After Oracle fixed a known VirtualBox problem causing difficulties and virtual machine start failures when Hyper-V or the Windows Hypervisor were installed, Microsoft lifted the last Windows 11 safety hold.
Safeguard settings restrict users from updating to Windows 11 in order to safeguard their computers from potential upgrade concerns, such as software instability caused by Windows and VirtualBox compatibility issues.
“This problem has been fixed in VirtualBox 6.1.28 and later. You’ll need to upgrade to VirtualBox 6.1.28 or later to get rid of the safeguard hold on your device “Over the weekend, Microsoft posted a message to the Windows health dashboard explaining the situation.
“Please note that if there are no additional protections that impact your device, the upgrade to Windows 11, version 21H2 may take up to 48 hours before it is released.”
Following user concerns of compatibility difficulties with Oracle’s virtualization software, Redmond has deployed the update block to all machines running Virtualbox since the day Windows 11 was released.
Customers who attempted to update computers that were impacted would obtain an error message “VirtualBox is a program that allows you to run virtual machines This software requires the most recent version on your computer. For additional information on how to upgrade this app, click Learn More “even when using the most recent release
Even if they had suitable hardware and software, individuals using VirtualBox on their PCs haven’t been able to update to the current Windows version since then.
Some users may continue to be impacted
“You could have an application that is based on VirtualBox or has incorporated VirtualBox within their installation if you do not have VirtualBox installed but are receiving this safety hold,” Microsoft noted.
“To remove this safeguard hold, you may need to update or uninstall any apps that use or produce VMs or system images.”
While Oracle worked to resolve the issue, Microsoft issued a workaround for afflicted users, forcing them to remove Hyper-V, Windows Hypervisor, or VirtualBox in order to obtain the Windows 11 update.
