- Windows 10 recently got a patch tinkering with the Recovery Environment
- Some users are seeing an error message saying the patch failed to install
- In fact, the update installed just fine, and the error message is the error
Some Windows 10 users are encountering an error message after applying a fresh patch for the operating system, informing them that the update failed – when in fact it didn’t.
Neowin spotted the update in question (known as KB5057589) which was released last week (separately from the main cumulative update for April) and tinkers with the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) on some Windows 10 PCs (versions 21H2 and 22H2).
Far from all Windows 10 users will get this, then, but those who do might be confronted by an error message after it has installed (which is visible in the Windows Update settings page).
It reads: “0x80070643 – ERROR_INSTALL_FAILURE.”
That looks alarming, of course, and seeing this, you’re going to make the fair assumption that the update has failed. However, as mentioned, the error isn’t with the update, but the actual error message itself.
Microsoft explains: “This error message is not accurate and does not impact the update or device functionality. Although the error message suggests the update did not complete, the WinRE update is typically applied successfully after the device restarts.”
Microsoft further notes that the update may continue to display as ‘failed’ (when it hasn’t) until the next check for updates, after which the error message should be cleared from your system.
Analysis: Bugs in the bugs
There’s nothing wrong here, in short, except the error itself, but that’s going to confuse folks, and maybe send them down some unnecessary – and potentially lengthy – rabbit holes in order to find further information, or a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist.
The trouble is what’s compounding this is that the whole WinRE debacle has been a long-running affair. A patch for this was previously released in January 2025 most recently, and there were others before that, with some folks witnessing repeated installations of this WinRE fix, which is confusing in itself.
That’s why those rabbit holes that you might get lost down could end up seeming so deep if you don’t manage to catch Microsoft’s clarification on this matter.
Microsoft says it’s working to resolve this errant error and will let us know when that happens. At least you’re now armed with the knowledge that the update should be fine despite what the error – in block capitals plastered across your screen – tells you (and it should be cleared from your PC in a short time).
