ZDNET’s key takeaways
- Final month’s Patch Tuesday replace can break File Historical past in Home windows.
- A repair is offered by means of a brand new optionally available preview replace.
- However the repair doesn’t apply to Home windows 11 23H2 or Home windows 10.
Home windows customers who depend on File Historical past to again up and get well essential information might stumble upon issues after putting in the September safety replace.
In its Data Base help pages for the September 8 Patch Tuesday rollout, Microsoft revealed that some Home windows customers who put in the replace could also be unable to create or run backups by means of File Historical past.
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These affected may even see a message telling them to reconnect their drive, even when a backup drive is linked and dealing appropriately. Additional, the timestamp for the final backup may not get refreshed, whereas information beforehand backed up efficiently may show an error stating that no earlier model is offered.
All present variations of Home windows 11 are affected, together with Windows 11 26H1, 25H2 and 24H2, and 23H2. Windows 10 can also be affected, as individuals who’ve registered for Prolonged Safety Updates (ESU) proceed to obtain month-to-month safety updates.
test should you’re affected
In case you assume you’ve been hit by this bug, you may test the Home windows Occasion Viewer for software crash occasions that reference FileHistory.exe or KERNELBASE.dll.
To do that, right-click the Begin button and choose Occasion Viewer. Within the left sidebar, increase the part for Home windows Logs and click on Software. In the proper pane, choose Filter Present Log. Set the Occasion degree to Error. Beneath Occasion sources, choose Software Error. Click on OK. Within the outcomes, search for any point out of FileHistory.exe or KERNELBASE.dll.
File Historical past has lengthy been a staple of Home windows, serving as a helpful option to again up and restore essential folders and information, together with these out of your consumer account and such areas as Paperwork, Music, Photos, Movies, and Desktop. Although Microsoft nonetheless technically helps it, the corporate treats it as a legacy function, and so it’s not in growth. As a substitute, Microsoft pushes customers to make use of OneDrive or the Home windows Backup program to again up, sync, and get well information.
Additionally: How to back up your files in Windows with File History
Nonetheless, sufficient folks possible proceed to make use of File Historical past that any glitch stopping it from working must be mounted. And that’s simply what Microsoft has accomplished, a minimum of for the newest iterations of Home windows.
A brand new Home windows 11 preview replace launched on Tuesday patches the bug in order that File Historical past ought to begin working correctly once more. That is an optionally available replace, so that you’ll need to seize it your self. Head to Settings, choose Home windows Replace. Search for an replace named 2026-09 Preview Replace adopted by a KB quantity.
The KB quantity will fluctuate relying in your Home windows 11 version. Customers of Home windows 11 26H1 will discover KB5124006 ready for them. Those that run Home windows 11 25H2 or 25H2 will uncover KB5124010. Simply click on the Obtain & set up hyperlink to run it. Despite the fact that it is a preview replace, which will be buggy, that is your solely possibility for now should you rely on File Historical past. If not, you may wait till the October Patch Tuesday rollout, which can carry the identical repair.
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OK, however what about Home windows 11 23H2 and Home windows 10? Properly, that’s one other story. Microsoft not helps model 23H2, whereas Home windows 10 is supported solely by means of the ESU updates. In case you want File Historical past on both of those two programs, the corporate says it’s engaged on a repair for the problem, which can be launched in a future Home windows replace.
