Microsoft confirms it can’t fix KB5034441 0x80070643 error on Windows 10

Microsoft has officially confirmed that it will not fix the KB5034441 0x80070643 error on Windows 10. Users ran into the error in January this year, when the company released the first set of security updates for Windows 10 and Windows 11.

However, the Patch Tuesday release came with a problem of its own, the KB5034441 0x80070643 error. For those unaware, here is a brief description of the issue. Trying to install the update on Windows 10 resulted in an error message that said Error Install Failure, and it would not go away even if you tried to reinstall the update. It affected the following platforms: Windows 11 version 21H2, Windows 10 version 22H2, Windows 10 version 21H2 and Windows Server 2022.

The error was soon acknowledged as a known issue by Microsoft, and it explained that the update patched a security flaw related to the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE). Attackers could have exploited the vulnerability to bypass BitLocker encryption using WinRE. The actual problem with the update was that it could not install the update because the recovery partition was not large enough, aka insufficient disk space. FYI, the WinRE partition requires 250 megabytes of free space to install the update. Ironically, some users who experienced the error said that they do not even have a recovery partition on their computer. That’s because the update was failing to detect whether the partition existed.

Microsoft could not pull the update because of the nature of the patch, i.e. it is a high security risk that it poses, it has to be addressed. This also meant that users continued to experience the error every time they checked for updates and tried to download the package.

Microsoft says it can’t fix KB5034441 0x80070643 error via Windows Update

Users have been waiting for a fix for it for four months, and now Microsoft says it cannot fix it. As Neowin reports, a support page on the Redmond company’s website states that an automatic resolution of the KB5034441 0x80070643 error will not be available in a future Windows update. That sounds bad, but don’t worry. It doesn’t necessarily mean the problem cannot be fixed. There are solutions available for it, but Microsoft says that users will need to resolve the issue manually.

The company has provided some instructions on how to fix the issue, i.e. to increase the size of the WinRE partition. It may seem like a daunting task, but take it one step at a time, and you should be able to do it. You may want to take a look at Martin’s tutorial to learn how to fix the 0x80070643 error install failure using Disk Management.

A lot of users may not be tech-savvy to make the changes themselves. There is an easier way to extend the Windows RE Partition. Microsoft has provided a codescript that you can copy and paste in PowerShell, you can find the code here. I recommend taking a backup of your PC before trying the above script, just to be on the safer side.

Did you run into the 0x80070643 error? Share your experience with us in the comments.

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