This browser is no longer supported.
Upgrade to Microsoft Edge to take advantage of the latest features, security updates, and technical support.
![](data:image/svg+xml, %3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' height='64' class='font-weight-bold' style='font: 600 30.11764705882353px "SegoeUI", Arial' width='64'%3E%3Ccircle fill='hsl(83.2, 13%, 18%)' cx='32' cy='32' r='32' /%3E%3Ctext x='50%25' y='55%25' dominant-baseline='middle' text-anchor='middle' fill='%23FFF' %3EEC%3C/text%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Given that I've had no luck after repeated attempts to install Cumulative Update KB5031356 (it reaches a tantalizing 99% and then reverts), I'm wondering whether it's possible somehow (WUSA.exe?) to install the individual updates comprising KB5031356 separately, one at a time, so that I can at least accomplish some of this month's patching and maybe even identify what exactly has been going wrong. If it's doable, what would be the exact procedure?
I'm on Windows 10 Home 22H2, fully updated up until this month's Patch Tuesday. (More on my plight at https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/1390600/how-to-re-install-windows-feature-experience-pack, "How to re-install Windows Feature Experience Pack (only)?".)
![](data:image/svg+xml, %3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' height='64' class='font-weight-bold' style='font: 600 30.11764705882353px "SegoeUI", Arial' width='64'%3E%3Ccircle fill='hsl(128, 8%, 22%)' cx='32' cy='32' r='32' /%3E%3Ctext x='50%25' y='55%25' dominant-baseline='middle' text-anchor='middle' fill='%23FFF' %3EA%3C/text%3E%3C/svg%3E)
KB5031356 is the October 10, 2023 (OS Builds 19044.3570 and 19045.3570) cumulative update.
winver
should return the current build number.
--please don't forget to close up the thread here by marking answer if the reply is helpful--
Ah, WINVER is probably trustworthy in this regard; it shows build 1045.3448. (Is "1045" short for "19045" here?) Anyhow, I see that build corresponds to KB5030211, last month's rollup. So I conclude that despite the "Reliability" Monitor's sunny claim, I'm still in a hole.
I sure wish the Windows Feature Experience Pack were available for download as a .cab or .msi or whatever! Surely I'm not the only one who, eager to rid my system of the unwanted new Windows [Cloud] Backup, removed the package. (That or perhaps WU could more gracefully handle its absence, not to mention a 30 GB C: drive!) (Incidentally, I found that my netbook is already using the CompactOS option, presumably as a compensatory gift from the OEM. So much for that scheme to save space.)
If it were an N version then this one could work.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/mediafeaturepack
but then again if windows update is broken it might not succeed.
Thanks for the additional information. "WU broken" is where I am now, so I don't suppose it would hurt to try. However --
I hadn't known about Windows "N" versions. No, what I have here is the standard Home edition, but now that I've read up on the N versions, it raises a question. The Windows N versions are essentially the standard ones minus multimedia features, correct? And the Windows Experience Pack I prematurely removed includes the new Windows [Cloud] Backup, the Snipping Tool's Win+Shift+S keyboard shortcut, and the Emoji Panel, right? (What a motley set of features to group together and make an essential system component!) I'm not seeing a lot of overlap between the above three features and multimedia -- or for that matter between those features and the Media Feature Pack for which you provided a link. Are you suggesting the Windows Experience Pack is a subset of the Media Feature Pack?? They sound pretty dissimilar. Then again, MS does do some strange things on occasion....
Oh, one more thing!
This (https://www.windowslatest.com/2023/10/01/windows-11-microsoft-says-it-wont-let-you-remove-windows-backup-app/) was my original source for the Remove-WindowsPackage code I ran. Looking back at the article, I notice that it gives
DISM.exe /Online /add-capability /CapabilityName:Windows.Client.ShellComponents~~~~0.0.1.0
as a means of restoring the Windows Experience Pack. Do you concur? If so, that would probably be the best thing to try next.
Sure, give it a shot.
Nah, that didn't work. 😒
The DISM command returned "The operation completed successfully" and I have both the Emoji Panel and the Snipping Tool's Win+Shift+S shortcut (neither of which I'd used before), so I guess the restore worked. (Though for some reason I'm not seeing Windows Backup in the Start menu....)
Anyhow, after that I restarted, unpaused WU, let it go through the usual process, restarted, and yet again watched it reach 99% before the familiar "We couldn't complete the update. Undoing changes" message returned. Reassuringly, Reliability Monitor listed this latest attempt as a failure. (And once again, as before, I see dwm.exe stopped working about a dozen minutes prior to the time given for the WU failure. Hmm.)
Tomorrow, I may try the techniques described here (https://www.winhelponline.com/blog/error-0x800f0922-windows-update/), which sound rather promising. I continue to hope for a surgical solution; if I have to re-install the OS, it might as just well be Linux.
whether it's possible somehow (WUSA.exe?) to install the individual updates comprising KB5031356 separately, one at a time
Not really. KB5031356 is the 10/10/2023 cumulative rollup. Cumulative rollup contains, in some cases an SSU, plus new fixes plus the previous monthly rollup. If you have not yet installed the sept rollup, then you could certainly install that one.
--please don't forget to close up the thread here by marking answer if the reply is helpful--
Dave,
I have installed the September rollup: that was the last one that worked for me! Is it possible to install that one again? I ask only because, as I talk about in that other question at the link above, I made the mistake of uninstalling the Windows Feature Experience Pack (seemed like a good idea at the time!) and would like it back, on the theory that it might help the Oct. rollup install properly.
