Windows 10 1709 (Fall Creators Update) failed update

Anonymous
2017-10-18T21:43:39+00:00

I checked for updates on my HP x2 612 laptop today and it started downloading the Fall Creators Update - Windows 10 1709.

It got through the download and finished the install and prompted me to reboot the computer.

The computer rebooted and is now stuck in an endless loop with the message "Windows could not complete the installation.  To install Windows on this computer, restart the installation" and an OK button.  Clicking the OK button just restarts the computer and brings back the message.

I am unable to boot into Safe Mode as I get a message that Windows cannot install in Safe Mode with an OK button that brings up the original message after a reboot.

The 2 year old laptop came with Windows 7 and was updated to Windows 10 1703.  The laptop does not have a restore partition.  There is no data on the laptop that needs to be recovered.  Clean machine without anti-virus software ever except Windows Defender and no HP software. 

Windows does not load, so it is limited what programs I can run.

I am able to get to a cmd prompt from the Troubleshooting area of the BIOS, but do not know how to roll back to the previous Windows build from there or if it is even possible.

Unless somebody has a workaround to either install the upgrade or roll it back to the previous build it looks as if this Windows update has bricked my laptop.

Windows for home | Windows 10 | Windows update

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Anonymous
2017-11-01T14:16:59+00:00

In my case there was insufficient space in the system partition and I had to delete language folders from the system partition to free up space.

I used the following fix from Microsoft (https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/3086249/-we-couldn-t-update-system-reserved-partition-error-installing-windows)

The description is for fixing issues with installing Windows 10 on a Windows 7 or 8 computer but the worked for me installing the Fall Creators Update on a Windows 10 computer.

NOTE:

In my case I have a GPT partition.  The fix has you mount the system partition and give it a drive letter of "Y" and then open File Explorer to delete the language folders. 

I was unable to find the "Y" drive in File Explorer so I had to navigate to each language folder through the command prompt, delete the files in the language folder (del *.*) and then delete the folder (rd <folder name>)

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  1. Anonymous
    2017-11-05T23:03:42+00:00

    NTPCRX.com (Don),  Thanks so much! I did a manual upgrade/install as you suggested, and it worked!

    The only change I made in your instructions was that to find the manual install, I searched for "Windows 10 Fall Creators Update now available" (instead of the tool search, which did not result in the search results that you indicated). The "Windows 10 Fall Creators Update Now Available" search results took me to a Microsoft manual update page, with the "update" button to do it manually, which I did.  It took hours, but it did do the full download and install. Phew!

    Thank you so much! (For others who read this, I had tried using the update troubleshooter tool another poster had recommended, but that didn't work for me, for reasons that don't matter now.)  Thanks!

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  2. Anonymous
    2017-11-05T15:28:12+00:00

    I had same problem with the Fall Creators Update (1709).  After some research, and 20 hours later, I discovered this is a Microsoft issue that has not been corrected and the PC manufactures are well aware of it. I found the issue occurs performing the automatic download version and only a manual update will work. Here is the solution using manual update method:

    1. Using a Win 10 PC (Important: not a Win 7 or 8 PC), Google Media Creation Tool.
    2. At the top of the list will appear "Windows 10 Fall Creators Update now available". Click the Update now radio button to start the process. The full install process took about 2 hours on an i7 CPU running Windows 10 Pro, 12GB RAM, 7200RPM HDD (I suspect an SDD would be much faster), and 1GB internet.
    3. Since Win 10 automatically checks for updates after reboot, Win 10 may start 1709 update automatically. and his might cause a conflict if manual installing this update per 1 and 2 above (i.e. two of the same update running concurrently). I suggest going into Windows Services and changing the BIT and Windows services to Manual (using Properties) then rebooting before starting the manual update process. 

    NOTE: I started down this Windows 10 path when a customer PC was taking forever to open a folder using File Explorer (slow green progress bar at top of screen, sometime hanging for hours or forever). This was an issue that started about the same time the 1709 update was released. That led me to notice the HDD was consistently running at 100% when looking at percentages using Task Manager. It turns out this update, getting caught up in a never ending install loop, ties up the HDD and thus slowing down Windows performance.

    i would be interested in hearing back if you tried the above. 

    Thanks.

    Don A.

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  3. Anonymous
    2017-11-03T13:45:00+00:00

    I did get this update to install itself on about the 4th attempt by running it with the internet cable disconnected.  Not a great idea generally, but it did work eventually.  I certainly didn't have these problems with the two previous versions.

    Microsoft: it should be obvious by now that this update is seriously flawed and needs to be withdrawn until you repair and reissue it.  Your average non-techie user should just be able to press the "install now" button, go off for lunch and come back to find it's worked first time. He/she shouldn't have to carry out a clean installation, reformat the PC or spend most of a working day trying to get your update to work.  Did no-one test it out on the beta users?

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  4. Anonymous
    2017-11-03T13:18:31+00:00

    no promises that it'll work for everybody but this actually worked for me. Download the windows update trouble shooter and follow the directions.

    https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4027322/windows-windows-update-troubleshooter

    It fixed it for me finally, after this update repeatedly failing for me ever since it came out.

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