Microsoft’s April 2025 Patch Tuesday updates are creating an unexpected empty “inetpub” folder in the root of the C:\ drive on Windows systems, even when Internet Information Services (IIS) is not installed.

## What’s Happening?

After installing the Windows 11 KB5055523 update and restarting, users are finding a new C:\inetpub folder on their systems. This folder is typically associated with IIS, Microsoft’s web server platform used to host websites and web applications on Windows systems.

IIS is not installed by default on Windows and requires manual activation through Windows Features. Normally, the inetpub folder only appears when IIS is installed, making its sudden appearance puzzling to many users.

## Technical Details

BleepingComputer has confirmed this behavior on their test systems. The folder appears after the update installation despite IIS not being installed during the process. Security analysis shows the folder is owned by the SYSTEM account, indicating it was created by an elevated process during the update installation.

While the empty folder doesn’t impact system performance or stability, its unexpected creation has raised questions about whether this represents a new feature or simply a bug in the update process. Tests show that deleting the folder doesn’t cause any issues with normal Windows operation.

Microsoft has been contacted about whether the creation of the C:\inetpub folder was intentional, but no response had been received at the time of publication.