I am running Windows 10 in a Parallels VM. It's upgraded all the way from Windows 8 without issues over the years but the April 2018 update has failed repeatedly - each time I have to roll back to the previous version and each time Windows then notices I've not yet upgraded and goes into it's increasingly persistent reminder cycle which culminates in updating when I'm not looking.  Surely if an update isn't compatible for some reason, Windows Update should stop trying? Is this not the case?  This isn't a duplicate - I do NOT want to turn off Windows Update I want it to stop repeatedly installing something which keeps failing.
8519
We've upgraded some machines to Windows 10 and realized there were some updates which updated as required. However, I realized there was no option available to stop the download similar to that on Windows 7 and 8.1. The only way I could stop the download was to stop the Windows Update service.  My question is does anyone know of a way to stop auto updates or is stopping the service is the only solution?
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A customer running Windows 7 Home must have reserved or okayed the Windows 10 upgrade because I am seeing daily messages that the upgrade is failing to install.   This customer is not ready for Windows 10 so it's good that the install is failing. But how to make it stop trying?  Once permission is granted for the upgrade, how do I revoke that permission so it stops attempting to upgrade?  I ran the Windows Update troubleshooter to clear out updates, and I uninstalled and hid KB3035583, but it is still trying to upgrade. In Task Manager, there is no GWX.EXE process.  Event log failure message:  Log Name:      System Source:        Microsoft-Windows-WindowsUpdateClient Date:          8/5/2015 1:28:58 AM Event ID:      20 Task Category: Windows Update Agent Level:         Error Keywords:      Failure,Installation User:          SYSTEM Description:   Installation Failure: Windows failed to install the following update with                 error 0x80240020: Upgrade to Windows 10 Home.   Relevant lines from WindowsUpdate.log:  2015-08-05  01:28:57:885    1068    6698    Agent   ************* 2015-08-05  01:28:57:885    1068    6698    Agent   ** START **  Agent: Installing updates [CallerId = AutomaticUpdates] 2015-08-05  01:28:57:885    1068    6698    Agent   ********* 2015-08-05  01:28:57:885    1068    6698    Agent     * Updates to install = 1 2015-08-05  01:28:57:885    1068    6698    Agent     *   Title = Upgrade to Windows 10 Home 2015-08-05  01:28:57:885    1068    6698    Agent     *   UpdateId = {27E79986-1150-4342-BDD2-76DF82C768D5}.201 2015-08-05  01:28:57:885    1068    6698    Agent     *     Bundles 1 updates: 2015-08-05  01:28:57:885    1068    6698    Agent     *       {FCD6621E-F5D4-4A95-AD43-28F0C58DD2F3}.201 2015-08-05  01:28:58:181    1068    6698    DnldMgr Preparing update for install, updateId = {FCD6621E-F5D4-4A95-AD43-28F0C58DD2F3}.201. 2015-08-05  01:28:58:181    27280   6f84    Misc    ===========  Logging initialized (build: 7.6.7601.18917, tz: -0700)  =========== 2015-08-05  01:28:58:181    27280   6f84    Misc      = Process: C:\Windows\system32\wuauclt.exe 2015-08-05  01:28:58:181    27280   6f84    Misc      = Module: C:\Windows\system32\wuaueng.dll 2015-08-05  01:28:58:181    27280   6f84    Handler ::::::::::::: 2015-08-05  01:28:58:181    27280   6f84    Handler :: START ::  Handler: Windows Setup Install 2015-08-05  01:28:58:181    27280   6f84    Handler ::::::::: 2015-08-05  01:28:58:181    27280   6f84    Handler   : Updates to install = 1 2015-08-05  01:28:58:181    1068    5ecc    AU  &gt;&gt;##  RESUMED  ## AU: Installing update [UpdateId = {27E79986-1150-4342-BDD2-76DF82C768D5}] 2015-08-05  01:28:58:181    1068    5ecc    AU    # WARNING: Install failed, error = 0x80240020 / 0x00000000 2015-08-05  01:28:58:181    27280   6f84    Handler   : WARNING: Exit code = 0x80240020 2015-08-05  01:28:58:181    1068    5ecc    AU  Write OSUpgradeState =14 with OSUpgradephase =2 2015-08-05  01:28:58:181    27280   6f84    Handler ::::::::: 2015-08-05  01:28:58:181    27280   6f84    Handler ::  END  ::  Handler: Windows Setup Install 2015-08-05  01:28:58:181    27280   6f84    Handler :::::::::::::
51724
During the beta of Windows 10 it was hard know what version you were running unless it had it posted to the desktop. Once that wasn't there - how do you tell what version / build you are running?   This will become more of an issue as Microsoft starts releasing more builds with the new update mechanism.
