Microsoft is finally delivering on its promise to address a printing issue holding back the latest Windows 11 upgrade.
A troubleshooting fixes the print gremlin on the affected machines. And if that problem blocked the 22H2 update from installing for you, there’s even better news.
“Once the issue with the installed printer has been resolved, protection should be removed and you should be able to upgrade to Windows 11, version 22H2,” the update said.
Some PC users who tried to jump the Windows 11 22H2 found that it might cause them to experience connectivity issues with printers that depended on the Universal Print Class or the IPP Class drivers. As a result, the printers reverted to default settings and were unable to use printer-specific capabilities.
In practice, this meant the printer wouldn’t offer color, double-sided, or double-sided printing, and custom settings would go out the window, along with processing anything at resolutions above 300 dpi.
Microsoft blocked the compatibility of Windows devices that use printers with those specific drivers — preventing them from upgrading to version 22H2 — and offered workarounds for those who didn’t want to wait for the official fix.
Even now that this troubleshooting update is available (it should be downloaded and installed automatically), it will take up to 48 hours for the 22H2 upgrade to Windows 11 to be offered, even if there are no other blockers. Redmond’s engineers said rebooting the system and checking for updates can speed up the process.
To manually address the issue, you can uninstall and reinstall all printers that use the two specific drivers, forcing Windows to use the latest versions.
There have been other issues, including changes to Jordan’s daylight saving time.
Curiously, there are also reliability issues with SSL/TLS handshakes when establishing secure connections and when logging in with Windows Hello, which may not work as expected after an upgrade to Windows 11 22H2. Microsoft issued a workaround — essentially saying users could log in with passwords instead of using facial or fingerprint recognition or a PIN — and earlier this month resolved the issue.
Microsoft is still investigating issues using provisioning packs with the latest update – the company suggests provisioning the Windows device before updates to version 22H2 to prevent the issue until an update is included in the next release. There is also a compatibility issue between Windows 11 and certain versions of Intel Smart Sound Technology (SST) drivers, which may result in a blue screen. ®