Microsoft claims to have fixed Windows Metadata connection issues which continue to plague customers, causing problems for users trying to manage their printers and other hardware.
When new hardware is added to a Windows computer, the operating system connects to a Microsoft-operated website called the Windows Metadata and Internet Services to download metadata packages associated with the particular hardware.
These metadata packages contain information about the hardware, such as its model name, description, OEM provider, various properties and actions, and the device's associated hardware categories.
This information is then used in various Window dialogs, such as the Devices and Printers settings page.
BleepingComputer was told by an admin dealing with these errors that the inability to connect to the Windows Metadata services is causing problems in their organization.
These problems include 4-5 minute delays when troubleshooting printer problems or adding and deleting print queues, usually leading to support tickets being filed about the issues.
For a large organization with thousands of Windows devices, this can quickly become a problem for IT staff.
Windows admins had short-lived happiness this week, as Microsoft released the Windows 10 KB5034763 and Windows 11 KB5034765 cumulative updates as part of the February 2024 Patch Tuesday with what they claim is a fix for the Window Metadata connection issues.
These updates both state that they resolve the problems connecting to the Windows Metadata servers, and as an added bonus, the connection will be over HTTPS, making them more secure.
After installing the updates, BleepingComputer can confirm that the new Metadata server URL, https://go.
Microsoft has failed to associate an IP address to devicemetadataservice.
Trafficmanager.net in DNS, causing connection attempts to fail.
Other Windows admins report seeing similar Event ID 201 errors in Event Viewer after installing the update.
It is unclear why Microsoft disabled the Metadata servers in the first place and why they are not bringing them back online as expected.
BleepingComputer contacted Microsoft about this issue yesterday but has not received a response to our email.
Windows 10 KB5034203 preview update adds EU DMA compliance.
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This Cyber News was published on www.bleepingcomputer.com. Publication date: Thu, 15 Feb 2024 20:05:17 +0000