Solution 1: Running Windows Update Troubleshooter
Microsoft has developed an application named Windows Update Troubleshooter. It analyzes your system particularly the windows update module and troubleshoots problems. Make sure that the troubleshooting process complete. This application checks and scans all your system files so some time might be consumed.
You can also run the Windows Update Troubleshooter from your computer.
Note: This solution requires an active internet connection for optimum results. Also, try to run the troubleshooter a number of times instead of trying only once.
Solution 2: Running some Commands
We can try running some commands to reset some modules and bring them into the proper configuration. Do note that you require an administrator account to perform all these operations.
Solution 3: Disabling your Antivirus
Antivirus software tends to monitor your computer including system files to ensure that there are no potential threats to your computer. It is possible that your antivirus software is conflicting with Windows Update and is causing the failure. You can try disabling your antivirus temporarily and try updating again. If the problem still persists, make sure that you have an active internet connection and your antivirus is completely turned off. You can always revert back the changes if this doesn’t work.
Solution 4: Updating Time, Region, and Language Settings
Another unusual solution that seemed to work was updating the time and language settings for your account. As we all know, Windows syncs your time according to the time zones automatically. If you have an incorrect time zone, it is likely to cause bizarre problems such as failure to install your update.
Solution 5: Disconnecting Internet before Updating
Another fix that worked for many users was to disconnect the internet before updating their operating system to the latest update. It seems that there is a bug that gets bypassed when we cut the communication with the internet of the application.
Solution 6: Connecting to Router Using Ethernet and Installing through Microsoft Website in Clean Boot
Another solution was to connect to your router directly by plugging in an Ethernet cable and installing the Windows update using the Microsoft Website instead of the normal client present on your computer. As we saw in the previous solution, there seems to a bug of some sort related to the internet access between the client and the servers. By bypassing the client altogether, the problem might be solved.
Note: Do note that this update option on Microsoft’s website might disappear after a while if they decide to change it or if there is another update available.
Solution 7: Uninstalling your WiFi Drivers
Another workaround that worked for many cases was uninstalling your WiFi drivers and installing the Windows Update (you would have to download the Windows update first and only uninstall the drivers before proceeding with the installation). Upon restart, Windows will automatically detect your WiFi hardware and install the stock drivers automatically. You can always update your WiFi drivers to the latest build manually too by using the device manager.
Solution 8: Installing Windows using .iso File
You can also install the latest version of Windows by downloading the iso file from a website and transferring it to media so your computer can boot and install it directly. Do note that this method is targeted at advanced users who know how to install a new copy of Windows from an installation media. Just in case, keep all your data backed up safely before you proceed with this solution. Note: Appuals has no affiliations with any websites mentioned. They are stated purely for the user. Visit and use them at your own risk. Note: The software mentioned in this tutorial is valid for all versions of Windows. You can also check the more detailed guide starting from the basics on how to install Windows 10. Note Backup all your data before proceeding with the installation. It’s better to be on the safe side.
Solution 9: Disabling Internet Information Services
IIS is an extensible web server created by Microsoft for use with the Windows NT family. It supports almost all internet protocols and is mostly not active by default. We can try disabling this service and check if this brings any improvement to our situation.
Solution 10: Restarting your Computer Multiple Times
Another bizarre solution that worked for many users was restarting the computer when the error occurred. Then the update was continued by disconnecting your internet connection to make sure that there was no internet correspondence between the update client and the servers. This is more of a hit and trial but it still worth mentioning as it worked for many users.
Solution 11: Running chkdsk
We can try checking if your computer has any discrepancies or corrupt sectors. It is possible that there are irregularities or incorrect configuration which is causing the computer not to update. Therefore, we will be running the chkdsk scan to fix it. Here “E” is the name of the disk which is following the “/f” command. If you have more than one drive, you should replace the name accordingly. You can easily check the name of the drive-by opening My PC.
Note: If you are prompted by the message “Chkdsk cannot run because the volume is in use by another process. Would you like to schedule this volume to be checked the next time the system restarts (Y/N)”. Press “Y”. Then restart your computer. Upon the restart, your computer will scan the drive and proceed with the process. Also, note that some sectors (if found bad) will be erased so some of your data might be lost.
Solution 12: Restarting Update Service after deleting downloaded content
We will disable the Windows update service momentarily so we can delete the content already downloaded by the Update Manager. After we restart the service, Windows will check which files are already downloaded. If it finds none, it will start the download from scratch. Most of the time, this solves the problem.
Disabling Update Service
Deleting downloaded files
Now we will navigate to the Windows Update directory and delete all the updated files already present. Open your file explorer or My Computer and follow the steps.
Turning Update Service back on
Now we have to turn the Windows Update service back on and launch it again. Initially, the Update Manager might take a few minutes to compute details and prepare a manifest for the download.
Now try updating once again and check if the problem gets solved.
Solution 13: Clearing Recent Items List
In certain cases, Windows might be trying to make some changes to the recent items list in the directory and it might be failing due to which this update issue is being triggered. Therefore, in this step, we will be clearing the recent items list. For that:
Solution 14: Network Encryption
If you have network encryption enabled on your internet connection, it is most likely causing this issue because it might be preventing the Windows Files from being downloaded thus resulting in this failure. Symantec Encryption is in particular known to cause this issue and they even released a script here that apparently fixes it. Make sure to give the script a go and if it still persists, either disable it temporarily or contact their support.
Solution 15: Manually Installing
You can try to download and install the update manually, to fix this issue and bypass the Windows Updater. This should potentially work for you. Follow the steps below, to fix this issue:- If none of these methods and solutions worked for you can try to remove all of your unnecessary USB devices from your computer as they also interfere with your Windows Update system.
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