An unusual situation is currently affecting Windows 10, where the KB5048239 update is looping on some systems, even after being successfully deployed. This unprecedented behavior has worried many users since January 2025.
The failed-to-install update, originally distributed in November 2024, was intended to address issues with the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE). If update installation failures are relatively common in Windows 10, there being quite a few of them each year, This scenario where an update is installed repeatedly is a first.
On the Microsoft support forum, testimonials are multiplying. Dean Wortmier reports that “ this update, already successfully installed in November 2024, tries to install again and again, each time successfully “. Another user, Brian Lofthouse, describes the phenomenon as a “ endless merry-go-round », noting that the installation date changes daily.
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The update installs repeatedly for many users
The scale of the problem can be measured by the 353 users who reported encountering the same difficulty on a single discussion thread. Even more worrying, even systems with an adequate recovery partition (greater than the required 250 MB) are affected by this anomaly.
Common solutions, such as deleting the old version before installing the new one, prove ineffective. Although this loop installation does not appear to compromise the functioning of the systems, it generates understandable confusion among users, with some fearing a virus infection.
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For now, workaround options remain limited. Users can temporarily pause Windows 10 updates, risking missing important security updates. Microsoft has not yet officially communicated about this malfunction, but a response is expected given the increasing number of affected users. Hopefully, Microsoft will quickly make an announcement on this subject, since many are waiting for a fix, which is now slow in arriving. In the meantime, users will have to continue installing this update over and over again.
