You just want to use your PC. That’s it. But then that little notification pops up—the one telling you a restart is required. You click it, thinking it’ll be a quick five-minute process, and suddenly you’re staring at a "Diagnosing PC" screen that hasn’t moved in an hour. Honestly, it’s enough to make anyone want to switch to a typewriter.
The January 2026 Patch Tuesday just hit, and while Microsoft is busy patting itself on the back for fixing over 110 security holes, a lot of us are stuck dealing with the fallout.
Windows updates have always been a bit of a gamble. Some months are smooth. Other months, like this one, feel like you're playing Minesweeper with your operating system. If you've been seeing weird credential errors, disappearing icons, or a laptop that refuses to go to sleep, you aren't imagining things. This latest batch of updates, specifically KB5074109, is causing some very specific, very annoying headaches.
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The Remote Desktop and AVD Disaster
If you use your PC for work, especially if you connect to a remote server or use Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD), this update might have effectively locked you out.
Basically, there's a bug in the way the new Windows App handles credentials. After installing the January update, users are reporting that the login prompt simply fails to appear or refuses to accept valid passwords. It just loops. You type, it thinks, it fails.
Microsoft has actually admitted this one is a real problem. They’re working on a "Known Issue Rollback" (KIR), which is basically a way for them to remotely undo the damage without you having to uninstall the whole update. But that doesn't help you now.
If you're stuck in this loop, the current workaround is to ditch the "Windows App" temporarily and go back to the classic Remote Desktop Connection (mstsc.exe) client. It seems the older, "legacy" tool isn't hitting the same authentication wall that the fancy new app is.
Your Old Modem Just Died
This is a weird one, but it’s real.
In this update, Microsoft officially nuked support for Agere Soft Modem drivers. We’re talking about files like agrsm64.sys and smserial.sys. Now, most of you probably haven't thought about a dial-up modem since 2005. However, if you're in a specialized industry—think medical equipment, industrial controllers, or maybe just a very old laptop you keep for nostalgia—that hardware is now a paperweight.
They didn't just disable the drivers; they removed them.
The reasoning is security (CVE-2023-31096), as these ancient drivers were a massive back door for hackers. But if you actually rely on that hardware, the update basically bricked your connectivity.
The NPU "Always On" Problem
Got a brand-new "AI PC"? You might notice your battery life has tanked since Tuesday.
Laptops equipped with a Neural Processing Unit (NPU)—the chip that handles all those new Copilot features—have a bug where the NPU stays "awake" even when the laptop is supposed to be sleeping or idle. It’s like leaving your car idling in the garage all night.
The update KB5074109 was supposed to fix this, but some users on forums like Reddit and ElevenForum are reporting the opposite: the update triggered the drain for them.
- Check your Task Manager. * Look for high "System" interrupts.
- If your laptop feels hot in your bag, this is why.
Secure Boot and the 2026 Deadline
There is a ticking time bomb inside Windows right now involving Secure Boot certificates.
A lot of the certificates used to verify that your PC is "safe" to boot are set to expire in mid-2026. Microsoft is using this January update to start phased deployments of new certificates (specifically addressing CVE-2026-21265).
The problem? If the update fails halfway through or if your BIOS is too old to handle the new certificate, your PC might stop booting entirely. We've already seen reports of users getting a "Secure Boot Violation" screen after the restart.
Usually, you can fix this by temporarily disabling Secure Boot in your BIOS settings, finishing the update, and then turning it back on. But man, what a chore for a regular Tuesday.
Why Does This Keep Happening?
Honestly, Windows is just too big for its own good.
Microsoft has to make one piece of software work on millions of different hardware combinations. When they change something core—like how memory is handled in the Desktop Window Manager (DWM) to fix a zero-day exploit like CVE-2026-20805—it’s going to break something else.
In this case, the fix for DWM (which prevents hackers from peeking at your system memory) seems to be causing "black screen" flickers for people with specific multi-monitor setups.
How to actually fix the mess
If your PC is acting like it’s possessed after the January update, you don't have to just live with it.
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- The "Pause" Button: If you haven't updated yet, go to Settings > Windows Update and pause updates for at least a week. Let everyone else be the guinea pigs.
- Uninstall the KB: If you’re already buggy, go to Update History > Uninstall updates. Look for KB5074109 (or KB5073455 if you're on an older version of Windows 11) and wipe it out.
- Check the BIOS: Because of the Secure Boot changes, check your laptop manufacturer’s website (Dell, HP, Lenovo) for a BIOS update. You might need that firmware fix to make the Windows update "stick" properly.
- The Password Eye Icon: If the little "eye" icon to see your password on the login screen is gone, don't panic. It's a known cosmetic bug. It doesn't mean you've been hacked; it just means Microsoft’s UI team missed a spot.
Wait for the "Optional" preview update that usually drops in the third or fourth week of the month. Those typically contain the actual bug fixes for the problems created by the mandatory security updates.
Pro tip: If you're a gamer and you're seeing "stuttering," try disabling the "Share with Copilot" feature in the taskbar settings. Some users are reporting that the new taskbar overlay is causing frame drops in full-screen applications.
Keep an eye on the Windows Release Health dashboard. Microsoft is usually pretty quick to list these issues once the telemetry data starts rolling in, but they rarely shout about it from the rooftops. You've gotta go looking for the truth yourself.