Windows 11 not starting up after installing 'Moment 2' update? Microsoft explains why

Microsoft recently started rolling out the much-awaited February 2023 update, which is popularly known as ‘Moment 2,’ to every eligible Windows 11 PC running version 22H2. However, some users have reported that their PCs face issues where Windows 11 fails to start up after installing the February 2023 update.

Based on Microsoft’s initial investigation, Windows 11’s failure to start up issues is caused by third-party UI customization apps such as ExplorerPatcher and StartAllBack. These two are currently known UI customization apps causing the problem. In other words, if you have any other similar apps installed on your PC, you might face the same issue after installing the February feature drop.

The reason why third-party UI customization apps “can have unintended results on your Windows device” is that they often use unsupported methods to achieve their customization, according to Microsoft. If you are using a third-party app to customize Windows 11 UI and haven’t updated to Windows 22H2 February 2023 release, you should uninstall the app before installing KB5022913 (which offers Windows 11 ‘Moment 2’ update).

On the Windows Release Health page, Microsoft wrote:

After installing KB5022913 or later updates, Windows devices with some third-party UI customization apps might not start up. These third-party apps might cause errors with explorer.exe that might repeat multiple times in a loop.

However, if you already have installed the latest Windows 11 feature drop and now facing a problem due to the UI customization app, you need to contact customer support for the developer of the app you are using. For those using StartAllBack, you may prevent the issue by updating to the latest version (v3.5.6 or later) of the app. Microsoft will continue the investigation to provide more information regarding the matter. 

It is important to note that only Windows 11 22H2 client is affected by the issue. It does not impact the Windows server.