Reverting back the changes while installing windows updates

Question

Original Title: Automatic updates in windows 8.1

I did the install to 8.1 from windows 8 by accident, now it wants to install upgrades but my computer says they can't be completed  and it goes thru this long uninstall thing.  All this takes 20-30 minutes each time and tries it every 2 or 3 days and usually interrupts what I'm doing....a big pain in the rear!  How do I make the update thing go away?  Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Answer 1

Hello Brian,  

Thank you for posting your question in Microsoft Community. We are glad to assist you.

As per description I understand that the updates are reverting back when you are trying to install. The reason could be related to some third party program on your computer stopping them to get installed or some window update components might be corrupt.

To help you suggest steps to resolve the issue, I would appreciate if you could answer the following questions:  

• Were any changes made to your computer prior to this issue?
• Which security software are you using on your computer?
• Do you get any error message or error code? If yes, what is the complete error message / error code you get on your screen when updates revert back?

You may try the following methods below in order to get these updates installed successfully.

Method 1: Run windows update trouble shooter

Windows update trouble shooter provides the solution to some common problems with installing updates. And it tries to fix problems automatically

Open the Windows Update troubleshooter

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/troubleshoot-problems-installing-updates#1TC=windows-8

If issue still persists try method 2

Method 2:

If the problem still persists, you may try to reset the Windows Update components and then try to install the Windows Updates.

The article given below helps you reset and reregister the components responsible for the windows updates.

Refer: How do I reset Windows Update components?

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/971058/en-us

Important: This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

How to back up and restore the registry in Windows

Refer: "Failure configuring Windows updates. Reverting changes. Do not turn off your computer" error when you try to install Windows updates

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/949358/en-us

Note: After doing clean boot troubleshooting, refer to this section "How to reset the computer to start normally after clean boot troubleshooting"

Hope this information is helpful. Please do let us know if you need further assistance with Windows, we’ll be glad to assist you.

Thank you.