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When I follow the steps in the Microsoft Store to try to switch out of S mode, all I get is a message:
"Something happened and we couldn't start the upgrade"
and a Try Again button.
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.
Update: Number 5 worked for me, too. Much appreciated for all of the input from everyone. What a pain in the A&&!
Fix 1: Start or Restart the Windows Update Service
Fix 2: Clear Microsoft Store Cache WSRESET.EXE
Fix 3: Repair or Reset the Store App
Fix 4: Create a New User Account
Fix 5: System > Recovery > Fix using windows update (might be under different wording)
Fix 6: Waiting 24-48 hrs
Exactly!! But it errored out after running it twice. At that point I gave up and got the installation media.
Currently experiencing this on a new Lenovo laptop just purchased yesterday. Very frustrating to say the least.
Fix 5 is what worked for me. In theory Fix 5, and what worked for you, should have been equivalent.
THIS METHOD ACTUALLY WORKS
I tried all the posted solutions to get out of s mode and all of them failed. Below is everything I tried.
Fix 1: Start or Restart the Windows Update Service
Fix 2: Clear Microsoft Store Cache WSRESET.EXE
Fix 3: Repair or Reset the Store App
Fix 4: Create a New User Account
Fix 5: System > Recovery > Fix using windows update (might be under different wording)
Fix 6: Waiting 24-48 hrs
I also disabled secure boot and performed all the updates and none of that worked.
What actually worked for me was downloading the windows 11 installation media onto a flash drive and running the upgrade on my PC. This reinstalled all the necessary files needed to remove the machine from s mode. I believe the MFGs are shipping the machines with a bad image causing the errors we are getting when attempting to leave s mode.
Once the "upgrade" completed I was able to exit s mode as easily as Microsoft said it would be.
Please check your event logs you should see errors pertaining to a licensing error this also disappeared once I performed the upgrade.
