Oh, what is the exact change? (If you know it) I boot using UEFI but I have Secure Boot disabled since I also have OpenCore to boot macOS Big Sur
I didn't test yet, but even if you manage to install on Windows 8.1, some components will be missing, and some components from previous installed Rollup will revert to older versions
Well, how would I even install it on 8.1 given I get this kernel panic? Only way to "install" it would be knowing which files were removed and then get the remainder from an updated 2012R2 install
Well you can't. They stripped the update of the client packages (what installs on 8.1), so very few bits get installed, and files get removed, in turn causing this. The only fix is staying on the June update.
Ok so I managed to get something to install by decompressing the cab in the msu and then giving the folder to Dism++. Out of the 3046 packages, it installed only 70, and upon reboot, nothing changed. Build was still 9600.22620. RIP Windows 8.1.
If you already installed, shut down and turn on your PC a couple of times, then Automatic Repair will load. Use System Restore and roll back your PC like that.
Spoiler: Legacy BIOS BSOD It's gone... I downloaded the updates yesterday and been testing on a VM. Reverted to an older snapshot. Deleted the update. I'll still be testing the Internet Explorer KB5062558 that also changed applicability on the manifest to server only. My two cents. Thank you. P.S.:
It seem KB5062597 Not compatible with 8.1. Don't Install It. If you Install it you can't boot OS. Tested on BIOS boot mode@VMWare.
This may or may not have been intentional from Microsoft's part. We should wait to see what happens next month, and if this leads to unintentionally bricked PCs. I wouldn't dare to be a guinea pig on a live system. Correct. See my post #429 above, and this thread: https://forums.mydigitallife.net/posts/1883989 My two cents. Thank you. P.S.: Continued at: https://forums.mydigitallife.net/threads/windows-8-1-hotfix-repository.47590/page-187
I installed today's esu on a 8.1 x64 VM (VMW 17.6.3+VM17.5.x or later HW version+UEFI+Secure Boot), no errors during installation. But when restarts, OS can't boot. Then I tried to restore the system using System Restore, it failed
On legacy BIOS systems, a two-reset process triggers automatic recovery, allowing you to use restore points. However, it's crucial to avoid installing the July 2025 update, as it's confirmed to be faulty. The problem is specific to the 2025-07 Monthly Quality Rollup KB5062597. The Internet Explorer July 2025 update doesn't break. My two cents. Thank you.
My Server 2012 R2 Datacenter Desktop Experience VM boots with no issues. I don't know whether to try retrieving files from it (in groups) and using them on my laptop. UPDATE: I did it and now I get a BSOD with error 0xc000021a. I need to restore to original now, and then figure out by trial and error which file is causing the issue.
I was able to boot with the updated ntoskrnl.exe. Up until this point, most System32 files coming from a Server 2012 R2 install, show no signs of issues on my laptop. Problematic files so far include win32k.sys, win32spl.dll, wow64.dll and wow64cpu.dll in System32, and gdi32.dll, kernel32.dll and kernelbase.dll in SysWOW64.
No warranties reserved, expressed, implied, or otherwise. Do not try this on a production system. It is merely a proof-of-concept. Read this first for awareness: https://forums.mydigitallife.net/posts/1884181 Thank you! These are the suckers: Code: "winload.exe","6.3.9600.22668","14-Jun-2025","00:46","1,545,992" "winload.efi","6.3.9600.22668","14-Jun-2025","00:46","1,689,576" "winresume.exe","6.3.9600.22668","14-Jun-2025","00:46","1,377,112" "winresume.efi","6.3.9600.22668","14-Jun-2025","00:46","1,505,656" I did this before the reboot of KB5062597 using super user: Code: copy C:\Windows\System32\winload.efi C:\Windows\System32\winload.ef_ copy C:\Windows\System32\winload.exe C:\Windows\System32\winload.ex_ copy C:\Windows\System32\winresume.efi C:\Windows\System32\winresume.ef_ copy C:\Windows\System32\winresume.exe C:\Windows\System32\winresume.ex_ The good: KB5061018 amd64_microsoft-windows-b..vironment-os-loader_31bf3856ad364e35_6.3.9600.22615_none_4cbb3d02598209d6 The bad: KB5062597 amd64_microsoft-windows-b..vironment-os-loader_31bf3856ad364e35_6.3.9600.22668_none_4c882e4459a7e190 And I restored the good boot using the recovery environment.
The good news is that this works. The bad news is that a lot of files will be downgraded. Despite my kernel was the latest one, the revision returned to 9600.20337. I will copy back the updated files I extracted from the Server install.