Windows Update Stuck

Hey everyone,
I’ve been stuck with a persistent issue where my Windows 10 refuses to install updates. Every time I try, it either gets stuck during installation or throws an error code that leads nowhere. I’ve already tried running the update troubleshooter, resetting the Windows Update components, using DISM and SFC, and even tweaking Group Policy settings—nothing seems to work.

At this point, I’m not sure what else to try. If anyone has managed to fix this kind of issue or has any suggestions that actually worked for them, I’d really appreciate the help.

System/ OS Errors

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Talia Rho

Participant

July 23, 2025 at 3:59 am

Hey Esther,

I’ve seen this issue a lot, and I know how frustrating it can get—especially when you’ve already tried all the standard steps. Since DISM, SFC, and even Group Policy tweaks didn’t help, here are a few deeper-level suggestions that have worked for others in similar cases:

Check for Pending Updates or Reboots: Sometimes Windows has a pending restart or stuck update in the background. Try running this in Command Prompt (Admin):

shutdown /r /t 0
Clear the C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution folder again after stopping the update services. Even if you’ve done this before, do it manually:

net stop wuauserv
net stop bits
rename C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution SoftwareDistribution.old
net start wuauserv
net start bits

Use Windows 10 Update Assistant or Media Creation Tool: If the in-place updates are failing, downloading the Windows 10 Update Assistant often bypasses the stuck process.

Check the setupact.log and setuperr.log files inside C:\$WINDOWS.~BT\Sources\Panther\ — these logs usually point out exactly where and why the update is failing.

Create a New Local Admin User and try updating from there. Corrupted user profiles can sometimes interfere with update permissions.

Let me know the exact error code you’re seeing—some of them have very targeted fixes.

Always happy to help troubleshoot deeper if you can share more logs or error details.

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