97614
Installed Windows 7 Ultimate (64-bit) on a fresh PC and after installing service pack 1 started the upgrade to Windows 10. The assistant app downloads and verifies but gets stuck at 99% in the upgrading window phase. Even after hours it remains stuck there.  I've tried to reboot the machine and that doesn't help either. I've googled and found out that others have faced the exact problem but so far there isn't any solution that works.  Has anyone seen that situation and is there a fix for it?
23343
If a Windows server (2k3/2k8) is set to "download but not install" updates, is there a way to check from the command line.. perhaps a log file or something I can check with powershell, to see if there are any updates actually waiting to be installed? I'm trying to prevent having to manually log on to each server to check, even though they want the "trigger" pulled manually. We have an automation system in place I can use (CA Autosys) - just not sure what to have it look for.
96878
I am trying to upgrade my Win7 system to Windows 10 (because I am, apparently, masochistic). It's not working, locking up at about 30 to 35%, requiring me to reset, which then backs out the upgrade.  The whole process takes about three to four hours. A large part of this is having to download 3.5GB of upgrade every time, because Microsoft's tool doesn't cache the install files.  The tool has an option to create a bootable USB stick, which I can use to do an install. This should be way faster.  However, Microsoft seem really firm that if I want to get my free upgrade, I need to pick to 'Upgrade this PC' option from the upgrade tool. This seems peculiar. Can anyone confirm (i.e. who actually knows from first hand knowledge) whether upgrading from a USB stick actually works?
15013
I have had this happen to me twice now.  I'll be in the middle of working on something that has resulted in me not rebooting my machine for several days.  If Windows 7 is waiting to install updates it'll eventually get to a point where it forces a restart to install the updates.  The problem is that it doesn't notify me or tell me that its going to do this and I've lost work as a result and most recently had a VM become corrupt and unusable.  Is there a way to at least get it to prompt me before doing this?  It used to...
54508
I have a Windows 10 computer. This morning it restarted into a blue screen with error code Inaccessible boot device.  There are no recent hardware changes. Also I think it was not after a Windows update installation. At least I chose Restart to restart, and not Update and restart as usual before an update installation.  According to other posts related to this problem I tried the following:   Restart into save mode: no success, the same error displays Restart into recovery console: The system partition usually mounted as C: is available as D:   chkdsk d: /x completes without finding any error. I conclude, that the problem is not related to a hard disk failure. bootrec /fixboot completes with success.  bootrec /scanos completes with a message Number of Windows installations identified : 0. Why doesn't it find the Windows installation, even though it is available under D:\ ? sfc /verifyonly has found integrity violations, but sfc /scannow finished with the message The Windows resource protection was not able to complete the operation.  System restore to a previous restore point: After a (long) while, the task completed, but without solving the problem. Booting from the Windows Installation disk:   I tried the option Repair Windows: It was not possible to roll back to a previous restore point Update Windows keeping programs and files seems to work only when booting first into the current installation to do an upgrade. It cannot be done while booting from the installation disk (as it was the case in previous versions of Windows).     Is there anything left I could do before reinstalling Windows 10 ?  Edit: Now there is the second computer with the same problem within 2 days. This smells like an epidemy (caused by a bad Windows update ?)  This time I tried:   Restart into save mode: no success, the same error displays System restore to a previous restore point : No success, it offers to try from another restore point.   I stopped here. I just don't want do make a mistake that forces me to reinstall it.
