KB5044384 for Windows 11 24H2 messes with the processes in Task Manager

After the numerous bugs with the newest Windows 24H2 release, unfortunately, we can add one more to the list, related to the KB5044384 October 2024 non-security preview update. According to numerous Microsoft answers posts, KB5044384 simply fails to install. And when it does, you’ve got another thing going: the Windows Processes in Task Manager displays 0, even if you obviously are running a lot of them.

In fact, Microsoft acknowledges the bug in the recent KB5044384 release note:

After installing this update, users will encounter an issue where the number of Apps, Background Processes, and Windows Processes in Task Manager display a count of zero, despite having active applications running. This issue appears specifically on the Processes page when the “Group by Type” view is enabled.

Normally, Task Manager displays the count of processes next to each group name (e.g., Apps, Background processes), providing users with a quick view of active processes. However, due to this issue, Task Manager instead shows (0) for each group, regardless of the actual number of running processes.

Is there a fix for KB5044384 issues?

The short answer is no, but Microsoft is looking for a fix. In the meantime, if you’re in the pretty large category of users that simply can’t install this update, consider yourself lucky. The 0x80070003 installation error is far less worse than the Task Manager bug it causes after its actual installation.

If you managed to install it and it causes the 0 Processes bug, go to Windows Update > Update history > Uninstall updates and try to get rid of it for the moment.

With all the Windows 11 24H2 update bugs, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to turn off the Get the latest updates as soon as they’re available option in Windows Update, at least until Microsoft releases some fixes for all these bugs.

As usual, we will keep you posted with any fixes and updates when they are available.