Although Blu-ray players are not as common these days, with streaming services dominating content consumption, nothing compares to the audio and visual quality of a Blu-ray. This is why many people still use Blu-ray players in their media setups. While everything had been running smoothly for years, Microsoft recently released update KB5064081, which completely breaks Blu-ray and other protected video content playback on Windows 11. Follow along as we show you how to fix it.
Takeaways:
- Blu-ray player no longer works after updating Windows 11.
- KB5064081 is causing Blu-ray and other protected video content playback issues on PC.
- How to fix Blu-ray playback issues on Windows 11 after the latest update.
Table of Contents
Did a Windows Update Break Blu-ray Playback on Windows?
Recent Windows 11 updates have created problems for people who still enjoy physical media and other forms of protected video playback. Beginning with the August 2024 non-security update identified as KB5064081, some applications that rely on older video rendering methods can no longer play Blu-ray discs, DVDs, or digital TV without running into serious issues.
The most common problems reported include copyright protection errors that prevent discs from starting, sudden freezing or black screens during playback, and repeated interruptions that make it almost impossible to watch a movie all the way through. Importantly, this problem does not affect streaming services like Netflix or Disney+. It only affects applications that depend on Digital Rights Management systems when combined with the Enhanced Video Renderer, a legacy Windows feature.
How to Fix Blu-ray Playback Issues After Recent Windows Updates
Luckily, this issue isn't all that complicated to fix and simply requires you to uninstall the update that is causing the problem. Which in this case is KB5064081. The steps are listed below, but you can find a full guide on uninstalling bad Windows updates here.
Uninstalling KB5064081 Will Fix this
- Open Settings by pressing the Windows key and the letter I together.
- Navigate to Windows Update and then to Update history.
- Scroll down and choose the option to Uninstall updates.
- Find the entry for KB5064081 or any later update that was installed after August 2024.
- Select it and choose Uninstall.
- Restart your computer and test Blu-ray playback again.
This will fix the problem. Just don't wait too long to do it because you can only rollback updates for a certain period of time.
Pause or Defer Updates to Stop it from Happening Again
To avoid having the faulty update reinstall automatically, you can pause Windows Updates.
- Open Settings.
- Go to Windows Update.
- Choose Pause updates for one week.
- If necessary, extend the pause beyond a week until Microsoft delivers a fix.
This approach prevents the problem from returning while still allowing you to use your system normally.
Will Microsoft Fix This? Apparently...
Microsoft has publicly acknowledged that the August update caused problems for Blu-ray and other DRM-protected media playback. The company has promised that engineers are working on a fix that will be delivered in a future Windows update. For now, the most reliable solutions are to uninstall the affected updates or pause updates entirely.
