Microsoft fixes bug causing incorrect 0x80070643 WinRE errors

Microsoft says it resolved a known issue causing erroneous 0x80070643 installation failure errors when deploying the April 2025 Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) updates.

When it acknowledged the bug two weeks ago, Redmond told those affected that these errors can be ignored since they’re inaccurate and don’t impact their Windows device’s functionality.

The known issue impacts the KB5057588 WinRE update on Windows Server 2022 and KB5057589 on Windows 10, versions 22H2 and 21H2.

“After installing the April 2025 Windows Recovery Environment update [KB5057588], you might see the following error message in the Windows Update settings page: 0x80070643 – ERROR_INSTALL_FAILURE. This error message is not accurate and does not impact the update or device functionality,” Microsoft said at the time.

“This error is observed when the device installs the WinRE update when there is another update in a pending reboot state. Although the error message suggests the update did not complete, the WinRE update is typically applied successfully after the device restarts.”

In an update to the Windows release health dashboard earlier this week, the company said the bug has since been addressed, and the incorrect message will no longer show up after installing the buggy updates.

“If you have already installed this update, you will not see this update offered again and can check the status of this update with the Dism /Online /Get-Packages command,” Redmond added.

In August last year, Microsoft also retired January 2024 Windows security updates that triggered 0x80070643 errors when installing Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) updates on Windows 10, Windows 11, and Windows Server devices.

The announcement came just two months after Redmond told users a fix would not come and asked them to manually resize the WinRE partitions as a workaround. However, before the updates were retired, fraudulent IT support websites were observed pushing malicious PowerShell “fixes” for 0x80070643 errors to infect Windows users with information-stealing malware.