Question Windows 10 Pro - update from 1803 to 1903 keeps failing to download

[badaxe2]

Error 0x80070015

I disabled my antivirus but that didn't help. Also tried running the powershell script resetting the Windows Update parameters and restarted but that didn't help, either.

However, I've also been reading about the continuous problems with 1903, and wonder if I should just wait regardless.

In the meantime, trying to troubleshoot what the hangup could be. I guess I could try cold booting next.

Any ideas are much appreciated!

 

[Darkbreeze]

1903 is MUCH better than 1809 was, so IDK about any "continuous problems" with 1903 other than the fact that the last three patches last month each broke something else when installed, but all seems to have been fixed now.

On another note, version 1909 , which is supposed to only be a small update, should be coming soon. To be honest, if you are intending to update or upgrade, rather than create new installation media and install, I'd rethink that.

There were a number of issues going from 1809 to 1903, and it is well worth your time to maybe simply wait until the 1909 ISO is released, then download it and do a full clean install. Especially if you have already been through several previous major spring or fall updates or are having issues with Windows update being able to complete the update from 1809 to 1903.

Alternatively, if you need or wish to do this now, instead, then you can do the same thing, or even ONLY do the upgrade leaving all your current files intact if you wish, using the 1903 build ISO as well. Simply use the first part of my guide and then choose the option to leave existing files and folders intact when you get to that screen which will do the same thing as upgrading to that version through Windows update.

I'm assuming that Windows update is the area where you are experiencing the problem and that you are not independently trying to download the files through the media creation tool, yes?

How To - Windows 10 clean install tutorial

If you are looking for the Windows 11 Clean install tutorial, you can find that here: Windows 11 Clean install tutorial (Click here) Otherwise, welcome to the Windows 10 Clean install tutorial This tutorial is intended to help you, step by step, to perform a clean install of Windows...

forums.tomshardware.com

 

[britechguy]

Anyone who thinks there are "continuous problems" with 1903 has not paid attention to previous Feature Updates. Every one of them had issues associated with it (and all of them will continue to for a specific subset of users) but on the whole 1903 has been remarkably trouble free.

If you have not cleared your Windows Update Cache then do a web search on same and hundreds of tutorials on doing same will appear. I like the last answer here: https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us...e/f397d5f6-1fe0-4f41-9d25-862fb45f918c?auth=1

My standard advice, in virtually all cases, (and presuming any potential infection has already been addressed, first) is trying the following, in the order specified. If the issue is fixed by option one then there's no need to go further. Stop whenever your issue is fixed:

1. Using SFC (System File Checker) and DISM (Deployment Imaging Servicing and Management) to Repair Windows 8 & 10


2. Doing a Windows 10 Repair Install or Feature Update Using the Windows 10 ISO file


3. Doing a completely clean reinstall (options a & b are downloadable PDF files):

a) Completely Clean Win10 (Re)install Using MCT to Download Win10 ISO File

b) Completely Clean Win10 (Re)install Using MCT to Create a Bootable USB Drive

c) How to do a CLEAN Installation of Windows 10 (Tom’s Hardware Forums, with screen shots)

I never choose the “thermonuclear option,” the completely clean reinstall, until it's clear that this is the only viable option. I hate having to go through all the work of reconfiguring a machine from scratch if that can reasonably and safely be avoided.

 

[Darkbreeze]

I never choose the “thermonuclear option,” the completely clean reinstall, until it's clear that this is the only viable option. I hate having to go through all the work of reconfiguring a machine from scratch if that can reasonably and safely be avoided.

And unless it's going to be a fairly obvious and simple fix, I'm the opposite, and for good reason because more often than not all these various remedies and solutions take far longer to run through and attempt, and potentially STILL have to do the clean install anyhow, than it does to simply take two hours out of your life, do the clean install and put your applications back. If you create backups of your personal files and folders, export your browser favorites and application settings and copy any game files off the drive to another drive first, so that you can put them back after, it should be a fairly simple process that is over and done with in a minimal timeframe.

I have an extensive amount of applications, plug-ins, games, etc. installed, amounting currently to about 120GB on my OS drive, and I can completely reinstall windows and all applications, and put all my browser favorites and application settings back in place, in about 2.5 hours. Most people will have far fewer applications and much less other stuff such as various plugins etc., than I do, so it shouldn't be a big deal although I get that for the average person this isn't a streamlined process like it is for me either. Still, neither is doing the troubleshooting or following any of the steps or processes required to fix a lot of the problems that might have brought them here in the first place, so pick your poison I guess.

