Windows 11 suffers more bugs in latest update, with the Start menu hit hard by some frustrating issues

A man sitting at his computer desk on his desktop with his head in his hands, looking a little frustrated.

(Image credit: Shutterstock/ Owlie Productions)

More bugs have been uncovered in Windows 11’s December update
They include some nasty problems with the Start menu falling over
There is a workaround for the Start menu problem most users are most likely to see, but only tech-savvy folks need apply

Microsoft’s December 2024 update for Windows 11 has reportedly introduced yet more frustrating issues for some users, including a bug that causes the Start menu to stop responding.

These problems, and some other glitches, have been reported for cumulative updates KB5048667 for Windows 11 24H2, and KB5048685 for Windows 11 23H2, according to Windows Latest.

There appears to be a few separate issues pertaining to Windows 11’s Start menu, the first of which is a visual glitch whereby the search theme for the menu is showing wrongly in white when the user has a dark theme in Windows.

As a dark theme user myself, I could see this being very annoying and obviously visually inconsistent, though it’s not certain this is a widespread bug by any means.

What’s more worrying is that there are seemingly bugs here which break the Start menu after applying the mentioned updates.

Windows Latest explains that the Start menu can stop working completely if Windows 11 detects that your system has an older version of a particular DLL file (MSVCP_140_APP.dll).

The tech site suggests a possible workaround that requires updating this package, but I would only recommend trying this if you’re really confident that you know what you’re doing. Otherwise, if you’re affected, the only other way out is to ditch the December 2024 update, or put up with a non-functional Start menu until Microsoft investigates this (and hopefully implements a fix).

There’s another bug in Windows 11 that seemingly causes the Start menu to fall over in a similar vein, but the average user won’t run into this, as it’s only affecting Citrix users (in businesses) who are using Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI). That one will be up to IT admins to resolve.

A woman sitting at a desk and looking at a PC monitor. She looks frustrated and is holding her temple with her fingers. — (Image credit: Shutterstock/Wasana Kunpol)

More bugginess in the latest Windows 11 update

There are other issues involving these Windows 11 patches for December that have been reported by individual users.

One is the ‘Safely Remove Hardware’ icon staying constantly on the taskbar, and a further isolated report claims that the display looks dull after installing Windows 11 23H2 KB5048685. That could be wrapped up in the HDR-related issues that Microsoft recently confirmed, perhaps.

It’s the Start menu issues which are especially worrying here, as that’s a crucial part of Windows 11 that’s hard to avoid altogether. With reports of many bugs in recent times, particularly with Windows 11 24H2, it seems like Microsoft needs to up its game and try to make cumulative updates more stable upon their release.

Hopefully, the company will be swift and on the ball when it comes to looking into, and subsequently fixing, this latest batch of reported glitches.

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Kristina is a UK-based Computing Writer, and is interested in all things computing, software, tech, mathematics and science. Previously, she has written articles about popular culture, economics, and miscellaneous other topics.

She has a personal interest in the history of mathematics, science, and technology; in particular, she closely follows AI and philosophically-motivated discussions.