PSA: Keyboard/mouse won't work in WinRE after October 2025 Patch Tuesday
Posted by WPHero@reddit | sysadmin | View on Reddit | 4 comments
Microsoft broke the mouse/keyboard in WinRE. Means you can't really use it.
"After installing the Windows security update released on October 14, 2025 (KB5066835), USB devices, such as keyboards and mice, do not function in the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE). This issue prevents navigation of any of the recovery options within WinRE. Note that the USB keyboard and mouse continue to work normally within the Windows operating system." -- https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/release-health/status-windows-11-24h2#3696msgdesc
Was driving our IT team crazy on a Saturday, but replacing the WinRE image from an older ISO works: https://www.windowslatest.com/2025/10/18/microsoft-confirms-windows-11-october-2025-update-breaks-winre-recovery-input/
RainStormLou@reddit
it's funny what Microsoft doesn't test before deploying. you'd think they'd have the resources.
Alaknar@reddit
Well, yeah, but then the shareholders would be grumpy, and nobody wants grumpy shareholders, nuh-uh!
Kuipyr@reddit
No need, copilot says it g2g.
GremlinNZ@reddit
This is what happens when they fire their QA team. They don't get punished for this crap, so it doesn't cost them...