ByWindows 11 KB5051987 February 2025 update is one of the biggest releases in the past few months, but it is not installing for some users and causing other problems. In our tests, when we updated our Windows 11 24H2 installation to MB5051987, our HP Specter camera stopped working. Moreover, this update breaks File Explorer.
Windows 11 KB5051987 has a major problem where File Explorer does not respond when you try to open folders, such as Desktop, Documents, or Photos. Worst, we’ve also observed that File Explorer does not open when you try to access it via the desktop shortcut or use Windows Search.
However, File Explorer hasn’t crashed and is still running in the background, so you’ll find the explorer.exe process in the Task Manager. One user told Windows Latest that File Explorer’s interface is not completely broken because they can still open Home and Gallery through the sidebar. No other folders will opened.
If you try to click on a folder’s arrow in the sidebar to expand its subfolders so you can see them, nothing will happen. You’ll not be able to view the content. It’s unclear what’s going on because File Explorer has not crashed and is not completely broken. It seems to be related to certain parts of File Explorer, which are having issues.
Windows Latest has received over 30+ reports with complaints of strange File Explorer experiences after installing Windows 11 KB5051987.
“Same thing,” noted one user and confirmed that they had similar issues after the February 2025 update.
“Only I tried a system restore first, and now I get a black desktop.” I cannot uninstall this service pack KB5051987 from Dos or Mozilla. A reload seems to be the only way left,” he added.
We’re not sure if File Explorer conflicts with the third-party customization tool, but that doesn’t appear to be the case for everyone because File Explorer doesn’t work even on a vanilla installation. However, we recommend deleting third-party tools and rebooting the system to see if it makes a difference.
It’s also important to note that Windows 11 KB5051987 is a compulsory security update, so it will install automatically whether you like it or not. If you’ve File Explorer issues, you’ll need to manually uninstall the patch and pause updates for up to three weeks or wait for the February 2025 optional patch.
Windows 11 KB5051987 is not installed, is too slow to download, or attempts to install multiple times.
Windows Latest has also noticed that Windows 11 KB5051987 won’t install. The installation stalls at 96% before throwing an error message stating, “Something didn’t go as planned.”
“Can’t install 2025-02 Cumulative Update KB5051987. It keeps saying this: Some updated files are missing or have problems. We will try to download the update again later. “Error code: (0x80070003),” one of the users noted in a Feedback Hub post.
In a Reddit thread, some MSI users flagged that the Windows 11 KB5051987 gets caught at 0% for hours. Some waited 4-6 hours with no progress, but you may notice that the progress bar will automatically increase to 100% in a few minutes before the installation.
If the downloading is stuck, try clearing the SoftwareDistribution folder where Windows stores update files. Or best, just don’t do anything and let Windows take its time to finish downloading/installing the security patch.
We’re also seeing reports of possible performance issues and mouse stutter, which were also reported after the January 28 optional update (KB5050094).
“The first indication of issues was when my mouse started moving with a stutter, and then my typing lagging. Ultimately, the whole system was coming to a halt, and I would have to do a hard boot. “I checked to make sure that all of my drivers were up-to-date and that the Windows updates installed correctly,” one of the users noted.
Camera not starting after February Patch
After installing Windows 11’s KB5050094 (January optional update), I was one of the first testers to flag issues with the Camera.
The camera stopped working, and I’m seeing similar issues after installing Windows 11 KB5051987.
As shown in the above screenshot, Windows Camera says it’s incapable of detecting the camera, so restarting the device or reinstalling drivers does not work. However, if I remove the Windows 11 KB5051987 update, everything will begin working correctly.
Other users have also confirmed to Windows Latest that they have camera issues after the patch.
Based on the reports we’ve seen, here’s a list of all potential issues:
In some cases, you will not be able to install apps inside Windows Sandbox. This appears to affect .NET apps only at the moment.
One user with an Nvidia RTX 4090 claimed that FPS dropped from 125 to 85 in Battlefield 2042.
Fortnite festival fps dropped to 30 after the update
Taskbar’s new preview animation is either buggy or it doesn’t appear to some users, even after they reinstall the update.
Isolated reports of users some users could not boot into Windows after the update and had to manually boot from BIOS.
What should you do if you are impacted by February 2025 update issues?
If you have issues after installing the update, we recommend uninstalling Windows 11 KB5051987:
Open Settings> Windows Update> Uninstall buttons.
Next to the patch, click “Uninstall“, and confirm your decision by selecting Uninstall again.
Restart your system.
Once done, you will be downgraded to January 2025 Update.
You can try reinstalling the patch, but if you run into the same problem again, we recommend pausing updates for a pair of weeks. Windows Latest expects most of the issues to be resolved in the February 2025 optional update, which will ship in the third week of the month.
