Microsoft’s February 10, 2026, Patch Tuesday update for Windows 11 KB5077181 takes 24H2 to Build 26100.7840 and 25H2 to Build 26200.7840. On Microsoft’s own KB page, the company currently says it’s not aware of any known issues with the release.

At the same time, a growing number of reports suggest KB5077181 can be messy in the real world… in some cases, trading one stability problem for another. That’s awkward timing, because Microsoft says this February update is also the one that fully resolves the earlier UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME boot-failure bug tied to failed/rolled-back updates (an issue Microsoft linked to failed December 2025 servicing, with impacts showing up after the January 13, 2026 update or later).

Boot-loop reports during or after the update

One of the most disruptive complaints is a restart loop that hits during the late stages of installation or around sign-in. Third-party media describes systems falling into “endless” restart cycles after installing KB5077181, and Microsoft Q&A includes reports of devices repeatedly restarting more than 15 times before users can even attempt to log in.

“Specified procedure could not be found,” and the SENS sign-in failure

For machines that do eventually land on the login screen, some users report being blocked at sign-in by a System Event Notification Service (SENS) error:

“The System Event Notification Service service failed the sign-in. The specified procedure could not be found.”

At this stage, there’s no solid public root cause from Microsoft… so it’s best framed as a post-update sign-in failure tied to that specific service error, rather than a definitive “DLL mismatch” explanation.

Networking regression reports: DHCP / “Connected, no internet”

Separate threads point to networking breakage after the update. One Microsoft Q&A report describes Wi-Fi failing with a DHCP error immediately after the KB5077181 restart, leaving the device “Connected but no internet,” and returning only after uninstalling the update (until Windows Update pulled it again). 

Some users aren’t getting the update at all, with 0x800f0983 and 0x800f0991 among the reported error codesin the wild. PCWorld explicitly calls out both codes in its roundup of KB5077181 fallout.

Secure Boot certificates and third-party protected apps (separate but overlapping timing)

KB5077181 also lands in the middle of Microsoft’s broader Secure Boot transition: Microsoft has warned that 2011-era Secure Boot certificates begin expiring in June 2026, and it’s moving devices to 2023 certificates via updates to avoid a degraded Secure Boot state.

Separately, Wibu-Systems (CodeMeter) has published a product alert stating that KB5074105 and KB5077181 modify Windows components in ways that can make an AxProtector function-call obfuscation mechanism incompatible under certain protection configurations… potentially causing some protected apps to fail at startup or during operation.

Darryl Linington – Tech Writer – 73 articles published on Notebookcheck since 2025

I’m a tech editor and journalist with over 20 years of experience covering everything from cutting-edge smartphones and AI breakthroughs to gaming hardware and future-forward tech. I have a passion for making complex technology accessible, relatable, and genuinely interesting—especially when it’s something that impacts how we live, work, or play.

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