Can’t install Cumulative Updates

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Back in 2016, when we bought it second hand, my wife’s ASUS Zenbook UX31A-C4027H was a relatively spiffy laptop. It came with Windows 10 (I don’t remember which version), and it worked fine until recently without ever touching Windows except for the monthly updates.

Then last month (Jan 2024), despite my relatively good end-user familiarity with Windows 10 (now at v. 22H2), I was simply unable to install KB5034122 no matter what I did. She almost never uses the laptop, so I put it back in the case and decided to wait for the Feb 2024 updates.

Everything but the cumulative updates – last month’s and this month’s – installed (even KB5034441).

The problem has had the same manifestation both months: the download is OK, and the install progresses to 100%, but then it chokes, and I get the message that it’s failed and I should try it again later.

I’ve also downloaded the relevant files from Windows catalog and tried to install them manually, but the same thing happens.

In desperation, I decided to refresh Windows (saving the data) – which worked fine. However, much to my shock, the cumulative updates still wouldn’t install.

There’s not much on the laptop, so a completely new Windows install is no major problem, but I’m wondering whether there’s perhaps a more insidious issue: The laptop has only 4Gb RAM, which is soldered on the MB and can’t be increased. Could have anything to do with it?

Anyway, if anyone has a potentially useful idea, I’ll gratefully entertain it.

Thanks in advance.

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1. Create a System Restore point.
2. Open Notepad.
3. Copy the following code and paste it in Notepad…

net stop cryptsvc
net stop bits
net stop wuauserv
::
reg delete “HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate” /v SusClientId /f
reg delete “HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate” /v SusClientIDValidation /f
::
if exist c:\windows\SoftwareDistribution.old rd /s /q c:\windows\SoftwareDistribution.old
if exist c:\windows\System32\catroot2.old rd /s /q c:\windows\System32\catroot2.old
::
rename c:\windows\SoftwareDistribution softwaredistribution.old
rename c:\windows\System32\catroot2 catroot2.old
::
net start cryptsvc
net start bits
net start wuauserv
::
wuauclt /resetauthorization /detectnow
::
PowerShell.exe (New-Object -ComObject Microsoft.Update.AutoUpdate).DetectNow()

 

4. Save as WUReset.bat to your Desktop.

5. Right-click on the .bat file and “Run as administrator”

6. Reboot when .bat file completes.

Try Windows Update again.

 

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Thank you for your time and effort. I’ll try it as soon as I find a bit of time.

Of course I plan to let you know what happens …

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FWIW, this has happened to me a couple of times, and both times the solution ended up being to simply wait.  None of the popular fixes–Troubleshooter, DISM, SFC, etc.–worked (OldNavyGuy’s above is new to me, so I’ll tab it), but after a couple of months, the problem just fixed itself.  So take heart, if nothing you do works, the solution may be to do nothing.

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OK, thanks. That’s certainly something to keep in mind.

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