My wife's HP laptop was unused for about a year so missed some Win 10 updates. On booting it up yesterday and getting it to update itself I found it managed a few of the earlier updates but reported an error on another one. It now says it can't run the later updates because it's trying to run earlier ones (which failed).
Is it worth persisting with update attempts, or best to run the recovery option and do a fresh install of Win10 (which hopefully would load the latest version)? I'm tempted to do that, as very few apps are on the laptop so re-installing them wouldn't take long.

 

My wife's HP laptop was unused for about a year so missed some Win 10 updates. On booting it up yesterday and getting it to update itself I found it managed a few of the earlier updates but reported an error on another one. It now says it can't run the later updates because it's trying to run earlier ones (which failed).
Is it worth persisting with update attempts, or best to run the recovery option and do a fresh install of Win10 (which hopefully would load the latest version)? I'm tempted to do that, as very few apps are on the laptop so re-installing them wouldn't take long.

In my opinion, since you don't have many apps...
It would be quicker to do a fresh install, update OS, then re-install the apps.
Might as well install latest version of apps as well.

 

hi alec,
I have had the same problem on a couple of laptops.
I do a Restart, let it do its thing and when it appears to be idling, go to the Updates and use Retry, it needs a couple or so of these Restarts, then it's up to date.
E

Update:
I sometimes use these just to tidy up the system.
Run as Admin, one at a time, Copy and Paste to the end of the \system32>

 

Thanks guys.
I did Update/Retry several times but it went through the motions and returned to the same point and message each time.
Next time I have the HP booted I'll give your suggestions a try, Eric. Thanks.

 

hi,
Try this option in that txt file first.
dism.exe /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth

E

 

Noted. Thanks.

 

Mine is trying to update to windows 11.
Is that an option?

 

hi,
I have been reading this on my updates for a number of weeks, I am using a 32Bit PC.
E

 

hi,
I have been reading this on my updates for a number of weeks, I am using a 32Bit PC.
E
View attachment 256526

If you want to know why it failed, click "Get PC Health Check", then click " DOWNLOAD PC HEALTH CHECK APP ".
Install the app and run "Check Now".

It will show why your computer failed requirements.

 

Mine is trying to update to windows 11.
Is that an option?

See post #9

 

Knowing Micro$oft, there is a slim chance that Windows Updates ruin the OS. There is an even slimmer chance that Windows will ruin the HDD itself to the point of it being unusable. It is better to backup any data and install anew.

 

My failed convert to Win11 said that my processor is too old. My son found some tricks to allow Win11 to run perfectly with my old processor, but I will wait a few years before trying the tricks or probably replacing the pc.

 

Neither my own laptop nor my wife's has offered us Win11 yet, so presumably neither has the capability (according to M$) to run it?

 

Neither my own laptop nor my wife's has offered us Win11 yet, so presumably neither has the capability (according to M$) to run it?

See post #9

 

When Windows-7-Pro completely stops working, I'll be installing Linux.
.
.
.

 

My failed convert to Win11 said that my processor is too old. My son found some tricks to allow Win11 to run perfectly with my old processor, but I will wait a few years before trying the tricks or probably replacing the pc.

Are Updates in Win 11 active after the "tricky" installation?

 

See post #9

I'm in no hurry to update to Win11. I'll wait until the M$ nagging (if that ever happens) gets unbearable.

 

Hello,

Perhaps a stupid question.
The user on the laptop is administrator, but dism.exe still asks for an elivated level.
How to act?

Bertus

 

hi bertus,
I run Command Prompt(Admin)
Displays: C:\WINDOWS\system32>_
then I enter
DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-Image /Restorehealth

Is this what you are asking for.?
E

 

I'm in no hurry to update to Win11.

A fair number of computers running Win10 won't be eligible to upgrade to Win11. You need to have TPM2.0 and that's a showstopper for old Intel processors. I have a 4th generation quad core i7, which is plenty for what I do, but the computer only has TPM1.x, so isn't eligible. When Win10 becomes unsupported, I'll switch to Debian and run the only MS app I really need (Office) under Wine. I tried using LibreOffice and it was an awful experience after using Office for 4 decades.