KB5095060

Microsoft has released cumulative update KB5095060 (Build 26220.8690) for Windows 11, version 25H2 for insiders on the Beta channel. Features and capabilities included in these builds may never reach the final release – Microsoft is testing different concepts and collecting feedback. Features may change, be removed, or replaced and may not ship beyond the Windows Insider Program. Some of them may appear in future versions of Windows when they are fully ready.

New in Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26220.8690 Beta:

• Virtualization. Fixed an issue where after installing the latest builds, some devices could experience system crashes with HYPERVISOR_ERROR (0x20001) and KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED (0x1E) errors – during system restarts, virtual machine operations, or while running certain games.
• Start menu. Improved the reliability of displaying newly installed or removed apps in the Start menu without needing to sign out or restart.
• Settings. Improved the reliability of the Settings > Apps > Startup section.

Known issues are not listed in this update; however, given that the build is intended for the Beta channel, some undocumented bugs related to experimental features may occur. Microsoft recommends reporting any unusual system behavior via the Feedback Hub.

Installation via Windows Update: Go to Settings > Windows Update and click Check for updates. A system restart is required to complete the installation. Note that this update is only available to Windows Insider Program participants on the Beta channel and is not intended for production systems.

How the new features work:

Virtualization. Fixed an issue where devices could encounter critical failures with HYPERVISOR_ERROR (0x20001) and KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED (0x1E) after recent builds were installed. The fault stemmed from a race condition within the hypervisor’s scheduler when handling interrupts during virtual machine operations, system reboots, or games relying heavily on hardware virtualization and memory integrity protection. The fix ensures proper synchronization of Virtualization-Based Security components and timely processing of hypervisor-level exceptions.

Start menu. Enhanced the reliability of displaying newly installed or removed applications in the Start menu’s app list. Previously, the asynchronous indexing process within the Shell Experience Host sometimes failed to trigger a timely refresh of the layout cache after registry and package database modifications, forcing a sign-out. The update refines internal change notification processing for app package configuration, instantly invalidating the cached index and rebuilding the entry list without restarting the shell.

Settings. Improved the robustness of the Settings > Apps > Startup navigation page. Addressed an issue where a shell extension module responsible for enumerating startup entries could throw an unhandled exception when parsing malformed or custom strings within the HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run registry keys. Enhanced input data validation at the interface level now prevents the SystemSettings.exe process from crashing abruptly during navigation to the startup configuration area.

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