 

[britechguy]

And unless it's going to be a fairly obvious and simple fix, I'm the opposite, and for good reason because more often than not all these various remedies and solutions take far longer to run through and attempt, and potentially STILL have to do the clean install anyhow, than it does to simply take two hours out of your life, .
.
.
and put all my browser favorites and application settings back in place, in about 2.5 hours. Most people will have far fewer applications and much less other stuff such as various plugins etc., than I do, so it shouldn't be a big deal although I get that for the average person this isn't a streamlined process like it is for me either. Still, neither is doing the troubleshooting or following any of the steps or processes required to fix a lot of the problems that might have brought them here in the first place, so pick your poison I guess.

Well, if you're blessed enough to be that organized, and skilled, then I'd say to go your way. Even after the decades that I've been doing this, I'm not, and it takes me a heck of a lot longer than 2.5 hours to get Windows 10 installed, all the settings configured to my liking, all of my software reinstalled, and all of my user data copied over. It takes even longer if I'm trying to do it for someone else and having to try to ferret out what actually needs to be done after a fresh Windows install.

Of course, I haven't needed to do this in ages on my own machines since I take routine full system image backups along with separate user data backups, and recovering from a full system image doesn't take long at all. I actually haven't needed to do that for years now, either, but having had catastrophic loss in the past I wouldn't ever think of using a computer and not having a backup protocol for same.

But, seeing what I've seen in the case of most (yes, sadly, most) users out there they do not have backups and they don't have the installation sources for their programs, and that's just for starters. To me, and to most of them when they're paying me to do it after all the options have been presented, it makes more sense to try to salvage their existing Windows installation if there is a reasonable probability of success.

I have had very good results under Windows 10 with the repair install using the ISO file. It has prevented my having to do completely clean reinstalls on multiple occasions, and it's a lot less disruptive when it works.

Different strokes for different folks.

 

[Darkbreeze]

For sure, because in most cases I've found the recovery images to be either be damaged, not there, wrong version (Which means you're going to have to do ALL of those updates over again) or it just doesn't work because of whatever is wrong with the OS.

But that's concerning the factory recovery partition. Obviously, everybody should have something to create image backups with using third party software, because Microsoft's idea of a backup or restore point is laughable, and a place to back it up TO. As you say though, that is rarely the case because only a fraction of the population even has the slightest clue about what they are doing or what they SHOULD be doing, in terms of such things. More's the pity and to be honest anybody without the basic skills necessary to understand the need for a backup and the wherewithal to create said backup, or at least the presence of mind to have somebody who does do it for them or set them up with something that can do it on a schedule, probably deserves the lesson they get when something goes wrong.

That doesn't mean I don't feel bad for them when they lose a bunch of important stuff, because I do, but it's common sense and it's hard to not feel like anybody who puts their hand on a hot stove burner and gets burned didn't know that was going to happen.

And I have several, many in fact, customers, who I've shown what to do and how to do it and they are able to do so now when it's necessary. Those same people had no clue, about any of it, when we started, so I think yes, pretty much most people can be taught to do this for themselves. It's not rocket science and you don't need an engineering degree to do any of this. I've shown literally hundreds of people on here how to either set up a reliable backup system or how to quickly clean install and get things put back where they belong afterwards so that I find it hard to believe that all but the most stubborn or thickheaded cannot learn to do this as well.

The question is never whether you WILL have a catastrophic loss, if you are not prepared, it is ONLY, WHEN.

 

[USAFRet]

And very often, the Repair/Refresh/Reset simply carries over all the old crap in its originally crappy config. Which is why they are in this predicament.

Save the user data if at all possible...Wipe and start clean.
"OMG - I don't have the install file for my beta copy of PrintMagic 0.8 from 1998!!"

Get over it...there are newer tools, much better, and legally free.

 

[Darkbreeze]

And very often, the Repair/Refresh/Reset simply carries over all the old crap in its originally crappy config. Which is why they are in this predicament.

This too, exactly, IN ADDITION to all the rest. Otherwise, well, I fixed your Windows installation, so now it's back to only working 50% correctly instead of 90% incorrectly. 200 bucks please. Pffffft.

 

[USAFRet]

I'm not one to automagically jump into going nuclear.
But often, you just have to rip that bandaid off all at once. No matter how painful.

Bad virus infection?
Corrupt OS?
Possibly physically failing drive?

