Windows Update Isn't Working

Windows update problems are always annoying. Some times they can be the most frustrating problems you can have in Windows. So today I'm going to show you the best way to fix most windows update problems. We will be completely resetting Windows Update.

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--Notes from video--
* Open CMD as Administrator

* kill services (Make sure service stops correctly)
net stop bits (Background Intelligent Transfer Service)
net stop wuauserv (Windows Update service)
net stop appidsvc (Application Identity service)
net stop cryptsvc (Cryptographic service)

* Delete files (Microsoft hidden directory)
c:\ProgramData\Application Data\Microsoft\Network\Downloader\*.*

* Remove directory's
rmdir {path} /S /Q
/S remove all sub files and folders
/Q quiet mode
rename {old name} {new name} (Use quotes if spaces in folder name)
C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution
C:\Windows\System32\catroot2

* reset security descriptor in Windows update and Bits

* Go to system32 directory and run these commands
open file explorer from cmd
explorer . (. will open current directory)

* Reset networking
netsh winsock reset
netsh winsock reset proxy
netsh int ip reset
ipconfig /flushdns

* Restart services
net start bits
net start wuauserv
net start appidsvc
net start cryptsvc

#Windows #Update #Tech

[goosepls]

MS is busy making the search box bigger on the taskbar, rather than bug fixing

[mrkgrmn]

For the record, I've never had a Windows troubleshooter fix anything and relying on Windows restore points is usually a disaster too. Regular backups are a must since Microsoft's go-to solution is to reinstall Windows from scratch. Luckily Windows 10 has been pretty stable for me so I'm in no hurry to take any chances with 11.

[demontekdigital]

Windows updates has always had problems. I can distinctly remember WinXP throwing out anything from downloading errors to installing errors. Back then if the updates failed we would just download the problem file, and install it manually. Now they've automated to the point I don't even know if they still allow that to be done. The last time I had the issue was with a version of Netframework that Handbrake needed to allow dvd transcoding. Despite Windows 10 having all the current versions pre-installed, for some reason I still had to manually install one. I think it was 5.6, or something.

[cenewton]

The absolute BEST, sure-fire way to get it to work is to start working on something extremely important that must be completed immediately, preferably with someone waiting for you to send them the end product. Most assuredly a forced update will kick in and force-restart to install. Never fails. One of many reasons I haven't used Windoze as a daily driver in over a decade.

[davinp]

Unfortunately, Windows Update can break in Windows 10 and they don't tell you how to fix it. The best way is to reset Windows Update when it breaks.

[GoodWitchIntuitiveTarot]

All seemed to be going well untill i got to catroot2. It says....The process cannot access the file because its being used by another program. And access is denied if i try to change the name as well. Any suggestions from anyone would be greatly appreciated! Thank you so much
Can i at least continue without this?

[suvarna]

When I run " rmdir catroot2 /S /Q"

I get this error catroot2\{127D0~1\catdb - The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process.

[EricTheGrey]

The one time I had problems with Windows 10 update, it turned out to be that the recovery partition was too small, causing it to fail. I ended up having to reinstall from scratch and restore data in order to get it to work.

[kevint]

Thank you, you're a hero. I kept getting a failed update install, which took an hour every time I tried, and I wasted much of the weekend trying to figure it out. Your solution worked first time.

[emannoelantonio]

Im having a problem when trying to delete or rename those directories

When i try to delete softwaredistribution, it says that it cannot be done because the files are being used by another process

When i try to delete catroot2 it says the same thing.

What can i do?

[Laforge]

For the record, You can also do "Cd %programdata% to get to the programdata directory quickly even if you aren't in the root directory. Works great with a batch file. You can do the same with %appdata% to easily go to the application data directory. I would create a batch file for all this, so you can run the batch file without having to do all the typing.

[sebpit]

It says catroot2 is being used in another operation, but nothing else is open besides the terminal, and theres nothing online abt it

[markrationalthinker]

Dearl lord. Quite possibly the best advertisement for moving to the Mac OS I've ever seen.

[ethimself]

What is your take on this - What do you think of this? Windows 11 has strict hardware requirements and even the slightest deviation means something will not work in Win11. I have tried it with 3 different computers, and something different was out of whack on each one. Microsoft has tried their best to make it look and operate more like a Mac. Also, Win11 is an "always online" OS, meaning it's always trying to connect to Microsoft online services and it assumes that you want to be always online and sharing absolutely everything with the whole world, and getting constant feeds from everywhere. It also needs to be online because it is constantly downloading updates from Microsoft (as in: every other day), so if you're not connected, it will start downloading updates every time you start up. THANKS

[loubedoo]

Wonderful and well detailed video. The information presented is always to the point without any fluff. Thanks for posting such gems.

[Sarmad]

Thank you very much for your well-explained and easy-to-follow instructions. I'm currently carrying out the procedure to see if it fixes the current Windows Update issue in my Windows 10 Pro system. Can you please let me know if the steps will still work if I do them with Windows booted up in Safe Mode, or will I be missing something there? The reason I ask is because while I was doing it with Windows booted normally, Cryptograph service kept failing to stop (whether by CMD or in Services app) although I launched Command Prompt as Administrator, and also some file/folders couldn't be deleted/renamed due to some process still using them. (I therefore aborted the procedure at this point, so I don't know if any of the remaining steps would've worked or not). I'm hoping, in Safe Mode there will be less obstruction from various background processes.

[noahVA_]

When I try to rename or delete SoftwareDistribution access is denied. Please help me what do I do

[guytoner]

This didn't work for me on Window 11. Is it the same set of instructions for Windows 11?

[RealToyStoi]

Great video, I'm not sure how Microsoft could possibly have goofed up something so vital as this. And hopefully they release an update in the future that fixes this ridiculous problem. Amazing video so glad I found this channel. Also, could you make a video or short explaining how to disable widgets completely? It annoys me how I can't uninstall them and I can't find what service it is to disable them. Any help from the comments would be helpful too. As always stay safe, and keep up the great work.

[izorist]

I can't delete catroot2 because cmd says the file is used in another process.