99138
Sometimes I want to test something on Windows XP for development purposes and I am curious if I will be able to make new fresh XP installation after end of support in April 2014.  OK, no new updates will be published by Microsoft after April 2014. But what happens if I install Windows XP SP3 after April 2014 and then will want to update it to latest existing updates? Will it be possible or not? With Windows Update, or some kind of "rollup" package?  (Many people already asked if they will be able to install the XP after April 2014. But I can't see any questions about updates.)
82717
Not a problem, but have been seeing questions recently of people not being offered upgrade from 18.04 to 20.04.  I thought these upgrades were offered back in June.  I upgraded to 20.04 from 19.10 and this was offered back in May.  Imagine that different versions paths have different schedules, but google does not help explaining(that I found).  Does someone know the schedules?
55150
I am attempting to install two hotfixes manually from Microsoft - one addresses the svchost.exe extreme memory usage problem, and the other addresses the slow Windows Update problem.  This system is a freshly installed Windows 7, and I have the two MSU updates saved locally to my desktop, but it is never actually finding such updates, and therefore never actually installs the two fixes.  Is there a way to force Windows Update Standalone Installer to just install the single update and not look for all the updates?
121738
In Windows 10 version 1607, it was still possible to defer updates by a few months via the Local Group Policy Editor, but now there's a subfolder containing two entries where it's only possible to defer them by 30-60 days with a maximum of 365 days (timer has to be set anew every time).  Am I seeing this correct or am I missing something?  And what's the difference between feature and quality updates?
67244
This has happened multiple times now - when I shut off my Aspire 7741G-6426 laptop (running Windows 7 and 8.1) at night, it does Updates and then shuts down.  When I fire it up the next morning, I get this msg:     We couldn't complete the updates. Undoing changes. Don't turn off your computer   Why do the updates keep failing, and why doesn't Windows stop trying to apply the updates in the first place after several failed attempts?  Or are these all different instances of updates? Last night/this morning was the most recent.  So, how can I find out what went wrong with a failed Windows update?  UPDATE  The comment reminded me that I wrote an event log viewer a long time ago. Looking at events within the last day, it gives me:  Type: Warning Source: Microsoft-Windows-ApplicationExperienceInfrastructure Time Generated: 03/20/2015 04:35:50 Message: The application (Microsoft SQL Server (2008 and 2008 R2), from vendor Microsoft) has the following problem: Microsoft SQL Server (2008 and 2008 R2) is not supported on this version of Windows. For more information, contact Microsoft. Machine Name: AcerAndroid User Name: NT AUTHORITY\NETWORK SERVICE  Type: Warning Source: Wlclntfy Time Generated: 03/20/2015 04:36:46 Message: The winlogon notification subscriber &lt;TrustedInstaller&gt; is taking long time to handle the notification event (CreateSession). Machine Name: AcerAndroid  Type: Warning Source: Wlclntfy Time Generated: 03/20/2015 04:38:46 Message: The winlogon notification subscriber &lt;TrustedInstaller&gt; took 180 second(s) to handle the notification event (CreateSession). Machine Name: AcerAndroid  Type: Warning Source: Wlclntfy Time Generated: 03/20/2015 04:38:57 Message: The winlogon notification subscriber &lt;TrustedInstaller&gt; failed a critical notification event. Machine Name: AcerAndroid  Type: Warning Source: Microsoft-Windows-ApplicationExperienceInfrastructure Time Generated: 03/20/2015 04:40:22 Message: The application (Microsoft SQL Server (2008 and 2008 R2), from vendor Microsoft) has the following problem: Microsoft SQL Server (2008 and 2008 R2) is not supported on this version of Windows. For more information, contact Microsoft. Machine Name: AcerAndroid User Name: NT AUTHORITY\NETWORK SERVICE  Type: Warning Source: Wlclntfy Time Generated: 03/20/2015 04:41:21 Message: The winlogon notification subscriber &lt;TrustedInstaller&gt; is taking long time to handle