Microsoft has issued a fix for a self-imposed problem with Windows Hello on Surface Pro 4.

Back on July 21, Microsoft issued one of its biggest-ever sets of firmware updates for Surface Pro 4, though the software giant declined to document what was in those updates until the following Monday.

And the emails started, with readers complaining that Windows Hello-based sign-ins using the Pro 4’s camera were no longer working. Which was odd, since Microsoft’s list of fixes never mentioned the camera.

But as Woody Leonard discovered, one of the fixes that Surface Pro 4s received in that set of updates—the vaguely-named “Surface – System – 7/21/2017 12:00:00 AM – 1.0.65.1”—was never even documented by Microsoft. And that update, apparently, included a camera driver that screwed up the device’s Windows Hello capabilities.

This is why people don’t trust Windows as a Service, Microsoft. Updates can really screw things up. Minimizing updates, and the impact of updates, should be a priority. But let me get off the soapbox.

Anyway, two weeks later, Microsoft has issued a fix for the problem they introduced by releasing a driver they never bothered to document. And as the Surface Pro 4 Update History website explains, Surface – System – 1.0.75.1 “1.0.75.1 resolves Windows Hello experience error.” And, yes, you will need to reboot. Because I don’t know why.

At least it’s fixed.

Tagged with Surface Pro 4