Windows 10 Update Error(0x80070643)

So why delete any installed updates? Why not just go to the hide update procedure? And, why do you think Microsoft have deleted KB5034441 from their servers? When I open Updates now it says "you are up to date" until I check for updates. Then, it downloads and installs any updates I don't currently have and downloads KB5034441 again. When that one fails to install, it reverts to the error notification and try again tab for that one. After some time, when I go back into Updates, it says you are up to date, again.

Hi Mary Anne - I've been offline for a few days and only just now saw your questions. Here are the answers:

1. You asked, "So why delete any installed updates?"

In my post of January 18, I did not mention deleting any installed updates. However, your questions made me realize that my wording could be interpreted that way. Before sending this reply to you, I just now edited that post with better language. I thank you for your questions that prompted me to clarify my wording.

So, we're not deleting any installed updates - however, we do want to delete any "Downloaded but Not-Yet-Installed" updates. That is the first step that I described in my January 18 post, which hopefully is now worded more clearly.

2. You asked, "Why not just go to the hide update procedure?"

I'm not exactly sure what you're asking. If you are wondering why you must delete the KB5034441 update from the SoftwareDistribution folder in step 1, the reason you must delete it is because the Windows Update process on your computer is smart enough to know that it has already downloaded an update that is not yet installed - so it tries again to install that failed update. For most other previously failed updates, there may be Windows adjustments needed before the failed update can be installed. However, we both know that reinstallation attempts of KB5034441 haven't worked for our PC systems. Anyway, in order to force the Windows Update process on your PC to "forget" about the KB5034441 update that has been previously downloaded, we need to delete it from the SoftwareDistribution folder that I described in step 1 of my January 18 post.

If you were wondering about how to pause Windows Updates for 7 days, you can do that by going to Settings (press Win + I), clicking on and clicking on "Pause updates for 7 days". You can also pause Windows Updates for a longer period (up to 35 days) if you go the Windows Update "Advanced options". Under the "Pause updates" title, there is a "Pause until" dropdown box that allows you to pick when updates will resume.

There are also a couple of more complicated ways to disable Windows Updates altogether using the Registry Editor (which comes with risks for the uninitiated) or the Group Policy Editor (if you are running Windows Pro). However, I do NOT recommend disabling Windows Updates: a) because it is not without risks, and b) because you will eventually need to remember to turn it back on if you want to install future security (and any other) updates. I won't describe either of those procedures here, but you can do a web search and decide if you want to pursue either of these approaches.

3. You also asked, "And, why do you think Microsoft have deleted KB5034441 from their servers?"

I admit that parroted that information from what others said. So, your premise behind your question is correct - I don't know for certain whether KB5034441 is still on the Microsoft server because I took the step to "hide" that update on my computers. Forgive me, but I don't plan to take the time now to unhide it just so that can prove for certain that it has been removed.

You went on to describe the following as occurring on your computer: "When I open Updates now it says "you are up to date" until I check for updates. Then, it downloads and installs any updates I don't currently have and downloads KB5034441 again. When that one fails to install, it reverts to the error notification and try again tab for that one. After some time, when I go back into Updates, it says you are up to date, again."

A slight correction to your observation. Your PC won't re-download KB5034441 if it has already been downloaded on your computer - there is no need to do that because it already exists on your PC.

I don't know this for certain, but your description sounds like the update has been removed from the Microsoft server. When it says, "You're up to date," the Windows Update service on your PC did not find any new required updates to download. (If KB5034441 was still on the server as a required update, your PC would NOT have reported "You're up to date".) "Up to Date" means that your PC has already installed all pertinent updates. Installed is not the same as downloaded. Because of all the problems you and I have experienced, we know why KB5034441 is no longer a required update. However, the Microsoft server cannot remove the downloaded KB5034441 update from your PC.

So, the reason that you still see the error after you click on "Check for updates" is because you have not yet deleted KB5034441 from the SoftwareDistribution folder. When you click on the Check for Updates button, the first thing it does is to see if there are outstanding updates on the Microsoft server -- however, the second thing it does is to check if it has some updates already (or just recently) downloaded that it should try to install. Because KB5034441 has already been downloaded, it will once again try to install that. (The Windows installer doesn't know or care if the update was just downloaded or was downloaded months ago.) As we both know in the case of KB5034441, that update will repeatedly fail to install on our PCs (for which reason Microsoft has not yet explained) - which is why you need to break this cycle by following the procedure I described to delete all of the "Downloaded but Not-Yet-Installed" updates, and then "hiding" KB503441.

Again, "hiding" an update just causes the Windows Update process to ignore the "hidden" update. The hiding process does not delete or uninstall the update.

I hope this explanation makes sense. I know my reply here has been a bit repetitious - I am only trying to make sure that I'm being clear in what I'm saying. I apologize for repeating myself.

Unfortunately, I'm extremely busy right now so I don't know when I might be able to respond to any further questions you may have.

Best regards, and best of luck!

Increased the size of the Recovery partition even though it was originally greater than 250 mb. It's now over 900mb but install still failed. So it's obviously NOT a Recovery size issue.

I had checked "reagentc /info" when I first started the whole process just to see what it showed for the recovery partition, and it was already disabled so I could not see anything. I am about to try on my other system that has 3 recovery partitions and see what it shows.