What you need to know
- Windows 11 24H2 is finally here, but there are still some known issues with it that Microsoft needs to work on.
- One of those is an incompatibility issue with Easy Anti Cheat, used in games such as Fortnite, iRacing, and Elden Ring.
- It only affects those using Intel's Alder Lake (12th Gen) and above CPUs and vPro, but Microsoft has implemented a hold on those devices getting the 24H2 upgrade until a fix is applied.
No matter how much testing a new version of Windows goes through, there will always be bugs. That is still the case with Windows 11 24H2, now finally available outside of Qualcomm-powered Copilot+ PCs at last.
Microsoft has a list of known issues that are currently being worked on, but one in particular will be of interest to gamers. Especially gamers that play Fortnite, or any other title that uses Easy Anti Cheat (EAC).
"Microsoft is working with Easy Anti-Cheat on an incompatibility issue between Windows 11, version 24H2 and the Easy Anti-Cheat application. This software is automatically installed with some games as part of security and cheat-prevention measures used in multiplayer online PC games."
Users who are affected by the issue will see a BSOD when trying to play games with EAC inside with the "MEMORY_MANAGEMENT" error.
The good news is that you shouldn't be affected by this. It only affects systems with Intel Alder Lake (12th Gen) and above and vPro, so older hardware or anyone using AMD should be totally fine. Affected systems are also found to be using EAC drivers that were issued before April 2024, so overall, it should be a small subset of users.
The even better news is that to make sure as few gamers as possible are affected by this, Microsoft has implemented a compatibility hold on systems that might fall foul. Windows Update will not serve 24H2 to these machines, and anyone trying to use the Media Creation Tool to update will be served a message telling them their system isn't ready for it. It's recommended you don't manually update to 24H2 if you're running a system that could be impacted.
It shouldn't impact all EAC games, but why take the risk. Furthermore, it seems like the fix is to make sure all games using the anti cheat software are updated to use a newer driver that's compatible with Windows 11 24H2.
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