What to do if your Windows installation hangs: Five tips. What to do if Windows installation freezes: five tips Windows 10 takes a long time to install 99 and freezes

At the moment, there are three different issues that Windows 10 users face when installing updates. First, there is an error downloading the update or the download process freezing. Secondly, these are problems during the installation of the update, and finally, the system crash with BSOD after reboot. Below are some possible troubleshooting solutions.

Fixing the problem of downloading the Windows 10 update

Update won't download

If the cumulative update won't download, try the following steps:

    Disable antivirus and VPN / Proxy client before updating.

    Wait until the update is installed, sometimes this process can take a long time depending on the speed of your Internet connection.

Note... To quickly find out the version and build number of Windows 10, type winver in the search bar, press Enter, and you will see a dialog box with information about the current OS version.

    If the update fails, you can use the Windows 10 built-in Troubleshooter to fix the problem.

    Press the Windows key + i keyboard shortcut to open a window Parameters... Go to the menu Update and security> Troubleshoot... Then in the section select the option Windows Update and click the Run the troubleshooter button.

If a cumulative update hangs during download or installation fails, then something went wrong with the update files. After clearing the folder containing the update files, Windows Update will try to download the update components again. In Windows Explorer, navigate to the following location:

C: \ Windows \ SoftwareDistribution \ Download

Delete all files / folders, but do not delete the Download folder itself. Select all files and folders using CTRL + A and press the Delete key to delete. Restart your computer and run the update procedure again.

If the cumulative update freezes during download, try the next solution:

  1. Enter Services
  2. Scroll to Service Delivery optimization.
  3. Right click on the service and select Properties.
  4. Change the Startup Type to Manual.
  5. Reboot your computer.
  6. If Windows 10 update still freezes, change the startup type to Automatic (Delayed Start).

Stop Windows Update

If stopping the Delivery Optimization service does not solve the problem, additionally try stopping the service Windows Update... If Windows 10 update hangs at the “Initializing ...” phase, try the following solution:

  1. Click on the "Start" menu icon.
  2. Enter Services and launch the classic application of the same name.
  3. Scroll to Service Windows Update.
  4. Right click on the service and select Stop.
  5. Reboot your computer.
  6. Check for new updates.
  7. The update should proceed normally.

Windows Update Reset Script

Will completely reset the Windows Update client settings. It has been tested on Windows 7, 8, 8.1 and Windows 10. The script will configure the services and registry keys related to Windows Update, restoring the default settings. It will also clean up files related to Windows Update.

Fixing the problem of installing Windows 10 update

In some cases, you may face a problem installing an update. If the update installation is stuck at some stage, then try the next solution.

If your computer freezes at the stage, then follow the instructions below.

  • While holding the power button, turn off the machine.
  • Turn on your computer and boot into Safe Mode.

  • Sign in to your account (if necessary).
  • Make sure all virus scanners are disabled before proceeding.
  • In the start menu, type Recovery and select the appropriate classic app.
  • Click.

  • Select an earlier restore point and then click Next.
  • Follow the instructions to start the system restore.
  • Wait while your computer completes the system restore process.
  • Regardless of whether the restore succeeds or fails, you are most likely a freeze error rescuer at the moment “Preparing to configure Windows. Do not turn off your computer. "
  • Sign in to your account if required.
  • Disable antivirus scanners before proceeding.
  • Start the Windows update process.
  • The update should now install without problems.

Some users may encounter a stop error causing a blue screen of death (BSOD) to be displayed during system reboots.

If you encounter BSOD crashing while updating Windows 10, check out this article:

If the BSOD problem persists, then follow the steps to uninstall and reinstall the potentially problematic update on your device. Alternatively, you can prevent Windows from installing the problematic update:

Other problems updating Windows 10

After installing Windows 10 updates, you may encounter some issues like internet connection errors.

To fix these problems, you need to run the following commands from the command line (cmd.exe). In the search box on the taskbar, type Command line, press and hold (or right-click) "Command Prompt" and select "Run as administrator". After opening the command line, enter the following commands one by one:

Netsh winsock reset catalog netsh int ipv4 reset reset.log

If you still face “No Internet Connection” issue, please update your computer's IP address. To do this, open Command Prompt (Windows + R, type cmd.exe and press Enter) and enter the following command:

Ipconfig / renew

Disable Windows 10 updates and drivers

Pause update

Pro or Enterprise users can also use the Group Policy Editor to prevent device-specific drivers from being installed:

DISM Commands to Check Windows 10 Issues

You can use the official DISM Windows Image Repair commands to fix any issue with your updates .. Before you start, it's a good idea to make a full system backup or create a system restore point in case something goes wrong.

Using the CheckHealth option in DISM

A command in DISM can detect potential corruption. This command is used only for troubleshooting purposes, but does not perform any troubleshooting operations.

  • Search Start Menu Command line, right-click on the link that appears and select "Run as Administrator" because Device Administrator rights are required to run DISM.
DISM / Online / Cleanup-Image / CheckHealth

Using the ScanHealth option in DISM

The command in DISM allows you to scan a Windows image for any damage. Unlike / CheckHealth, checking / ScanHealth can take up to 10 minutes.

