Windows 10 users worldwide report problems installing Microsoft's January Patch Tuesday updates, getting 0x80070643 errors when attempting to install the KB5034441 security update for BitLocker.
Windows 10 creates a recovery partition, usually around 500 MB, which is not large enough to support the new Windows RE image file, causing the 0x80070643 error when attempting to install the update.
In a test by BleepingComputer this morning, a brand new install of Windows 10 using the latest ISO from Microsoft created a 522MB WinRE partition.
Even this new install has a partition that is too small, causing the KB5034441 security update not to install and display a 0x80070643 error.
The only solution Microsoft has offered at this point is to create a larger Windows Recovery Partition so there is enough room for the security update to install.
As the Windows Recovery Partition is created on the same disk as the C: partition, you must shrink the C: partition by 250 MBs and use that newly unallocated space to create a bigger Recovery Partition.
Microsoft had previously shared a support bulletin describing how to shrink the C: partition by 250 MB and create a new Recovery Partition using the reagentc.
Exe is a command line tool to manage the device's disk partition and volumes.
Instead, you should wait for a solution from Microsoft, which may offer an automated way to recreate a larger Windows Recovery partition.
There is always the risk of damaging partitions when shrinking and expanding them, so it is strongly advised that you back up your data before proceeding.
Shrink the OS partition and prepare the disk for a new recovery partition.
To select the OS disk, run sel disk
This should be the same disk index as WinRE. To check the partition under the OS disk and find the OS partition, run list part.
To select the OS partition, run sel part.
To select the WinRE partition, run sel part.
To delete the WinRE partition, run delete partition override.
First, check if the disk partition style is a GUID Partition Table or a Master Boot Record.
If there is an asterisk character, then the drive is GPT. Otherwise, the drive is MBR. If your disk is GPT, run create partition primary id=de94bba4-06d1-4d40-a16a-bfd50179d6ac followed by the command gpt attributes =0x8000000000000001.
If your disk is MBR, run create partition primary id=27.
After completing these steps, reboot Windows and check for updates in Windows Update to try and install the KB5034441 security update again.
BleepingComputer has been told by a Windows 10 user that this update failed on their device even with a Windows RE partition that is 1 GB in size.
This Cyber News was published on www.bleepingcomputer.com. Publication date: Wed, 10 Jan 2024 17:05:04 +0000