At most, I'll give it one pass of the appropriate tool to fix. After that...poof.
Start over with a known clean slate.

 

[britechguy]

To each his or her own.

The repair install replaces so close to all of the OS that it is very, very close indeed to a completely clean reinstall.

All options should be presented, with realistic presentation of their advantages and disadvantages, and an informed decision can be made.

The predilection for "wipe it all" that permeates this forum is, without doubt, skewed. Of course "starting with a clean slate" is your best guarantee, but there are, in actuality, other things that require consideration, too.

 

[Darkbreeze]

I imagine you get paid a lot more that way too. Funny how you insinuate that perhaps people aren't smart enough to do a clean install and put all their applications back, which is much easier than running advanced diagnostic tools, but then turn around and say that you want to present options to those same people so they can "make an informed decision".

So the same people that lacked the intellect to make and keep their systems backed up, or install Windows fresh, are able to make informed decisions regarding the best options in a scenario where they had to take to somebody else to fix it in the first place? Jebus. That's creative man.

 

[britechguy]

It's not a matter of a client being "intelligent enough" it's a matter of what they want once the options are presented.

One of the things I love about Windows 10 is that it has, very effectively, largely done away with the need for constant reinstalls from scratch.

I'm sorry if my opinion is divergent from your own. It's not going to change. And there is a reason, in my "standard Windows 10 revival script," that I say in closing, "I never choose the “thermonuclear option,” the completely clean reinstall, until it's clear that this is the only viable option. I hate having to go through all the work of reconfiguring a machine from scratch if that can reasonably and safely be avoided." It can most often be reasonably and safely avoided, and far less time and money consumed.

 

[USAFRet]

Constant reinstalls?
No.
Long gone are the days of 'once every 6 months'.

But when presented with a recalcitrant system, that is often the best, fastest, and easiest way to restore full functionality.

 

[britechguy]

But when presented with a recalcitrant system, that is often the best, fastest, and easiest way to restore full functionality.

Sometimes that's absolutely true, and absolutely necessary. Other times, not.

Given the very little investment in time and effort Doing a Windows 10 Repair Install or Feature Update Using the Windows 10 ISO file requires, I still would do that first barring symptoms that I consider to be "more gone inexplicably wacky than warrants the more conservative option."

See what I said a few moments ago in the topic: A head scratching happy problem...

There are definitely times when I would favor a completely clean reinstall as my first option, but not always.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Well, I guess it's a good thing I gave him options for both a clean install AND an upgrade install, so he obviously has "options" presented and can make "an informed decision" at this point.

 

[FALC0N]

Did you launch in safe mode and delete the software distribution folder at:

c:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution

That usually resolves any issues I'm having.

 

[Darkbreeze]

I wouldn't say every time, but in SOME cases, that certainly can fix a borked Windows update whether for an individual update or in general.

https://www.thewindowsclub.com/software-distribution-folder-in-windows

There definitely are cases where that hasn't fixed the problem for every situation where Windows update isn't working right.

 

[Colif]

cold booting next.

do you mean a clean boot? make sure to read instructions and make sure NOT to disable any microsoft services or windows won't load right - https://support.microsoft.com/en-au/help/929135/how-to-perform-a-clean-boot-in-windows

Have you tried downloading the Windows 10 media creation tool and use it to make a win 10 installer on USB
once installer created, put it in PC and navigate to it in file setup and run it.
It will offer to update PC, let it and see if you can get past that error.

It probably helps to create installer on a working PC

the only times i normally suggest a clean install are:

if you can't get into windows in the 1st place and there are image problems so running reset won't solve anything. I see too many failed resets to trust them, but I have to take into account the fact I only see problems here.

Or if we trying to fix a BSOD and all other steps have failed to identify the problem driver so a clean install is best way to flush drivers. It isn't my first step.

Or if op is updating from 1507 to 1903, as it just saves time. Microsoft changed how updating worked sometime during those 4 years and it is just faster to clean install rather than update

 

[Darkbreeze]

So, everybody obviously has their own way of doing things, and that's fine, so long as everybody understands that my way is the right way.

 

[badaxe2]

Anyone who thinks there are "continuous problems" with 1903 has not paid attention to previous Feature Updates. Every one of them had issues associated with it (and all of them will continue to for a specific subset of users) but on the whole 1903 has been remarkably trouble free.

