Windows 11's new update reportedly makes some PCs 'super slow' and stops Valorant loading

Windows 11's update for August is reportedly slowing down some PCs, and in other cases it's failing to install, plus for gamers it's interfering with Valorant's anti-cheat system.

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A cumulative update failing to install is nothing new (Image Credit: Microsoft)

Windows updates failing to install is hardly a new phenomenon - it happens more often than it should - and Windows Latest flags up that there are various complaints from Windows 11 users about patch KB5041585 refusing to play ball.

The tech site observes that it has received complaints from readers about being unable to install the cumulative update, and there are posts in Microsoft's Feedback Hub too.

One user wrote:

"KB5041585 keeps failing every time I try to update. I have tried clearing cache, stopping/starting update service and manual download and install, but nothing seems to work."

The slowdown problems sound more worrying, with some affected users complaining on the Reddit thread introducing the cumulative update for August (always a good place to check for potential issues with any update).

One Redditor observes:

"This update wrecked my work notebook... My GameBoy is faster now... The CPU is almost constantly at 100%, everything is super slow, laggy, I get timeouts left and right."

Another noted:

"Geez, my computer is now slow! Even the snipping tool is lagging. Wth?!"

There are a few other posters echoing this general sentiment, and as mentioned at the outset, KB5041585 also seems to mess up Vanguard, Valorant's anti-cheat system, at least for some players who are getting the following error: "A driver cannot load on this device."

Accompanying text explains that this is due to a compatibility clash with Windows 11's Hardware-enforced Stack Protection, and that you can disable this feature to work around the error. However, as you might guess, turning off the protection leaves your PC less secure - so it might be a more sensible option to wait for a fix.

It's a tricky position between a rock and hard place when problems like these manifest. On the one hand, you want the latest security patches from the update, but on the other, some of the performance-related issues sound pretty nasty, which makes it tempting to wait at least a little bit to see if Microsoft is going to smooth things over.

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