the notification event (CreateSession). Machine Name: AcerAndroid  Type: Warning Source: Wlclntfy Time Generated: 03/20/2015 04:43:06 Message: The winlogon notification subscriber &lt;TrustedInstaller&gt; took 165 second(s) to handle the notification event (CreateSession). Machine Name: AcerAndroid  Type: Warning Source: Microsoft-Windows-ApplicationExperienceInfrastructure Time Generated: 03/20/2015 04:44:37 Message: The application (ATI Catalyst Control Center *, from vendor ATI Technologies Inc) has the following problem: To function properly, ATI Catalyst Control Center * must be reinstalled after you upgrade Windows. Machine Name: AcerAndroid User Name: ACERANDROID\Clay   UPDATE 2  I tried John Ball's suggestion, and got to the "Windows Update History" screen in Windows 8.1, but it was blank. When I went back to Windows 7 mode via Windows key+D, I saw this:    UPDATE 3  The Wolverine's link seemed to have worked. This is what I saw after I ran it:    UPDATE 4  Well, that didn't work, after all: I had the same old problem this morning and starting up my laptop. The link to the zipped contents of C:\Windows\Logs\CBS is
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Software Updater has installed some new software. I'm largely not interested in this fact as I just use this machine as a file server and watch everything on my tablet or Windows machine.  However, every time I connect to the machine, I see this:    This is a window with no close button with the "Restart" button selected by default so literally my next keypress will reboot the machine. This is almost as bad as Windows 8 rebooting whenever it wants to in order to apply updates.   I don't mind it installing updates as and when it wants to but I am only ever going to restart the machine when I want to restart it. How can I stop the Software Updater from nagging me to restart?
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I have a windows 7 64 bit computer that is failing to install the update kb2918614. It has installed all the other updates.  Every time it tries to install, it fails with the error code 8024200d - it tries again every time I restart the computer.  I have tried renaming the C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\ to C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution.old and installing again, but the same thing happens.  I have also tried running the "Windows Update System readiness tool", but that didn't work either.  Can anybody help me please?
81363
I couldn't connect to Windows Update nor install .NET so I've done a clean install of Windows 8.1 from Microsoft's iso.  The same problem occurs : the loading bar is never beginning ! No error message.  I've compared what is happening on my Win 7 netbook with Wireshark. When searching for updates, it's sending http requests to Microsoft with a URL like /v11/2/microsoftupdate/. The fresh install of Win 8.1 basically doesn't try to connect anywhere.  I have no proxy, no firewall, no special configuration. Both laptops are on the same network.
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I'm on a Semi-Annual Channel (Targeted) update channel. It's been a while after Microsoft released an update to fix issues in the initial Windows 10 1809 update. But a  where we can download the updates as standalone packages still has a hole instead of download link to the 1809.17763.1 version package:    Windows 10 Update Assistant  is useless as well, since it offers to download April 2018 Update, lol.  So, I can't update my 1803.17134.376 to 1809 even after more than a month since it's initially was released.  (Of course, "drastically improved" Windows Update doesn't suggest the 1809 update, too. Actually, it has been never working on this Win 10 copy, so I used to download all the updates manually via the first link in this post.)  Has anybody figured out a way of how to manually update from 1803 to 1809?  Without hardcore stuff, please, like making bootable media which potentially would have a great chance of destroying the currently installed Win 10 copy.  (I was completely confused by that "Microsoft recommends" wording near the 1809 update on that page and some top articles in Google saying that it was released and ready for production with that quick patch. So, this question is from this confusion.)