Microsoft rushes out Windows fix for Dell's hot and bothered PCs

OS PLATFORMS

With a wave of the wand, affected models will go to the Patch Tuesday ball after all

Microsoft has dispatched an out-of-band update to fix an incompatibility on certain Dell models and clear the way for them to receive the July 2026 Windows security patch.

The update addresses an issue with the Intel Innovation Platform Framework drive that could "cause changes in performance, power consumption, or system behavior."

The fix has arrived for Windows 11 25H2 and 24H2 as KB5121767, with a separate OOB hotpatch, KB5121768, for eligible Windows 11 Enterprise devices enrolled in hotpatching.

It's been a few months since Microsoft last released an out-of-band update after a flurry at the start of the year. Perhaps the promises of the company's Windows boss had come to pass, and the quality of the operating system really was improving? Or perhaps not.

The glitch was identified as an incompatibility between the Intel driver and the new Windows USB-C Connection Manager interface introduced in the June 23 preview update on affected devices. Microsoft's claim of "changes" in performance is true if by "changes" it meant "slows down, overheats, and randomly shuts down."

Microsoft acted swiftly in halting the Patch Tuesday rollout for the problematic models and getting the OOB update released, allowing the affected devices to receive the bumper batch of security fixes released this month.

However, the fact that an OOB was required at all does not speak well of the Microsoft's approach to quality, particularly since the underlying issue was introduced in the previous month. ®