2013 Dell Inspiron 660 i5 desktop crashed. I spent two full days trying repair and recovery steps, but on day three re-installed Windows 10 via USB boot drive. Did end up with clean system compared to the former environment (that still looked like Win 8). My luck ran out this past Monday afternoon with latest Windows update for June. 2nd fresh OS install, and have now paused updates until July 23. I activated OneDrive (now available due to the fresh OS install) so I could get my 20-plus years of photos and music into cloud storage. A one-year-old HP Ryzen7 Victus desktop is ready to be my everyday PC if necessary. Guess 13 years for a PC is not bad, and that was after 11 years with the previous Dell Dimension desktop running XP (whose 'hi-def' video board twice got some soldering to replace capacitors). Wonder what cost difference is between having the two PCs over 23 years to having equivalent Apple gear? Think the two PCs cost me just $96 a year!
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Daniel See 20 Reputation points

2026-05-12T13:30:05.1566667+00:00

I can report as of 5/12/2026 that I fixed the full system freeze by turning off Secure Boot in my bios. There must be an issue there at which I am not qualified to diagnose...
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Scallywag 105 Reputation points

2026-05-27T19:42:58.3133333+00:00

Until Microsoft figures out a fix for this, my solution has been to disable Secure Boot in the BIOS before booting Windows. I had this happen on three computers in the past month.

Daniel See 20 Reputation points

2026-06-12T16:38:00.7166667+00:00

Please bump LTP's answer as the most accurate. This is the correct solution until Microsoft addresses the secure boot update protocol. I would recommend you to re-enable secure-boot once the task schedule has been disabled.

Nishit Patel 5 Reputation points

2026-07-23T17:56:37.9466667+00:00

My PC (Dell Inspiron 3542, 2014-era BIOS) started hard-freezing a few minutes after every single boot right after installing the June 2026 cumulative update (KB5094127). No BSOD, no error — just a complete freeze. Power button restart, works a few minutes, freezes again.

I even did a clean install of Windows earlier — didn't help, because the next update brought the problem right back. After digging around, found the actual cause.

THE CAUSE

Microsoft's original Secure Boot certificates (from 2011) expire in June 2026. Windows Update is pushing new certificates to every machine via a scheduled task called Secure-Boot-Update, which runs a few minutes after every boot and tries to write the new keys into your BIOS/UEFI firmware.

On older PCs with outdated or no-longer-supported BIOS, this write operation crashes the firmware → entire system hard-freezes. That's why it happens a few minutes after startup, every time. Reinstalling Windows does NOT fix it.

THE FIX (5 minutes, fully reversible)

Step 1 — Disable the scheduled task:

Press Win + R, type taskschd.msc, press Enter

Navigate to: Task Scheduler Library → Microsoft → Windows → PI

Right-click Secure-Boot-Update → Disable

Step 2 — Stop future updates from re-enabling it (registry):

Press Win + R, type regedit, press Enter

Navigate to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SecureBoot

Double-click AvailableUpdates → set value to 0

Right-click empty space → New → DWORD (32-bit) Value → name it HighConfidenceOptOut → set value to 1

Step 3 — Restart and use the PC normally for 15–20 minutes. If no freeze, you're done.

TIP: If the PC freezes before you can finish, restart and do Step 1 first — the task usually waits a few minutes after boot, so you have a window. Work fast.

WHAT THIS DOES / TRADE-OFF

This opts your PC out of the Secure Boot certificate rollout. On old machines with unsupported BIOS, the update can never apply properly anyway — the only thing it does is freeze your system. Your PC keeps booting normally with the old certificates.

Everything is reversible: re-enable the task and delete HighConfidenceOptOut if you ever want the update back (e.g., after a BIOS update, if your OEM ever releases one).

Standard disclaimer: this involves a registry edit — follow at your own risk. But both changes are simple and fully reversible.

Hope this saves someone the days of frustration it cost me. If this fixed your freeze, drop your PC model in the comments so others can find this thread when searching.My PC (Dell Inspiron 3542, 2014-era BIOS) started hard-freezing a few minutes after every single boot right after installing the June 2026 cumulative update (KB5094127). No BSOD, no error — just a complete freeze. Power button restart, works a few minutes, freezes again.

I even did a clean install of Windows earlier — didn't help, because the next update brought the problem right back. After digging around, found the actual cause.

THE CAUSE

Microsoft's original Secure Boot certificates (from 2011) expire in June 2026. Windows Update is pushing new certificates to every machine via a scheduled task called Secure-Boot-Update, which runs a few minutes after every boot and tries to write the new keys into your BIOS/UEFI firmware.

On older PCs with outdated or no-longer-supported BIOS, this write operation crashes the firmware → entire system hard-freezes. That's why it happens a few minutes after startup, every time. Reinstalling Windows does NOT fix it.

THE FIX (5 minutes, fully reversible)

Step 1 — Disable the scheduled task:

Press Win + R, type taskschd.msc, press Enter

Navigate to: Task Scheduler Library → Microsoft → Windows → PI

Right-click Secure-Boot-Update → Disable

Step 2 — Stop future updates from re-enabling it (registry):

Press Win + R, type regedit, press Enter

Navigate to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SecureBoot

Double-click AvailableUpdates → set value to 0

Right-click empty space → New → DWORD (32-bit) Value → name it HighConfidenceOptOut → set value to 1

Step 3 — Restart and use the PC normally for 15–20 minutes. If no freeze, you're done.

TIP: If the PC freezes before you can finish, restart and do Step 1 first — the task usually waits a few minutes after boot, so you have a window. Work fast.

WHAT THIS DOES / TRADE-OFF

This opts your PC out of the Secure Boot certificate rollout. On old machines with unsupported BIOS, the update can never apply properly anyway — the only thing it does is freeze your system. Your PC keeps booting normally with the old certificates.

Everything is reversible: re-enable the task and delete HighConfidenceOptOut if you ever want the update back (e.g., after a BIOS update, if your OEM ever releases one).

Standard disclaimer: this involves a registry edit — follow at your own risk. But both changes are simple and fully reversible.

Hope this saves someone the days of frustration it cost me. If this fixed your freeze, drop your PC model in the comments so others can find this thread when searching.
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JHey 5 Reputation points

2026-06-11T11:02:13.8233333+00:00

I had the same issue on my dell that still runs Win10. my other PCs seem fine. starts / runs fine for a couple minutes & then freezes. after much trouble shooting I eventually reinstalled windows & all my apps. was fine again for a couple weeks. then yesterday it did the 19045.7417 (Windows 10 22H2) update & after the reboot, the freezing issue returned. I tried a couple ways to uninstall the update from the reboot menu or in safe mode to avoid the freeze w/ no luck but I was able to do it w/ a normal reboot and quickly going to "View update history" & uninstalling it. thankfully it did a reboot & finished the uninstall outside of windows. then I went & disabled windows updates. it's the next day & it's still running.
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Gabriel 90 Reputation points

2026-06-14T21:02:08.56+00:00

Please see answer at https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/5829701/windows-10-freezes-every-time-5-minutes-after-star That seems to work for me.
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Windows 10 Frozen Due to Update Issues as of May 9 2026

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