To run this command, follow these steps:

  • Search Start Menu Command line
  • In the "Command Prompt" enter the following command and press Enter:
DISM / Online / Cleanup-Image / ScanHealth

Using DISM RestoreHealth Option

A command in DISM allows you to automatically perform the procedure for recovering damaged Windows images. Unlike / ScanHealth, the / RestoreHealth check can take up to 10 minutes.

To run this command, follow these steps:

  • Search Start Menu Command line, right-click on the link that appears and select "Run as administrator".
  • In the "Command Prompt" enter the following command and press Enter:
DISM / Online / Cleanup-Image / RestoreHealth

Note: When starting / RestoreHealth or / ScanHealth, you may notice that the procedure hangs between 20% or 40% - this is completely normal behavior.

One day the computer may freeze, completely losing control. The user's task is to interrupt this freeze with minimal loss of personal data and applications with which he worked.

Reasons for a complete freeze of a computer or laptop

PC or tablet freezes dead for the following reasons:

  • memory failure;
  • overload or failure of the processor;
  • wear of the drive (HDD / SSD-media);
  • overheating of individual units;
  • faulty power supply or insufficient power;
  • incorrect BIOS / UEFI firmware settings;
  • virus attack;
  • consequences of incorrect installation / removal of programs incompatible with Windows 10 (or another version of Windows) applications;
  • errors in the operation of Windows services, their redundancy (too many services are started at the same time) with a very modest performance of a computer or tablet.

Practical Methods to Eliminate the Cause of a Full Freeze

You need to start with the software. Hereinafter, Windows 10 is taken as an example.

Selected applications

Everyday programs like Skype or Microsoft Office can cause problems. In some cases, drivers or even the Windows version are to blame. The action plan is as follows:

  1. Check if you are using the latest version of the given application, which may be the culprit for the freeze.
  2. Check if this application is loading ads, news from its developers, etc. It's easy to check in the settings. The same Skype, for example, in the latest versions loads advertisements of lucrative offers for calls, shows tips for use. Disable these messages. If there is no control of such messages in the application settings, you may need to "roll back" to earlier versions of the application that are compatible with your version of Windows.
  3. Think about how often you installed new programs. Each installed program creates entries in the Windows registry, its own folder in C: \ Program Files \ (since Windows Vista, it can write something to C: \ Program Data \), and if the application comes with drivers and system libraries, then it will also "inherit" in the system folder C: \ Windows \.
  4. Update your drivers. To launch the "Device Manager" press the key combination Win + X and select "Device Manager" in the drop-down menu. Find the device you are interested in, give the "Update drivers" command and follow the prompts of the Windows 10 hardware update wizard.

    A wizard allows you to update drivers for devices that are not working correctly

  5. Get rid of autorun nonessential applications that interfere with your work. The list of auto-starting programs is edited in the C: \ ProgramData \ Microsoft \ Windows \ Main_menu \ Programs \ Startup \. Autoloading of a specific third-party application is disabled in its own settings.

    Empty your startup folder to get rid of the startup applications that are interfering with your computer

  6. Update the system. In some cases, this helps. If you have new hardware with good performance, then feel free to install Windows 10 for yourself, and if you have a weak (old or cheap) PC or laptop, it is better to install the earliest version of Windows, for example, XP or 7, and find drivers compatible with it ...

The OS registry is a multitasking software environment that requires careful handling. When Windows starts, it is loaded entirely into RAM from the C: drive. If it has grown from the abundance (tens or hundreds) of installed applications, there is less free space in RAM, and all processes and services run slower than before. Even if you remove an unnecessary program, its "remains" are still in the registry. And then either the registry itself is cleaned with special applications such as Auslogics Registry Cleaner / Defrag or RevoUninstaller, or Windows is reinstalled from scratch.

Windows services

Windows Services is the second tool after the registry, without which the OS itself would not be multitasking and friendly, unlike older systems like MS-DOS.

Dozens of all kinds of services work in Windows, without which it is impossible to start work, not a single application would start. But not all of them are needed by most users. For example, if you do not need a printer, you can disable the Print Spooler service.

To disable the service, do the following:

  1. Give the command "Start" - "Run", enter and confirm the command services.msc.

    Enter and confirm the command that opens the Services window

  2. In the service manager window, view and disable services that you do not need. Select any of the services to disable.

    Select any of the services you want to configure

  3. Right click on this service and select Properties.

    Use the properties of a separate Windows service to configure it

  4. Select the "Disabled" state in the "General" tab and close the window by clicking "OK".

    The service configuration algorithm has not changed since Windows XP

  5. Disable each of the other services in the same way, and then restart Windows.

The next time you start Windows, your computer or tablet will noticeably improve performance, especially if it's underpowered.

