Windows 11 24H2 update will NOT download or install

Question

I'm sorry, but it seems to me, that hassle free installation of updates falls on Microsoft, and not to user to try and wade through the muck and mire of additional software installations to get your program to actually WORK. You solution is unsatisfactory, to say the least.

I downloaded the Windows Installation Assistant ran it, only to have it tell me I needed to download Windows PC Health Check Setup only to have it tell me my system was "compatible" with Windows 11. On refreshing the Windows Installation Assistant, it tells me it will now install Windows 11, which has been running since I had the PC built 3 years ago.

Answer 1

Let me be perfectly clear on this. This whole issue is a MICROSOFT issue not a ME issue. Microsoft broke it...it falls to MICROSOFT...not ME...to fix it. I have neither the time, nor the technical expertise to deal with this. Microsoft does. Fix it.

Answer 2

I recently built my PC using new-gen parts, so my hardware is as up-to-date as it gets. The amount of time and effort required for something as simple as updating a PC is mind-boggling. I spent hours trying to install the Windows 11 24H2 update, only to repeatedly hit the 0x800f0838 error. After trying every single troubleshooting step with no success, I finally had to perform an in-place upgrade of Windows 11.

The upgrade process itself went smoothly, but when it came time to install the update after the upgrade, the same one that had failed before, it went from 100% complete back to 0%, before finally climbing back to 100% and completing successfully. It turned out the root cause was a missing prerequisite update, which is incredibly frustrating because I make sure to keep my PC, drivers, and updates current.

While researching this, it became clear this is not the first time users have faced similar issues. Updates with the same problem have been reported as far back as 24H2-9 through 24H2-12.

Why are users forced to spend hours troubleshooting, restarting, and ultimately resorting to something as drastic as a system reinstall just to get an update working? If an update requires a prerequisite, why isn’t it flagged or installed automatically? Microsoft, this process needs to be fixed. Updates should be seamless, not a multi-hour ordeal for users who are already doing everything they can to keep their systems up to date.

Answer 3

I got all the way to step #4 and stopped, as this is waaaay outside my technical expertise. I'm 100% in agreement with other posts. Microsoft needs to fix this and not lob it to the end user base to resolve an issue Microsoft Engineers caused.

Answer 4

Hello MarkSchrider,

Welcome to the Microsoft Community.

We are sorry to hear about your issue. If your Windows Update is failing to run and you're not upgrading to Windows 11, here are steps to troubleshoot and resolve the issue:

First of all, please give us some detailed information about your PC specifications. There are some known compatibility issues within the 24H2 update. And Microsoft has disabled update channels to 24H2 on a few devices. If your device is among one of them, you may have to wait for some time until a more stable update patch is released.

Below are some general suggestions that you can consider:

1. Run Windows Update Troubleshooter

• Go to Settings → Update & Security → Troubleshoot → Additional troubleshooters.
• Select Windows Update and click Run the troubleshooter.
• Follow the prompts and let it fix any detected issues.

2. Restart Windows Update Services

• Press Win + R, type services.msc, and press Enter.
• Locate these services and ensure they are running:
  1. Windows Update: Right-click → Restart.
  2. Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS): Right-click → Restart.
  3. Cryptographic Services: Right-click → Restart.
• Set their startup type to Automatic (if not already).

3. Clear Windows Update Cache

• Search for CMD on taskbar, find the command prompt, and right click to select run in administrator mode
• Enter the following commands in sequence, and press Enter after each line net stop bits net stop wuauserv net stop cryptsvc ren %systemroot%\System32\catroot2 catroot2.old Del "%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Application Data\Microsoft\Network\Downloader\qmgr*.dat" net start bits net start wuauserv net start cryptsvc
• Then, delete the previous update files:
  • Navigate to C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution and delete its contents.

4.System File Checker and DISM: These tools can repair corrupted system files.

Follow the steps to run System File Checker:

1. Open Command Prompt as an administrator.
2. Run the following commands one by one:
   DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth 
   DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /CheckHealth 
   DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth
3. Run sfc /scannow and wait for the process to complete. Check if there are any detected errors.

5. Manually Install Pending Updates

As a temporary workaround, you may install the updates manually and check if your device will work back to normal after the update.

• Visit the Microsoft Update Catalog.
• Search for the specific update code (e.g., KB5006670) and download the file.
• Run the installer to update manually.

6. Check for Storage or Disk Errors

• Ensure you have sufficient free space for updates (at least 20GB).
• Try to use chkdsk command to scan the disk.
  1. Click Win key + X to open "Command Prompt (Admin)"
  2. Enter chkdsk <drive letter>: /f in the command prompt window
  For example, to check and repair the D partition, enter the following command: chkdsk D: /f Press Y then Enter to run the chkdsk disk check tool to scan the D partition. After that, you can check other partitions similarly. Note: Please check other drive letters other than your system drive (usually C) first. You need to restart to check C drive. Disclaimer: Running chkdsk can check the file system and file system metadata of a volume for logical and physical errors. To avoid any trouble for you, do not cancel or interrupt chkdsk, and back up important data.   For more information, please refer to this chkdsk | Microsoft Learn.

7. Check Logs for Errors

If no clues found above, you may want to find some possible crash or error logs in Event Viewer:

• Open Event Viewer (Win + R → eventvwr → Enter).
• Navigate to Windows Logs → System to look for update-related errors.

8. If none of these steps resolve the issue, consider performing an In-place Upgrade: An in-place upgrade is a method of reinstalling Windows. The principle of an in-place upgrade is to upgrade the system from the old version to the latest version while retaining the original system and user data, overwriting only the system files, and restoring the normal use of the system. The detailed steps are as follows.

1. Visit the official Microsoft website, Download Windows 11
2. Use the installation tool to create a USB installation disk or ISO file.
3. Insert the USB installation disk or mount the ISO file, and then run setup.exe.
4. Select the "Upgrade this PC" option and click "Next".
5. Make sure to select the "Keep personal files and apps" option and click "Install".
6. The process may take some time, please wait patiently for it to complete.

Disclaimer: Let's try to perform an in-place upgrade, which will refresh your Windows files and operating system without deleting files or applications. But if there is important data on the computer, we still recommend backing it up in advance.

Best Regards,

William.Y | Microsoft Community Support Specialist

Answer 5

The update is not install