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.

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. I decided to try the the 13 May version of KB2919355, after I installed all the other fresh updates, but it still fails as before with 'Failed to configure Windows updates' when it reaches 100% after the second reboot and then spends forever rolling back again. I am not particularly surprised, given the earlier diagnosis [from the MS tech assigned to my support case, thanks to Susan Bradley] of a corrupted component store . So my principal hope remains with [his recommendation of] a non-destructive restore from Windows 8.1 Pro ISO when I get back home in five weeks; but I have yet to understand how I can access such an ISO without the absurd step of paying for a retail product key to fix my already legitimately-owned software (which was bought direct from MS)! Is the fact of my Microsoft Surface Pro OEM set-up being broken after the original in-place 8.1 upgrade and failed KB2919355 update not sufficient justification for providing me a copy of the required ISO as the evidently best-available solution to mend my W8.1 installation without the insulting suggested alternative of refreshing back to W8.0? Does MS have any idea of the cost of my time compared to the actual cost of the retail key?!? I am not implying that I should just buy one and be damned, I am saying that not providing the ISO to get this fixed in the quickest most convenient way for me is a commercially suicidal position for Microsoft! I am waiting for a convincing response. Trivially by comparison (but you never know what might prove to be significant), the exact error message quoted above 'Failed to configure Windows updates' is subtly different from the 'We couldn’t complete the updates ...' variation that you and a few others have described. Are there in fact two slightly different outcomes? Of course 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.

You could make 1 more specific thread for error 0xc000021a when installing KB2919355 and its subfiles, specially the KB 2934018

Here you go Bruce: Go to Control Panel >Administrative Tools > Storage: Disk Management and it will show all of your drives and their partitions. I hope this helps. Hal

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

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

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.

0 comments

998 answers

Anonymous

2014-05-15T12:52:48+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.

I decided to try the the 13 May version of KB2919355, after I installed all the other fresh updates, but it still fails as before with 'Failed to configure Windows updates' when it reaches 100% after the second reboot and then spends forever rolling back again. I am not particularly surprised, given the earlier diagnosis [from the MS tech assigned to my support case, thanks to Susan Bradley] of a corrupted component store. So my principal hope remains with [his recommendation of] a non-destructive restore from Windows 8.1 Pro ISO when I get back home in five weeks; but I have yet to understand how I can access such an ISO without the absurd step of paying for a retail product key to fix my already legitimately-owned software (which was bought direct from MS)!

Is the fact of my Microsoft Surface Pro OEM set-up being broken after the original in-place 8.1 upgrade and failed KB2919355 update not sufficient justification for providing me a copy of the required ISO as the evidently best-available solution to mend my W8.1 installation without the insulting suggested alternative of refreshing back to W8.0? Does MS have any idea of the cost of my time compared to the actual cost of the retail key?!? I am not implying that I should just buy one and be damned, I am saying that not providing the ISO to get this fixed in the quickest most convenient way for me is a commercially suicidal position for Microsoft!

I am waiting for a convincing response.

Trivially by comparison (but you never know what might prove to be significant), the exact error message quoted above 'Failed to configure Windows updates' is subtly different from the 'We couldn’t complete the updates ...' variation that you and a few others have described. Are there in fact two slightly different outcomes? Of course 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.
Was this answer helpful?

0 comments No comments
Anonymous

2014-05-15T13:38:43+00:00

You could make 1 more specific thread for error 0xc000021a when installing KB2919355 and its subfiles, specially the KB 2934018
Was this answer helpful?

0 comments No comments
Anonymous

2014-05-15T15:13:51+00:00

Here you go Bruce: Go to Control Panel >Administrative Tools > Storage: Disk Management and it will show all of your drives and their partitions. I hope this helps. Hal
Was this answer helpful?

0 comments No comments
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.
Was this answer helpful?

0 comments No comments
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
Was this answer helpful?

2 people found this answer helpful.

0 comments No comments