Unable to install Windows 11 Update Version 23H2 (KB5036980)

Anonymous
2024-05-06T02:20:28+00:00

I've been repeatedly trying to install this update, but each time I try to launch the update, it will suddenly stop at 96% and tell me there was something wrong with the install and my PC files would return to the previous "un-updated" state.

I've tried every method I could easily find online (Removing all non-essential hardware, did clean boot into Windows, et cetera.), but none of them fixed the isue and I'm suspecting it's a deeper, less common issue.

Windows for home | Windows 11 | Windows update

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  1. Anonymous
    2024-09-27T10:03:01+00:00

    OK.
    Thanks for your advice. Sadly, re-installing Windows has failed. Twice. Once from the onboard recovery drive, once from a downloaded installation file.

    Other updates are installing ok, just not this one. It was a similar story with 22H2. A couple of months of failed installs, then, overnight, it was there. 23H2 has been failing for 7 or 8 months, and I've lost count of the attempts I've made to get it to work. ho hum!

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  2. Anonymous
    2024-09-26T22:14:48+00:00

    Just some apps that I wasn't really using. I too have a 12TB HDD that has my OneDrive files synced to.

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  3. Anonymous
    2024-09-26T04:55:14+00:00

    Same error I got too. I just reinstalled Win 11 to get it over with. Most files were retained, but I built a backup in OneDrive.

    Thanks for your reply. I've been thinking I should do the same.
    I'm a tad paranoid about saving my data to the cloud, but have a 5 Terabyte network hard drive that should suffice, plus a couple of extra portable HDD, so I'll back up files.

    Was there anything the missing files had in common, or was the data loss covered by the backup you made?

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  4. Anonymous
    2024-09-25T11:09:52+00:00

    Same error I got too. I just reinstalled Win 11 to get it over with. Most files were retained, but I built a backup in OneDrive.

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  5. Anonymous
    2024-09-25T01:46:53+00:00

    Looks like this step needs another instruction, or modifying. Cmd line returned the following result when I input the rename order. It's been over a decade since I had to do this, so I'm a wee bit rusty!

    C:>Ren C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution.old

    The syntax of the command is incorrect.

    I tried:

    C:>Ren C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution | SoftwareDistribution.old

    I figured it out. C:>Ren C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution.old

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