Microsoft blocks Patch Tuesday update for some Dell PCs due to performance issues

Microsoft has paused July 2026 Patch Tuesday updates for some Dell PCs after an Intel driver conflict caused performance and battery issues.

Microsoft rolled out Patch Tuesday updates for Windows 11 and Windows 10 ESU yesterday, touting a massive 570 vulnerabilities patched. This feat was made possible due to the recent integration of AI-assisted methodologies to detect security issues across Microsoft products. While all that sounds great, the company has now decided to halt the rollout of these updates on select PCs due to performance issues.

In an update on its Windows Release Health dashboard, Microsoft has noted that some Dell devices recently began displaying an exclamation mark next to the Intel Innovation Platform Framework Processor Participant driver in Device Manager, indicating a possible issue.

This happened after installing the KB5095093 optional preview update made available on June 23, 2026. For those unaware, this release acts as a precursor to Patch Tuesday, enabling IT admins to preview the bundled enhancements before they become generally available in a couple of weeks. You can read more about Microsoft's Windows Update mechanism here.

PCs which encountered this issue experienced degraded performance, increased temperatures, battery drain, and unexpected shutdowns.

Microsoft claims that Dell reported this issue during internal testing and a subsequent investigation revealed that it was happening due to an incompatibility with an Intel driver and a new Windows USB-C Connection Manager interface made available in KB5095093.

While Microsoft partners with Dell to resolve this issue in a concrete manner, it has decided not to make July 2026's Patch Tuesday (KB5105610) available to affected Dell configurations. This makes sense considering the aforementioned severity of the bug which could drastically hamper workflows.

Microsoft has noted that this incompatibility only affects Windows 11 version 25H2 and 24H2, while server editions and Windows 10 remain unaffected. However, the firm has not shared when it plans to release a fix and it has not revealed any further details about affected configurations either.

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Posted Wednesday 15 July 2026 at 5:11 pm AEST (my time).

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