W10v21H2 computer shuts down after updating instead of restarting

Question

W10 v21H2 WSUS client in a domain. Group Policy installs updates automatically at 3AM and restarts the computer. This works perfectly on all computers except one.

That one computer installs the updates, and the usual User32 event is logged, "The process C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe (<COMPUTERNAME>) has initiated the restart of computer <COMPUTERNAME> on behalf of user NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM for the following reason: Operating System: Service pack (Planned)"

Aaaannnd then it shuts down instead of restarting.

If we initiate a restart via Start menu, it restarts. So it's capable of restarting. It just doesn't do it when Automatic Updates tells it to.

It hasn't always done this; it just started a couple Patch Tuesdays ago.

As per Murphy's Law, this particular user RDPs into it from home most of the time. She has to wait for someone to come into the office to turn it back on after it updates.

I'm sure resetting Windows will solve this problem, but any ideas short of that? Also as per Murphy's law, this computer has a lot of unique, fiddly software and hardware. I'm hoping there's a silver bullet answer that will avoid reinstalling all of that. The machine is stable otherwise.

Editorial: If tags are required, MS needs to provide all tags that could possibly be relevant. WSUS is not a relevant tag, it's just as close as I could come.

Answer 1

Hi JeffVandervoort-1145,

Thank you for your question. query.

I would recommend that you remove this update, as it may be that some dll file from it has caused some internal "conflict" with this device.

To remove the update, follow the steps below:

1) open the “Start” menu and select the “Settings” item

2) on the next tab, click on “Update and Security”.

3) Go to the “Windows Update” tab on the left side menu and click on “View update history”, then click on “Uninstall updates”.

4) select the latest or problematic update, click “Uninstall” and confirm the action in the pop-up displayed next. If necessary, restart your PC.

I recommend that you also only install this update after 7 days at least.

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