One concern I have about re-installing the Sept. rollup, however, is whether it includes the whole of the Windows Feature Experience Pack or just the new Windows Backup app. About this I have no idea.
whether it includes the whole of the Windows Feature Experience Pack
This is unlikely. Windows updates do not contain roles or features for windows.
Is it possible to install that one again?
It may be but the only method here is to uninstall it as first step.
--please don't forget to close up the thread here by marking answer if the reply is helpful--
It may be, but the only method here is to uninstall it as first step.
Aside from not knowing how I'd go about this, it sounds perhaps a little risky. After all, (1) I don't know what's causing KB5031356 to fail, and I might end up behind on two months of rollups instead of just one if I can't reinstall KB5030211; and (2) I don't actually know that the absence of the Windows Feature Experience Pack is what's preventing KB5031356 from installing, so there may be no point in even trying to get it back via KB5030211 -- assuming it contains what I need, which you said is unlikely. (In case I didn't mention it, the KB5031356 error I'm seeing is 0x800F0922. Also, shortly before the upgrade fails at 99% and reverts, dwm.exe is faulting with exception code 0xc0000409, whatever that tells us.)
Any idea whether KB5031356 requires substantially more disk space on the system drive than its predecessors? I unfortunately have very little of it to spare, despite ample space on my D: drive.
and I might end up behind on two months of rollups
100% correct.
don't actually know that the absence of the Windows Feature Experience Pack is what's preventing KB5031356
agreed, probably unrelated.
Any idea whether KB5031356 requires substantially more disk space
No reason that it should. When you install via windows update you only actually download what's needed.
the KB5031356 error I'm seeing is 0x800F0922
You can also try a repair install by running setup.exe from the root of install media but given the issues time may be better spent clean installing it, patch fully and move on.
--please don't forget to close up the thread here by marking answer if the reply is helpful--
don't actually know that the absence of the Windows Feature Experience Pack is what's preventing KB5031356
agreed, probably unrelated.
Well, actually that's the best theory I've come up with, even if I have no way to confirm it! It's the only significant change I recall making to my system between the two Patch Tuesdays, and I read a comment somewhere -- unfortunately *after* I uninstalled the WFEP -- that it might lead to update problems. So if my WFEP removal isn't to blame, I don't know what is.
Any idea whether KB5031356 requires substantially more disk space
No reason that it should. When you install via windows update you only actually download what's needed.
True, but if all the new unrequested features Microsoft decided to include this time take up a lot more space than usual ... there we go. It simply might not fit. My machine is a netbook with a paltry 30 GB C: drive -- things are tight! I usually never see more than ~6 GB free, and at the moment it's more like 2 GB. Hence my speculation that KB5031356 might be pushing against a hard limit here.
You can also try a repair install by running setup.exe from the root of install media but given the issues time may be better spent clean installing it, patch fully and move on.
Argh. The system being a netbook, so much for the "install media", alas. Well, would you happen to have any idea whether DISM or SFC are capable of restoring my uninstalled Feature Experience Pack? I'd strongly prefer a surgical over a sledgehammer approach, if possible. Thanks again.
If the disk is full then try using Disk Cleanup to remove some clutter.
system being a netbook, so much for the "install media", alas
Not sure what you mean. Connect a removable disk with the windows ISO and mount it as another disk, but as mentioned a clean install may be the quickest solution.
--please don't forget to close up the thread here by marking answer if the reply is helpful--
If the disk is full then try using Disk Cleanup to remove some clutter.
Disk Cleanup and I are old pals. That ~6 GB figure I cited above? That's right after running it with the option System Files options selected (including, especially, Windows Update files). 30 GB total is not a lot to work with! Whenever possible, I've installed everything on my capacious D: drive, but even so, many apps insist on leaving some small part of themselves on C: and it adds up. Not nearly so much as Windows itself, though! (Yes, my hiberfile is long gone, and turning off search indexing was among my first tasks.) Maybe I should go so far as to try
Compact.exe /CompactOS:always
and/or
DISM /online /Cleanup-Image /StartComponentCleanup
? Or maybe I'm in enough trouble already. Anyhow, since free C: space has always been tight and I've never had a rollup auto-revert before now, I figure that unless KB5031356 is especially big when installed, the more likely culprit here is my removal of the Feature Experience Pack.
I imagine the download required for a clean install would be rather large/slow, but at least it would fit on a 64 GB flashdrive....
Sounds good, you can create the install media here.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10
--please don't forget to close up the thread here by marking answer if the reply is helpful--
Dare I ask ... how much and what sort of customizations would I lose with this option? I would describe my system as extensively tweaked.
With a repair install? Nothing assuming all goes well.
With a clean install? It will be an OOB experience.
--please don't forget to close up the thread here by marking answer if the reply is helpful--
Food for thought!
Regarding repair installs: I read that 20 GB free space on the system drive is required. If true, this would seem to rule out doing a repair install given my 30 GB C: drive ... unless, maybe, something could be done via mklink to my D: drive for the windows.old folder??
Also, I've read that not quite "nothing" would be lost with a repair install; e.g., added fonts, custom system icons, etc. (In fact, I'm guessing deleted fonts would be replaced as well, right?)
And to get the ISO, would a Microsoft account and an activated Windows be required? I decided to forego those niceties.