Windows 8 Apps not downloading. All stuck on pending.

Anonymous
2012-12-22T14:29:15+00:00

I just received a brand new Windows 8 laptop. Right out of the box, a bunch of apps want to update but they all get stuck on "pending" and will not download. I'm very disappointed at the lack of "out of the box" workability. How can I get these apps to update and download?

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Microsoft Store

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Anonymous
2012-12-29T00:03:19+00:00

I found these steps on a different thread and gave them a try, and afterwards my updates downloaded and installed fine.  Forcing the update service to create a new SoftwareDistribution folder seemed to resolve the issue:

  1. Open an administrative command prompt (go to the Start screen, type "cmd", right-click on Command Prompt and hit "Run as administrator")
  2. Type the following four commands in the command prompt:
  3. net stop wuauserv

cd %systemroot%

ren SoftwareDistribution SoftwareDistribution.old

net start wuauserv 4. Try to install updates again.

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  1. Anonymous
    2013-11-30T01:33:56+00:00

    Thank You So Much..

    It worked.....

    The thing with Microsoft is that they always prefer to format (clean install)

    and I hate that so much..

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  2. Anonymous
    2013-11-28T15:24:25+00:00

    I also refreshed my computer and it worked till an update or program I installed recreated the problem. Odds are it is an update that is glitching up the access to the Windows Store.

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  3. Anonymous
    2013-11-28T04:22:36+00:00

    I ended up having to do a system refresh.

    Files aren't affected and now all my apps can update or download.

    Cheers

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  4. Anonymous
    2013-11-28T03:39:48+00:00

    Usually this is because a process has a handle to the directory (or a file within the directory) which you are trying to rename.

    One way to find out which process/image has a handle to the SoftwareDistribution directory is to

    1. open the Resource Monitor (win+R -> resmon.exe)
    2. Switch to the CPU tab
    3. In the "Associated Handles" section, search for "SoftwareDistribution"
    4. If any process have a handle to a directory or file containing "SoftwareDistribution", they'll appear under the Image list

        4a. If it's a process, kill the process

        4b. If it's a service, stop the service

    Then you should be able to rename the folder without the "Access denied" error

    Alternatively, just restart your computer and whichever process/service has a handle to the directory may no longer have it.

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