New Windows 10 update fail is confusing users with weird error messages
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Windows 10’s latest update seems to fail to install for some people and is reportedly causing serious problems for a handful of those affected.
As Windows Latest (opens in new tab) reports, does this relate to Microsoft’s monthly patch round released earlier this week, KB5017308 (opens in new tab)which may be important to Windows 10 users as it “addresses security vulnerabilities for your Windows operating system”.
In addition, it fixes a number of bugs in the desktop operating system, including certain games that fail to install. But ironically, for some, the September update fails to install itself, instead producing some of the strange – and very useless – error messages we’ve seen in the past.
You know the kind: error 0x800f081f, where Windows Latest also reports error 0x8000ffff, error 0x8007007e, and who could forget that old classic, error 0x80073701.
Apparently the update downloads, but then falls over during the installation attempt, according to reports on Microsoft’s Feedback Hub like this one a (opens in new tab).
Windows Latest further informs us that in the worst cases of installation failure here, PCs go into some sort of reboot loop, although the site says it doesn’t know how widespread this added complication can be – so add your own spices for the moment.
We found an affected user’s complaint on Microsoft’s Answers.com Forum (opens in new tab) who experience their PC hangs on reboot (and this also happened with the update prior to KB5017308).
Analysis: a persistent problem that definitely needs attention
Obviously this is annoying, as if KB5017308 fail to install then you will not benefit from the above mentioned solutions and moreover security patches to keep your PC safe.
As Windows Latest points out, it’s possible to try a manual install and get the update from the Microsoft Update Catalog, rather than going through Windows Update – this may work, but there are reports we’ve seen that suggest otherwise. It may well be worth it, but there are no guarantees.
These strange bugs and installation errors have been evident for quite some time and as the user mentioned above, they ran into problems with the August patch for Windows 10, as well as the September update.
Hopefully Microsoft will look into these seemingly too frequent bugs when installing updates with Windows 10. They will be a source of frustration due to the lack of feedback with these error messages and the need to google around (or Binging?) for possible solutions, which is not ideal for those who feel bad about it.