Steam Deck users who have installed Windows on the device have been reporting severe issues since the last Windows Update. Luckily, there is a fix available, and it shouldn’t take you too long.

The Steam Deck is a fantastic gaming machine, but in order to access things such as Xbox Game Pass or the Epic Games Store, setting the Steam Deck up with Windows Dual Boot might be the best option. Unfortunately, this does come with its own set of challenges.

Users report issues with Windows on Steam Deck

Steam Deck user u/Razor_AMG took to Reddit to report a severe fault with their Steam Deck since installing the latest Windows Update patch. A short video showed the Steam Deck attempting to boot into Windows only to show corrupted text and a garbled screen. The video was accompanied by a comment saying: “I don't know why I install Windows Update.”

Fortunately, another Reddit user was on hand to offer assistance. User u/RyanRudolf is a developer involved with the Clover EFI project, which is a tool that helps Steam Deck users set up their device for Windows dual boot.

RyanRudolf advised Razor_AMG to go to the GitHub page for Clover and follow the steps to resolve the problem. After follwing trhis advice, and subsequently reactivating the AMD Custom GPU 0405 in Device Manager, the problem was resolved.

Users are advised to disable auto-update

Other users advised disabling Windows auto-updater on Steam Deck, with one user commenting that Steam Deck dual boot functionality seemed to break every time Microsoft issued an update. One user advised the use of an additional app called ‘InControl' to prevent any Windows Update not directly tied to security from being installed.

Though Windows functionality on Steam Deck isn't perfect, some users do rely on it to play games not fully supported by SteamOS and Linux, such as competitive games that have robust anti-cheat functions. Perhaps when SteamOS becomes more mainstream, this sort of workaround will no longer be needed.

About the Author

Rebecca Hills-Duty

Writing and journalism experience at VRFocus, UploadVR, The Escapist, HTC, PC Gamer, Tech Radar+ and Dexerto. Can sometimes be found playing with retro tech.