Windows 11's April Update Is Crashing PCs — Here's How to Tell If You're Affected and What to Do
If your Windows 11 computer suddenly started showing a black screen, freezing up with strange blocky graphics, or spiraling into an endless restart loop, you're not imagining things and you didn't break anything. Two separate — but sometimes overlapping — software problems are to blame, and they're hitting everyday users and businesses alike right now.
Here's what's happening, how to figure out which problem you have, and what you can actually do about it today.
What's New Since Our Last Windows Update Post
Our earlier post covered Microsoft pulling a different Windows 11 update after installation failures. This situation is different: KB5083769, Microsoft's big April 2026 security patch, is actively crashing machines with black screens and visual glitches — and a separate bug in Dell's own pre-installed software is independently triggering blue screens every 30 minutes on multiple Dell laptop and desktop models. Both can be on the same machine at the same time.
Problem #1: Microsoft's KB5083769 April Update
PCWorld reports that Microsoft's April patch, update KB5083769, has been responsible for a growing list of issues over the past several weeks — including BitLocker lockouts, reboot loops, and broken third-party backup apps. The latest problem to surface is black screen crashes paired with what affected users are describing as "distorted, mosaic-like graphics."
Who's most affected?
- HP and Dell laptops and desktops, particularly machines running NVIDIA GTX 1080 Ti GPUs
- Users who installed the update and found themselves stuck in Windows Automatic Repair on the next boot
According to PCWorld, one user on Microsoft's own forums reported waking up on April 16th, 2026 to this message: "Working computer until update yesterday. Woke up to BSOD with kernel_security_check_failure. Any restart returns to the BSOD." By April 21st, more users were reporting that Windows kept trying to reinstall the same broken update even after recovery — a frustrating loop that took manual intervention to stop.
As of now, Microsoft has not added this to their official known issues list, which means there's no automated fix coming through Windows Update yet.
Problem #2: Dell SupportAssist Remediation v5.5.16.0
Separate from the Microsoft patch issue, Tom's Hardware is reporting that a Dell software update — version 5.5.16.0 of Dell SupportAssist Remediation, released April 30th — is independently causing persistent blue screen of death errors and reboot loops on multiple Dell models.
The crash pattern here is distinct and severe: affected PCs crash and reboot roughly every 30 minutes, indefinitely, until the software is removed. Multiple users analyzed their Windows crash dump files using Microsoft's own WinDbg debugging tool and arrived at the same conclusion: the faulting process is DellSupportAssistRemedationService.exe, with a bugcheck code of 0xEF (CRITICAL_PROCESS_DIED).
Confirmed affected models include the XPS 15 9530, Dell Precision 3571, and Dell Pro Plus 14 — though forum users are reporting the problem on other models too, including the Optiplex 7090 SFF and the Pro 16 Plus.
Dell has not acknowledged the issue or released a fix.
How to Figure Out Which Problem You Have
Before you do anything, try to identify your situation:
Signs you're hitting the KB5083769 update issue:
- You see black screens, garbled or blocky graphics, or visual artifacts on boot
- Your PC gets stuck in Windows Automatic Repair
- You have an HP or Dell machine, especially with an NVIDIA GTX 1080 Ti
- Windows Update keeps trying to reinstall the same April update after you recover
Signs you're hitting the Dell SupportAssist issue:
- Your PC is a Dell (any model)
- You get a full blue screen crash roughly every 30 minutes, then it reboots and crashes again
- The computer was working fine until very recently (late April or early May)
- You can sometimes boot and use the PC for a short time before it crashes again
You might have both if you're on a Dell machine that also has an NVIDIA GTX 1080 Ti — in that case, tackle them in order.
Step-by-Step: What to Do Right Now
If you're stuck in a boot loop or black screen (KB5083769):
- Boot into Windows Recovery. If your PC won't start normally, force-restart it 2–3 times and Windows should offer you recovery options automatically.
- **Try
