Gamers on Windows 11 can finally breathe a sigh of relief. Microsoft has released a fix for a frustrating bug that was causing computers to freeze completely during gameplay. If your PC has recently locked up while you were in the middle of a match, the new February update contains the cure you need.
The issue was severe enough to cause the dreaded “Black Screen of Death,” forcing users to manually restart their machines. When the crash happened, the system would display a specific error message reading “Kernel Security Check Failure.” Reports surfaced online from players of popular titles like Genshin Impact and Marvel Rivals, who found their sessions abruptly cut short.
Microsoft pinpointed the problem to a specific system file (dxgmms2.sys) that manages how the computer speaks to the graphics card. While many initial complaints came from users with Nvidia cards, who also dealt with screen flickering in January, Microsoft noted that this specific crash bug could affect various GPU configurations. This means users with AMD or Intel graphics cards were likely at risk as well.
Fortunately, the February update solves this graphics headache. If you haven’t installed the latest patch yet, you should make it a priority.
There is a secondary bonus to this update as well. Some eager users who installed the early “preview” version of this update last month ran into a different problem: their Wi-Fi stopped working. Specifically, the preview broke connections to networks using the modern WPA3 security standard. The official February release fixes that wireless bug alongside the gaming crash.
This double fix is a welcome move. Windows 11 has struggled with a steady stream of gaming-related glitches since the major 24H2 update launched. For a company trying to prove that Windows is the best place to play games, these recurring bugs have been a bad look. Hopefully, this latest patch signals a smoother experience for PC gamers moving forward.