If you have not cleared your Windows Update Cache then do a web search on same and hundreds of tutorials on doing same will appear. I like the last answer here: https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us...e/f397d5f6-1fe0-4f41-9d25-862fb45f918c?auth=1

My standard advice, in virtually all cases, (and presuming any potential infection has already been addressed, first) is trying the following, in the order specified. If the issue is fixed by option one then there's no need to go further. Stop whenever your issue is fixed:

1. Using SFC (System File Checker) and DISM (Deployment Imaging Servicing and Management) to Repair Windows 8 & 10


2. Doing a Windows 10 Repair Install or Feature Update Using the Windows 10 ISO file


3. Doing a completely clean reinstall (options a & b are downloadable PDF files):

a) Completely Clean Win10 (Re)install Using MCT to Download Win10 ISO File

b) Completely Clean Win10 (Re)install Using MCT to Create a Bootable USB Drive

c) How to do a CLEAN Installation of Windows 10 (Tom’s Hardware Forums, with screen shots)

I never choose the “thermonuclear option,” the completely clean reinstall, until it's clear that this is the only viable option. I hate having to go through all the work of reconfiguring a machine from scratch if that can reasonably and safely be avoided.

Thanks to everyone for the replies!

Somewhat belated update on my issue (yup I've been busy this week with non tech life stuff ie work, family, etc.) -

So I tried deleting the update cache and ran Powershell (SFC /scannow & DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth) and both were successful, showing no errors. Still got the below result trying Windows Update -

https://imgur.com/d8HvGNR

View: https://imgur.com/d8HvGNR


Current Update History-

https://imgur.com/fp1XInj

View: https://imgur.com/fp1XInj


I'm on 1803 but have had successful minor updates to it as recently as a couple months ago.

Next up will be trying 2. using the repair ISO this weekend. I already have one from when I installed on my new rig almost two years ago, but might as well use this newer one if anything's changed. I've had disc backups done but not regularly, and it's been out of sight, out of mind to the point I'm not even sure it would be worth starting from there vs repairing or reinstalling fresh.

If worse comes to worse, my main concern is the fact that like most people, I originally upgraded to Windows 10 from my physical copy of Win7 Ultimate, and when my old rig died, getting Windows 10 on my new one involved some tech support due to activation being tied to my old MB. I don't recall exactly what I had to do, but I'm hoping if a reinstall is needed that the prior activation process has "stuck" to my current system, even using a fresh install from the ISO on USB.

 

[USAFRet]

If worse comes to worse, my main concern is the fact that like most people, I originally upgraded to Windows 10 from my physical copy of Win7 Ultimate, and when my old rig died, getting Windows 10 on my new one involved some tech support due to activation being tied to my old MB. I don't recall exactly what I had to do, but I'm hoping if a reinstall is needed that the prior activation process has "stuck" to my current system, even using a fresh install from the ISO on USB.

If this Win 10 is activated on this current system, a fresh install will also activate itself.

 

[britechguy]

And never, ever, use anything but a fresh copy of the Windows 10 install media. Always download the latest ISO (if you're going the ISO route) or use the Media Creation Tool to directly create bootable USB install media as close as possible to the actual date of use.

Something several years old is very, very far past its expiration date. Even the Media Creation Tool now reflects the Windows 10 Version that it is meant to create media for in the executable name.

 

[Colif]

Activation: have a look in settings/update & security/activation
If it says "Windows is activated with a digital license linked to you Microsoft Account" then you license is linked to your MIcrosoft user account
It can also say "WIndows is activated with a digital licence" and that means its tied to your current motherboard.
If you contacted MS, its likely you have 1st option now as it is something they are pushing. All you need to do is use same user account on next install and all should be well.

 

[badaxe2]

It's been a while but for a little feedback, I ultimately ended up doing a clean install after trying the above with no success as I have minimal daily program usages anyways and keep everything besides programs on a storage drive. Worked well and everything appears to be up to date now.

The only issue I'm having seems to be the Start button occasionally being unresponsive, but restarting it in Explorer fixes the problem.

Thanks again for all the feedback and references for info!

 

[Darkbreeze]

So, if you haven't already, make sure that you have the MOST recent motherboard BIOS version installed and that you manually go to the product page for your motherboard, download and install the latest chipset, network adapter (LAN/Ethernet and WiFi), audio and any secondary SATA or USB controller drivers that might be relevant, if any are. Mainly though, the chipset, network adapter and audio. Never trust the native Windows drivers to be the best option unless there IS no other option. Also, never assume that any relevant driver is unimportant, because ANY driver can affect any or all other drivers in some cases.