Windows 11 Moment 5 (KB5035942) causing install issues, BSOD, black desktop screen

Microsoft began rolling out its Moment 5 feature update for Windows 11 initially at the end of February via a KB5034848 update. Microsoft labels such updates as Configuration Updates.

This past week, the update was made available to all Windows 11 users via KB5035942 as an optional update. However, several users online are reporting installation issues, and some of the affected who are managing to complete the installation and setup are further experiencing black screen issues on startup.

The problems came to our attention when we found several posts on the Microsoft Community forum with users complaining that they were having installation-related issues with the said update.

User OnlyAlex22 reported that they were unable to verify whether KB5035942 was successfully installed. At the time of writing, 11 others upvoted this query as they are seemingly experiencing something similar. They write:

KB5035942 and KB5036035 were both available as updates on my Windows 11 PCs. I installed them on two devices successfully, but on one device KB5036035 got stuck at down

 

loading 98% for hours. KB5035942 installed fine.

As the second KB got stuck, I restarted the device and it said 'installing updates' and then I noticed KB5036035 was available again and downloaded and installed fine with a further restart.

The problem is, I cannot find KB5035942 listed in Windows Update history as installed today like on all my other PCs or available to uninstall.

I can see though that it has I think been installed through reliability history.

How do I know if this KB has been installed correctly and do I need to be concerned that it's not showing in Windows Update history or available to uninstall?

In a separate post, another user Margaret Foster1 faced something similar:

I have Windows11 23H2 and kb5035942 will not install it keeps saying something went wrong and no worries we are undoing the install? I have tried to install manually and it says it is already installed but the update notification still remains and say a restart is required.

Yet another user J9b_361 says the update failed to install with an error code "0x80188309."

The system can Blue Screen too as user Nikhil Katiyar_CH notes:

With the latest release of KB5035942, we have observed that most of the machines are getting prompted for 'Automatic Repair", or "Blue Screen Error". The count of crashed machines is increasing with each installing the update.

At the time of writing, eight others have upvoted this query.

Meanwhile, some of those who manage to install the update can run into a black desktop screen. Steve H writes on their Feedback Hub post:

Windows Update KB5035942 is causing Startup problems

 

After installing KB5035942 the computer restarts and then the screen goes blank. Only the mouse is visible.
I uninstalled this update and it installed again in the Widows update. I tried using wushowhide but it did not appear on the list of updates to hide.

Another user Josh H writes:

Black desktop background after KB5035942 preview update

 

My workstation updated overnight. The first time logging in, after a while my desktop background image renders, but if I do things like create a drag-select box, that region of the desktop gets repainted as a black background. The black desktop behavior persists after a reboot. After rebooting and logging in, my desktop background image has yet to display at all.

Barring any roadblocking bugs, Microsoft will release the Moment 5 update for everyone along with the April "Patch Tuesday" update (which used to be reserved for fixing problems with Windows) on Windows 11 23H2. One can only hope that Microsoft is able to identify the issues that some are having with installing the optional Moment 5 update before the compulsory global roll-out.

If you installed KB5035942 on your Windows 11 PC, let us know in the comments below if it was a smooth operation or whether it led to problems.

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