This error may appear anytime a Windows Update fails. To investigate possible solutions, we need to start with the specific error code. We can do this by viewing your update history. Swipe in from the right edge of the screen (or, if you're using a mouse, pointing to the lower-right corner of the screen and moving the mouse pointer up), and tap or click Settings . Tap or click Change PC settings , and then Update and recovery . Tap or click View your update history . View failed update error code. Please post here with your error code, so that the Community can try to help guide you appropriately.

no error code is reported in these circumstances as the next thing it does after undoing is to reboot to the usual log-in screen as if nothing has happened and Windows Update itself has lost all its history since my earlier attempts at installing this so I can't see an error code there either. Are you sure? E.g. we were once shown that logging done by an install's WinPE was collected in a Panther directory. Also, (thanks to another recent incident) I just discovered that System Information's Windows Error Reporting section probably gets its data from Report.wer files stored here: C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\ReportArchive They are much more readable that way than in msinfo32.exe. There's more available via the Event Viewer too. Are you saying that all such diagnostics were wiped out somehow? And of course, there may always be my favourite, ProcMon, to help guide us about what diagnostics are really available, how they correlate, and what they mean. <eg> HTH Robert

I had posted previously on the epic 103-page forum which spawned this thread after the original was frozen. The main open point which I don't want to get lost is as follows. So, I will link to my response to that one. What do you think, will /Source: from an earlier ISO be allowed and by not using /LimitAccess would you get the right stuff from elsewhere? http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows8_1-windows_update/windows-81-update-1-failing-to-install-with-errors/c3071122-e903-4775-b659-e98784bc786c?page=103

Mine definitely says "We couldn't complete the updates" as opposed to "Failed to configure windows updates" I am getting error codes but they seem to change every time the update is attempted. For example my last three attempts were 800f0922, 80200001 and then back to 800f0922. At various other times I have had 8024000B, 80090017, 80246007, and the dreaded 80073712 to name just a few. I have wasted two weeks of my life trying to find a work around for this crappy piece of software issued by MS. I am also in the same boat as you with regard to the 8.1 ISO. Bought the machine with Windows 8 already installed, upgraded to 8.1 via the Windows Store so don't have a product key for the 8.1 installation. If I do end up having to wipe this computer you can bet that the new OS won't be Microsoft.

A special thread has been opened by the Mod squad to address the issue of 8.1 reaching 100% and then winding back again. See the post marked as Answer here for more details: http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows8_1-windows_update/windows-81-update-1-failing-to-install-with-errors/c3071122-e903-4775-b659-e98784bc786c

Thank you Hal and please let us know if you have any luck with the update after monkeying with your partition.

Error: We couldn’t complete the updates, Undoing changes. Don’t turn off your computer.

Anonymous

This error may appear anytime a Windows Update fails. To investigate possible solutions, we need to start with the specific error code.

We can do this by viewing your update history.

Swipe in from the right edge of the screen (or, if you're using a mouse, pointing to the lower-right corner of the screen and moving the mouse pointer up), and tap or click Settings.
Tap or click Change PC settings, and then Update and recovery.
Tap or click View your update history.

View failed update error code.

Please post here with your error code, so that the Community can try to help guide you appropriately.

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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998 answers

Anonymous

2014-05-15T16:51:40+00:00

no error code is reported in these circumstances as the next thing it does after undoing is to reboot to the usual log-in screen as if nothing has happened and Windows Update itself has lost all its history since my earlier attempts at installing this so I can't see an error code there either.

Are you sure? E.g. we were once shown that logging done by an install's WinPE was collected in a Panther directory. Also, (thanks to another recent incident) I just discovered that System Information's Windows Error Reporting section probably gets its data from Report.wer files stored here:

C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\ReportArchive

They are much more readable that way than in msinfo32.exe.

There's more available via the Event Viewer too. Are you saying that all such diagnostics were wiped out somehow?

And of course, there may always be my favourite, ProcMon, to help guide us about what diagnostics are really available, how they correlate, and what they mean. <eg>

HTH

Robert
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Anonymous

2014-05-15T16:33:00+00:00

I had posted previously on the epic 103-page forum which spawned this thread after the original was frozen. The main open point which I don't want to get lost is as follows.

So, I will link to my response to that one. What do you think, will /Source: from an earlier ISO be allowed and by not using /LimitAccess would you get the right stuff from elsewhere?

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows8_1-windows_update/windows-81-update-1-failing-to-install-with-errors/c3071122-e903-4775-b659-e98784bc786c?page=103
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Anonymous

2014-05-15T15:38:35+00:00

Mine definitely says "We couldn't complete the updates" as opposed to "Failed to configure windows updates" I am getting error codes but they seem to change every time the update is attempted. For example my last three attempts were 800f0922, 80200001 and then back to 800f0922. At various other times I have had 8024000B, 80090017, 80246007, and the dreaded 80073712 to name just a few. I have wasted two weeks of my life trying to find a work around for this crappy piece of software issued by MS. I am also in the same boat as you with regard to the 8.1 ISO. Bought the machine with Windows 8 already installed, upgraded to 8.1 via the Windows Store so don't have a product key for the 8.1 installation. If I do end up having to wipe this computer you can bet that the new OS won't be Microsoft.
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Anonymous

2014-05-15T15:32:05+00:00

A special thread has been opened by the Mod squad to address the issue of 8.1 reaching 100% and then winding back again.

See the post marked as Answer here for more details: http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows8_1-windows_update/windows-81-update-1-failing-to-install-with-errors/c3071122-e903-4775-b659-e98784bc786c
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Anonymous

2014-05-15T15:25:02+00:00

Thank you Hal and please let us know if you have any luck with the update after monkeying with your partition.
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