Windows Update Troubleshooter failing to run, anyone else having problems?

Reported
Anonymous
2024-12-11T16:13:47+00:00

Both my Desktop and Laptop are suffering the same problem when attempting to run the Windows Update Troubleshooter. Operating system is Windows 11 24H2 with all updates applied to 11 December 2024 including KB5048667. After going through to the point where the troubleshooter runs, I get "I'm sorry.  I was unable to run the Windows Update diagnostic. I might need to transfer you to an agent to help solve your problem." I've done all the obvious (sfc, DISM) and no problems were found. I'm thinking it must be a generic problem as it happens on both my Windows 11 machines.

Windows for home | Windows 11 | Windows update

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  1. Anonymous
    2024-12-12T09:31:39+00:00

    Hello stevelad,

    Welcome to the Microsoft Community.

    Could you tell us why you need to run Windows Update Troubleshooter? Is there any problem after Windows 24H2 update? This can help us determine your issue more accurately. Windows Update Troubleshooter may be unable to run due to various reasons. Kindly please share more information with us. We will provide you with further assistance based on your feedback.

    Best Regards,

    William.Y | Microsoft Community Support Specialist

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  2. Anonymous
    2024-12-12T09:53:46+00:00

    Hi William.Y

    Thanks for getting back. I was running the troubleshooter initially on my desktop because KB5048667 at first attempt failed to install and when I retried, took a very long time to install, but was successful eventually. On my laptop, it installed without problems relatively quickly. When the troubleshooter failed on my desktop, I ran it on my laptop to see whether it would fail there as well, which it did, exactly the same error. I was wondering whether anyone else had the same issue, as it seems generic to me?

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  3. Anonymous
    2024-12-13T10:08:50+00:00

    Hello stevelad,

    Thanks for your additional information.

    There may be a failure during the Windows update process. Before updating again, please reset the update cache file, the steps are as below:

    1. Search for CMD on taskbar, find the command prompt, and right click to select run in administrator mode.
    2. Enter the following commands in sequence, and press Enter after each line net stop bits net stop wuauserv net stop cryptsvc ren %systemroot%\SoftwareDistribution SoftwareDistribution.old ren %systemroot%\System32\catroot2 catroot2.old Del "%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Application Data\Microsoft\Network\Downloader\qmgr*.dat" net start bits net start wuauserv net start cryptsvc

    Check if you can update normally after that. If you need any further assistance, please let us know and we will provide more advice.

    Best Regards,

    William.Y | Microsoft Community Support Specialist

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  4. Anonymous
    2024-12-17T01:01:15+00:00

    I ran into this same issue as well and followed the steps provided but have not seen progress. After going through the CMD prompts, I received "Access Denied" after both ren lines, and a "Could not find location" after the Del line.

    Any thoughts on why that could be or ways to progress?

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  5. Anonymous
    2024-12-19T03:39:59+00:00

    I have the same issue and when I try to run those commands, it says "Access Denied". Another thing that's happening is that after the update, the "shut down" button isn't available and every time after restarting, it just shows 'update and restart' and it's going on forever in this loop.

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