Microsoft May security patch fails for some due to boot partition size glitch

"When a security update cannot install because the operating system misjudges the state of its own boot partition, the problem isn't only storage. The real problem is trust in the update process. This is a basic hygiene failure dressed up as a technical issue. An update that cannot reliably detect available space on the EFI System Partition is not a small miss. It is a reminder that even mature platforms still struggle with dependency awareness and pre-flight validation."

"Eric Grenier, senior director analyst at Gartner, recommended increasing the size of the disk partition to 1.5GB so that the update can go ahead. "This should not hamper business needs in terms of the size of usable space for an end user", he said, adding that it will also enable updating of the Windows Recovery Environment. He warned that Microsoft's own recommendation could lead to trouble."

""I would recommend that if an organization wanted to use the modified registry fix that they not only backup the registry beforehand but also test it on some pilot devices before rolling out to the rest of the environment and even then, I would do a slow phased rollout to be sure nothing breaks," he said. "This type of fix in a production environment should be done with extreme caution because if done incorrectly, fixes will require hands on the keyboard.""

"Ishraq Khan, CEO of coding productivity tool vendor Kodezi, says there is a blame on both IT teams and Microsoft."

Unexpected exposure and delayed failure of a destined-to-fail patch can create a potentially serious issue. When an operating system cannot correctly determine the state of its boot partition, the problem extends beyond storage to trust in the update process. The failure reflects weak dependency awareness and insufficient pre-flight validation on mature platforms. A recommended mitigation is increasing the EFI System Partition size to 1.5GB so the update can proceed and also support updating the Windows Recovery Environment. Microsoft’s registry-based fix should be backed up, tested on pilot devices, and rolled out slowly to avoid production breakage that could require manual intervention. Responsibility is shared between IT teams and Microsoft.

Read at Computerworld