Windows 11 26H2 blighted by new audio issue

Microsoft Windows 11 26H2 has arrived, and, unfortunately, it's already picked up a known audio issue within weeks of release.

The glitch also affects Windows 11 25H2 and 24H2, which share the same code branch. It relates to decoding AC-3 (Dolby Digital) audio and can cause the application using the decoder to crash abruptly or fail to start at all.

Identified after the September 22 Windows update, the issue mostly impacts older applications, according to Microsoft. "Many modern applications do not use Windows for this type of encoding and therefore will not encounter this issue.

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"The code component involved in this issue is most commonly used in legacy applications that still rely on Windows built-in audio decoding."

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In summary – if your app has the temerity to use Windows built-in audio decoding for AC-3, you might have a problem. If it includes its own audio decoding component, you should be okay.

"Affected applications may vary," explained Microsoft, "and can include games, media players, and certain productivity applications."

There's also no fix as yet, so uninstalling is the only way to address it for now.

To be clear, the AC-3 malfunction is not specific to Windows 11 26H2; the update preceded the release of the operating system's latest version by a week. It joins other known issues in 26H2, including other ongoing audio woes that have lingered in the list despite workarounds being available from Microsoft Support for Business.

Microsoft currently has no mitigation for the AC-3 bug and offers little comfort to affected users: "We are working on releasing a resolution for this issue in a future Windows update."

Acknowledging the latest trouble continues a run of misfortune for Microsoft. September's Patch Tuesday resulted in an out-of-band update to deal with RDP and Hyper-V issues. The update did not, however, fix all the audio problems it introduced, and the September 22 preview update has compounded the situation.

Microsoft did not provide a timeline for resolving the latest issue. ®