[FIX] Windows update undoing changes after/before restart
The updates of Windows 10 have always been controversial. From being automatically Installing, automatically restarting PC that leads to loss of data to Unsuccessful installation, Windows 10 users generally face difficulty to Install Windows 10 updates smoothly. This article discusses fixes when Windows update does undo the changes during installation before or after the restart. Without wasting time let us discuss the same:
Run the Windows Update troubleshooter
Windows update troubleshooter is the first and foremost tool you should run. In my opinion, though it rarely fixes issues, but it is a handy tool in identifying problems. You can either download it from the following link or do the steps written below:
- Navigate to Start>Settings
- Open Update and security and click Troubleshoot section
- Click “Fix problems with Windows update”
Alternatively, if the troubleshooting section is not present you need to go to Control Panel>Troubleshooting and then selecting the same.
You can also download this from the following link:
Running this tool is quite easy. Just Click on next and this tool should automatically find and fix problems.
Resetting Windows update components
Sometimes due to corrupted download of windows update package, updates might uninstall when windows cannot find corrupted files. For resetting components, you can use the script from the article below and run it using administrator privileges. Whole process is automatic and you do not need to do anything.
Download Windows update reset script for Computers running Windows 10
Steps and to-do are here in the following article:
Windows update reset in Windows 10 and earlier versions of Windows
After running the script, restart the components and try again.
Alternatively, if you do not want to use the script that does the automatic process, you can use the following article from Microsoft to reset Windows update components:
Repair Install Windows 10
If resetting Windows update components hasn’t helped, the next option is to do a repair install. A repair Install keeps everything including files, applications and settings and reinstalls Windows. This method is the most efficient method to take care of this Windows update issue. This is extremely helpful as you do not loose files and applications. You can go through the following article to know more about doing a repair install.
How to do a repair Install using a windows 10 ISO to fix a broken windows
Reset Windows 10
Generally, repair install would fix this issue but if you want to start afresh especially your PC has some other problems like slowness, reset should help. Reset allows you to keep your files, but Installed applications are lost. If you have a recovery partition by the manufacturer, reset also allows you to restore factory OEM partition.
To do a reset, use the following steps:
- Open Settings app.
- Select Update and security>Recovery.
- Click Get started under Reset.
- Choose the option to select or remove files.
- Confirm Reset by Clicking on Reset:
Other options you can try
There are some things, that are indirectly related to windows update failure. Here are some of them:
- Do a Disk check with /f parameter switch. Open a CMD window with administrative privileges and run chkdsk C: /f command(remember the space) and let it run on next restart. Might take hours if you have a large drive.
- Run SFC and DISM command. Instructions can be found on Run System file checker tool page.
- Try removing any new software you have installed prior to Windows update failure. There were reports that Nvidia software caused Windows update to fail when version 1511 was the stable build.
These are some of the methods that can solve your Windows update issue. Feel free to share if you have any other method as well.
Article revision 1.3 23/08/17