If you’re using Intel integrated graphics and you’ve been having some issues with DirectX apps, we may know the reason why — outdated drivers paired with a recent Windows update.
According to Microsoft, a Windows 11 update may have caused some errors in Intel graphics. The update is not recent at all, so even if you haven’t updated in the last few weeks, you may be affected.
Intel integrated graphics may be having some trouble with DirectX and Direct3D apps if they’re running Windows. The issues started with a patch applied in November 2022, so it’s been a while, but Microsoft only broke the news just now. Both Windows 10 and Windows 11 users may be affected. Note that Microsoft specifically calls out integrated graphics and doesn’t mention Intel’s Arc A750 and A770, which don’t appear to be affected.
Everything can be traced back to bugs that were introduced in patches KB5019980 and KB5019961 for Windows 11 and KB5019959 for Windows 10. While these Patch Tuesday releases may have addressed their fair share of problems, they also seem to have come with an issue that hasn’t been fixed to this day. Moreover, Microsoft doesn’t have a fix for this problem as of yet.
How has a problem that could affect a whole lot of PCs gone unnoticed for so long? It appears that it doesn’t happen all the time, which is why it may have gone under the radar for the past couple of months.
“This issue might happen intermittently and affects apps which use DirectX or Direct3D to render part or all of their content,” said Microsoft. If your device is affected, you may receive an error with apphelp.dll on Windows.
Microsoft is working on a fix to be bundled with a future update, but for now, your best bet to fix this might be to simply update your Intel graphics drivers. The issue is present if you’re running driver versions 26.20.100.7463 up to 30.0.101.1190, so installing an update that bumps your drivers up to a newer version might be all you need.
The last driver that was affected (30.0.101.1190) was released in December 2021, so it’s hard to blame Microsoft for not catching the issue sooner. However, if you’re using one of Intel’s integrated GPUs and you’re not a frequent updater, make sure to download the latest drivers. If it doesn’t, your only option is to wait for Microsoft to provide an official fix on Windows’ end.
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