Windows Update installation failed

Question

I pulled this old ASUS out of a drawer to try to revive it for my daughter.  It was unused for nearly 3 years.  First point of order is to update it.

I attempted to update and every update was successful except for the 2019-04 Cumulative update for Windows 10 version 1709 (KB4493440). 

I tried multiple times but without success.  I'll note here that I am a complete novice and the only way I got as far as I did was with the help of Google searches.

Some search results lead me to update my drivers, so I did.  That didn't change anything but now I'm regretting not creating a restore point before starting all of this.  There are NO restore points since the computer was last used so long ago.

After this, I found a link to a direct install of Windows 10 and so I attempted that.  All looked good until the very end, when the system was rebooting.  Upon reboot, the message "undoing changes made to your computer" appeared and I waited for the system to revert back to 1709. 

After reboot, the message "We've set your computer back to the way it was right before you tried installing Windows 10", followed by "0xC1900101 - 0x30018 The installation failed in the FIRST_BOOT phase with an error during SYSPREP_SPECIALIZE operation".  (I believe that version 20H2 was what I was attempting to install.)

Now I'm kind of stuck because I think a number of potential fixes are above my pay grade. 

Is there a way for me to find precise step-by-step instructions to help me get back on track?

Answer 1

It's been a while since I started this thread and I thought I would update my progress.

It turns out that the registration key I retrieved off the computer was NOT the correct key.  I have since found the original disc and reinstalled Windows from a USB drive, after figuring out how to change the system boot order.

Now, Windows 10 20H2 seems to be humming along, nicely.

This, however, leads me to another question.  I took up this maintenance project to get the computer up and running for my daughter.  In order to do so, I had to set it up under my account.  Now that I have done so, I want to wipe the computer and get it back up to the setup so she can set it up herself.

What's my best method to reset the computer to the current version of windows, now that it is installed?  Will the computer have to be updated again, after resetting it (which is what I did after reinstalling Windows 10)?

Is there an option of unregistering the PC and reregistering it under my daughter's name?

Answer 2

Hello, how are you?

Welcome to the Microsoft Community!

My name is Paloma B., I'm an independent advisor, I'm here to help you in the best possible way.

I understand that you had trouble updating Windows, I'm sorry to hear about this issue.

Please perform the procedures below and check if the problem persists.

1. Press Windows + R, type Notepad and click OK;
2. Copy and paste the commands below into this new notebook:

SC config trustedinstaller start=auto

net stop wuauserv

net stop bits

cd %windir%

Ren SoftwareDistribution SoftwareDistribution.old

dism /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth

3. Click the File tab> Save as> Select the desktop;
4. Define the name as Wufix.bat and in the field below under Type select all files;
5. Click save;
6. Right-click on the Wufix file and click Run as administrator;
7. Wait until the end of the procedure on the black screen;
8. Restart the PC and see if the error persists.

If the problem still persists, please try to update using the Microsoft tool.

Please download it through the link below, when you start it, check to keep your files and programs and check if there are errors in the update.

https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=799445

I await news.

If these procedures helped you in any way, please click on "I solved my problem" and also mark as an answer, so you can help others users.

We will always be available for whatever you need!

Answer 3

"Something went wrong"

"You can contact Microsoft support for helpwith this error.  Here is the error code 0xc06d007f."

I clicked "try again" but I don't have high hopes....

Same error, same code.  Trying again didn't resolve the problem.

I'm back at square one.

Answer 4

"Something went wrong"

"You can contact Microsoft support for helpwith this error.  Here is the error code 0xc06d007f."

I clicked "try again" but I don't have high hopes....

Answer 5

dism /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth is the command I used when I attempted to download 20H2 originally but I am following your instructions and will let you know if I have any success.