Windows 10: Windows Update never terminates (gives an error and then restarts trying to install updates)

Hello, everybody,


Yesterday afternoon, I logged in to my computer and it said it had some updates to install and started to install them. it said it would take several minutes but after an hour I started to get suspicious, especially as the messages it was displaying just seemed to go around in a loop: "Hi", "I have some updates for you", "This may take several minutes". Eventually some other messages were displayed ("It's taking a bit longer than expected but we'll get there as fast as we can", "Leave everything to us", "Making sure your apps are good to go") but then it just restarted with the "Hi" message.


Eventually it gave an error (this is after several hours) stating that C:\WINDOWS\system32\config\systemprofile\Desktop is unavailable. It also gave another message in a little windows titled explorer.exe - System Warning. The message read Unknown Hard Error. Clicking on Ok just restarted the process.


I decided to risk it and hit the power switch. The machine turned off. I turned it back o and logged in to my wife's account. I looked on the internet for the error only to be told it was because the folder does not exist. I checked the location but all the folders under the system32 look like they have been encrypted and have very strange names.


Is this normal? Has anybody else had this problem? Have I been infected with a virus? How can I initiate a system restore or reinstall W10 from scratch? I don't have a boot disk for Windows 10 and the only other machine I have access to is my work computer with Windows 7 on it.


Any suggestion you can give will be warmly received.


Andrew

:)

 

Who has seen this vista update error

When you go to Windows vista update and it tell you to update a driver that you have already updated. Then it says failed to update and gives you the error code that tell you that you already have a never version than that. WTF? Why in the world would it be trying to updated something with an older driver. Well the only way to get it out of your windows update list is to go uninstall what ever that driver is then run the update and install it. Then run the newer drivers again.

Well I still can't get the Nivida Network Bridge to disappear out of the list. I uninstall the one in device manager and go to the update and before it's even done with that. Vista is automatically installing a newer version than is in the Vista update list.......

 

Windows Updates failed to instal

I'm not sure how differant XP media center Edition is but you could clear the history \ cache if these folders are there.

Step 1 Register DLL files.

=================

By trying this step, we can check if the update engines are working properly.



1. Close all instances of Internet Explorer.

2. Click Start and Run, type "Regsvr32 atl.dll" (without quotes) in the Open box and click OK.



Note: There is a space between regsvr32 and atl.dll



3. Similarly, one by one, register the files listed below:



Regsvr32 msxml3.dll

Regsvr32 wuapi.dll

Regsvr32 wuaueng.dll

Regsvr32 wuaueng1.dll

Regsvr32 wups2.dll

Regsvr32 wucltui.dll

Regsvr32 wups.dll

Regsvr32 wuweb.dll

Regsvr32 qmgr.dll

Regsvr32 qmgrprxy.dll

Regsvr32 jscript.dll



Note: If you encounter errors while registering any of these files then skip that file and continue with the next one.



If the issue persists, let's move on to the steps below to verify Windows Update services and temporary folders.



Step 2 Verify the relevant Windows Update services.

=========================================

1. Click Start->Run, type "services.msc" (without quotation marks) in the open box and click OK.

2. Double click the service "Automatic Updates".

3. Click on the Log On tab, please ensure the option "Local System account" is selected and the option "Allow service to interact with desktop" is unchecked.

4. Check if this service has been enabled on the listed Hardware Profile. If not, please click the Enable button to enable it.

5. Click on the tab "General "; make sure the "Startup Type" is "Automatic" or "Manual". Then please click the button "Stop" under "Service Status" to stop the service.

6. Then please click the button "Start" under "Service Status" to start the service.

7. Please repeat the above steps with the other services:



Background Intelligent Transfer Service

Event Log

Remote Procedure Call (RPC)



Note: Event log service is enabled on all of the hardware profiles; this service does not have an option to enable or disable on certain hardware profile.



If it still does not help, let's proceed to step 3.



Step 3 Reload the Update temporary folders.

===================================

One possible cause is that the temporary folder for Windows Update is containing corrupted files. Let's erase all the files there to get the system clean.



1. Click Start, Run, type: cmd and press Enter. Please run the following command in the opened window.



Net stop WuAuServ



2. Click Start, Run, type: %windir% and press Enter.

3. In the opened folder, rename the folder SoftwareDistribution to Sdold.

4. Click Start, Run, type: cmd and press Enter. Please run the following command in the opened window.



Net start WuAuServ



Please test the Windows Update website and let me know the result. If the issue persists, to clarify the issue and provide more accurate troubleshooting steps, please assist me in collecting the following information.

 

80246002 Error from windows update

It was installed using a legit disc. I'll burn a copy to my flash drive and try again after I've exhausted my options.

This has not solved any problems for me unfortunately.

I will try this right now! Thanks for the suggestion