Wednesday, March 27, 2024

5 troubleshooting hacks for Windows update errors

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Microsoft, a name that needs not be introduced to the tech-geeks or otherwise, is the developer of Windows. Their services have undergone ages of evolution to alleviate security issues or some other exploits, both new and pervasive. These updates to its versions are usually without a snag, but not every day goes as you planned. Sometimes you can even download new software for yourself but not have the appropriate dll file or atiedxx.exe errors which also need to be fixed. Don’t you hate being interrupted while updating your Windows version? Well, worry not, as there’s always a way where there’s a will. Presenting you with five troubleshooting hacks for some Windows update errors you might have come across. But hold on.

Are you confident there is an error?

Before acting the moment when you see the progress bar stuck, make sure that there is no issue with your internet or Wi-Fi connection when your Windows update is ongoing. However, irrespective of perfect network connectivity, if your update is hell-bent on not filling the progress bar or hangs in a reboot loop, you’re right to worry and read on what to do next.

Built-in troubleshooter:

Before any manual intervention, why not try the Windows built-in troubleshooter that automatically scans and tries to fix if any problems persist? Most of the time, the resolution doesn’t come across so quickly, but it’s worth a try.

Steps to access the troubleshooter:

Control Panel → System and Security → Fix problems with Windows Update.

This opens a window. Now, click the Advanced link → Run as administrator → Click Next.

Thus, automatic detection of the issues and repair starts. It will list the errors and inform you whether those were resolved. Now you can click ‘Close’ and attempt a rerun of the update after rebooting your computer. Voila! It’s complete, and if not, the following ways might get you out of this.

Clearing update files from Software Distribution directory:

At times, the issue might arise while downloading the update files where it gets stuck. Then clear the download folder of all these files. This will re-initiate the download process. To do this, first, restart in Safe Mode. We can clear the Windows Update files by stopping the Windows Update service and directly deleting the files. Still, a much more reliable experience is to go for Safe Mode to ensure that nothing is running in the background.

Steps to access the download folder:

Search RUN in the Windows search tab, type C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download and click OK. Now delete everything inside the folder by pressing CTRL + A to select everything and then press Delete to remove the files, but do not delete the folder. Then restart your computer and try downloading again.

Antivirus Disabling:

There have been instances where temporarily disabling the antivirus resolves any interruption with the update of Windows. However, usually, antivirus software is not meant to interfere with this process. But, you can give this method a try. Each antivirus has different ways of disabling it, so load it up, turn it off by searching the Settings or Options area, and explore where to do it. As a substitute, right-click the icon in the system tray and click on the disable option.

Disconnect drives or disable VPN:

If the ways till now failed, maybe it’s time to try this out. Try disconnecting all media drives by searching for the Device manager in the system, selecting the target drives, right-clicking on it, and Disable. For errors like 0x80200056 or 0x800F0922, internet failure or VPN might be an issue, so disable any VPN service that’s running.

Media Creation Tool:

I hope by now you are done with the Windows update. Still, no luck? Here is one more tip in our toolbox for you to deal with this issue. Media Creation Tool creates an installation file of the updated version. Needless to worry that this will reset your computer’s factory settings, only that it updates the version by a different method. But, to avoid any risk of loss of information from your computer, take a backup and store it locally, online, or create a system image before initiating this.

Go to Microsoft’s Get Windows ‘X’ version page, click the Download tool now button, then open it. After accepting the terms and conditions, select Upgrade this PC and click through the prompts until the Ready to install page is reflected.

Finally, click on Ready when you are ready. Once the installation is complete, your system will restart, and hopefully, you are enjoying your latest Windows version experience by now.

New updates keep on generating in the market from time to time, and the FOMO factor pushes us to keep upgrading whenever it demands. However, you always have the option of skipping the update as Microsoft sometimes provides problematic updates.

After trying out all these options, if at all such kinds of problematic updates arise, which might happen, move on with your life, which was never wrong even with the older version of Windows.

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