- Some owners of Lenovo Thinkpad cannot install BIOS updates due to a safety tweak that Microsoft applied in the latest Windows fixes
- This happens to those who install via the BIOS Lenovo Update Utility or the Vantage Application
- A corrective is already incoming, and as a bypass solution, you can install via Windows Update
Some Lenovo laptops see that BIOS updates do not work thanks to a modification that Microsoft has just made in Windows 11 (and Windows 10).
Windows has spotted an assistance article from Lenovo aimed at the problem that affects those who try to apply a BIOS upgrade with its ThinkPad notebooks.
Apparently, the problem is due to a Microsoft modifier made to block a certain executable file (Winflash64.exe) in the latest fixes for Windows, a modification made to safety reasons.
When you try to apply the BIOS update using the Lenovo BIOS update utility or the Lenovo Vantage application, some ThinkPad owners could see the fail, accompanied by a kind of error message. There are some errors that could appear, but all represent the same thing – the update has not worked.
What is happening is that, depending on the correction, and Microsoft updating its list of safety blocks, the update is detected as “vulnerable pilot”, which means that it is a risk for the system – therefore Windows refuses to execute the process.
As mentioned, the changes to the block list have been made in the latest Windows 18h2, 11:2 p.m. and 10:2 p.m. Windows 10:2h a.m. – all active versions of Microsoft’s office operating system, in other words.
A corrective is already incoming – or you can use Windows Update instead
As Lenovo normally points out, Lenovo recommends using his BIOS update to refresh the firmware of your laptop, as it is generally more reliable than other methods.
Obviously, given this new problem, this is not the case, and therefore the easiest way to get around the problem is to use Windows Update to apply the Bios update for your Lenovo Thinkpad. In other words, assuming that Windows 11 (or 10) found the correction relevant and reported it under Windows Update. Otherwise, all you can do is continue to check the updates and I hope it turns out to be early.
Meanwhile, Lenovo worked on the resolution of this problem and, according to Windows, a fix is in place with the latest version of the BIOS (V1.61) which takes place. So, if you can put this last turn on the BIOS, this should work on the installation properly via the UNOVO BIOS Update utility – the crossed fingers.
In any case, this should be a temporary hiccup for owners of Lenovo Thinkpad, but it is quite strange that an organic update is reported as a risk like this first. That said, of course, there is always a small risk level involved in any BIOS update – this is the nature of the beast – and if you want to know more about the right procedure to apply them, to make sure you get the goods, we have an article dedicated to this.
