Microsoft has fixed multiple known issues impacting printing on Windows 11 with the release of the optional KB5006746 cumulative update preview on Thursday.
This update was released for customers who want to test fixes and performance improvements coming on November 9th, as part of next month’s Patch Tuesday.
To install KB5006746, you have to go to Settings > Windows Update and click the ‘Check for updates’ button. Since this is an optional update, Windows will only install it after you click on the ‘Download now’ button.
Windows 11 users can also manually download and deploy the cumulative update preview from the Microsoft Update Catalog.
Multiple printing issues fixed
Microsoft confirmed that KB5006746 fixes Windows 11 known issues causing printer installation fails and prompts for admin credentials before every attempt to print on systems commonly found in enterprise environments.
On systems where KB5006746 is not yet deployed, printing install attempts may not complete over the network on devices that access printers via print server using HTTP connections.
Installing printers on Windows devices not yet updated could also fail via the Internet Printing Protocol (IPP) in orgs sharing an IPP printer using printer connections.
Redmond also addressed a third known issue leading to custom printing properties not correctly provided to print server clients. Even though not causing printing operations to fail, it would only allow customers to print with default settings.
Impacted customers running earlier Windows versions (including Windows 10) can fix these printing issues by installing the September Patch Tuesday and October Patch Tuesday cumulative updates.
Also addresses gaming performance issues
Since Windows 11 was released in early October, customers have also complained of noticeable performance issues impacting systems with AMD Ryzen CPUs.
AMD explained in a support article that the performance hit was caused by “L3 cache latency may increase for some applications” and “UEFI CPPC2 (“preferred core”) may not preferentially schedule threads on a processor’s fastest core.”
Microsoft fixed the AMD performance problems in the KB5006746 optional update, saying that it “addresses an L3 caching issue that might affect performance in some applications on devices that have AMD Ryzen processors after upgrading to Windows 11 (original release).”
With this update, Microsoft has also fixed another issue causing Bluetooth mice and keyboards to be slower than expected, adversely affecting shooters and eSports games.
Last but not least, Microsoft fixed an issue that prevented Windows 11 users from using the Xbox Game Bar recording features.
The complete list of known issues acknowledged and fixed by Microsoft since Windows 11 was released includes:
Source: www.bleepingcomputer.com