Each service starts its own process with its own parameters. Several different services sometimes run "clones" of the same process - each with its own parameter. This is, for example, the svchost.exe process. It and other processes can be seen by calling the Windows Task Manager with the Ctrl + Alt + Del (or Ctrl + Shift + Esc) keys and going to the Processes tab. Viruses can also clone processes of individual services - this is discussed below.

Video: what services can be disabled in Windows 10

Viruses as a cause of Windows freezing

Viruses in the system are another destabilizing factor. Regardless of the type and subspecies, a computer virus can launch any resource-intensive process (or several processes at once), whether it be deleting, formatting something, stealing or damaging important data, "blocking" the bandwidth of your Internet channel, etc. If more specifically, viral activity includes:

  • cloning the svchost.exe process (dozens of copies) in order to "blockage" the performance of a computer or gadget;
  • attempts to forcibly close processes vital for the Windows system: winlogon.exe, wininit.exe, driver processes (video cards, network adapters, Windows audio services, etc.). It happens that Windows does not allow to close a process, and the malicious code "floods" the system with endless attempts to close it;
  • Blocking Windows Explorer (explorer.exe) and Task Manager (taskmgr.exe). This is the sin of extortionists and distributors of pornographic materials;
  • start-stop of various Windows services in random order, known only to the developer of this virus. Critical services can be stopped, for example, "Remote Procedure Call", which will lead to persistent and sometimes irreversible hangs - under normal conditions, these services cannot be stopped, and the user will not have the right to do so;
  • viruses that change the Windows Task Scheduler settings. They can also cause resource-intensive system and application processes, the abundance of which will seriously slow down the system.

HDD / SSD instability

Any disk - magneto-optical (HDD) or flash memory (SSD-drive, flash drives and memory cards) is designed in such a way that the storage of digital data on it and the speed of access to them is ensured by dividing it into memory sectors. Over time, they wear out in the process of writing, rewriting and deleting this data, the speed of access to them slows down. When disk sectors fail, writing to them occurs, but the data can no longer be read. The instability of hard drives is the appearance of weakened and "bad" sectors on the disk space of an HDD or SSD drive built into a PC or laptop. You can solve the problem in the following ways:

  • software repair - reassigning weak sectors from the spare area of ​​the disk;
  • replacing a drive in which spare sectors have run out, and bad sectors continue to appear;
  • "Cutting" the disk. Before that, they find out where the bad sectors have accumulated on the disk, then the disk is "cut off".

You can "trim" a disk either from one end, or arrange partitions on it so that they do not touch the accumulation of bad sectors. Single "killed" sectors arise in the process of long-term wear and tear, but their colonies (thousands or more, going in a row) arise from shock and strong vibration during operation, or with frequent sudden power outages. When the colonies of BAD sectors become multiple, it is easier to replace the disk right away, before the data loss on it becomes catastrophic.

To check drives, HDDScan / Regenerator, Victoria applications are used (there is a version for MS-DOS, if the C: partition is affected, and Windows does not start or hangs tightly during boot or during operation) and their analogues. These applications provide an accurate picture of where the bad sectors are located on the disk.

A drop in bitrate to zero on a disk means that the disk itself is damaged

Video: how to use the Victoria program

Overheating of PC or gadget components

Anything can overheat. Both the system unit of a desktop PC and a laptop with an HDD are equipped with coolers (fans with a heat sink).

The cassette-modular design of a modern PC (a motherboard with the rest of the blocks and nodes inserted into its connectors and / or connected to it with loops) provides for active cooling of the entire system. For a year or two, a thick layer of dust accumulates inside the PC, which impedes the heat dissipation of the processor, RAM, hard disk, motherboard microcircuits and video cards. In addition to the general "hood" (it is located on the power supply or near it), there are fans on the processor and video card. Dust cakes and accumulates, as a result, the coolers go to the maximum rotation speed, and then the PC is increasingly shut down due to overheating: thermal protection is triggered, without which the computer would become a fire hazardous device.

Dust collects on cables, slots and channels of the motherboard and other components

All home PCs, laptops and netbooks are equipped with a cooling system. Ultrabooks have it, but not all models. But in the tablets there is no thermal hood - they turn off, restart or go into economy mode when heated above 40 degrees (battery recharging is automatically turned off), and it does not matter if they themselves overheated or in the sun.

A tablet is a mono-board chassis with auxiliary parts (microphones, speakers, display sensor, buttons, etc.), connected using loops. Such a device consumes much less electricity than a full-fledged PC, and does not need fans.

A self-disassembled PC or gadget can be cleaned with a blowing vacuum cleaner. If in doubt, contact your nearest service center.

You can clean the device from dust with a blowing vacuum cleaner yourself.

Another cause of overheating is the capacity of the power supply and batteries, which is unable to compensate for energy costs. It's good when the PC power supply has at least a small power reserve. If it works at its limit, it doesn't cost anything to overheat, which is why the PC will often freeze / shut down at best. In the worst case, the protection will fail one day and the power supply will burn out. In the same way, any component can burn out.

RAM problems

Despite its simplicity and insensitivity to frequent sudden power outages, RAM is vulnerable to static electricity and overheating. You can also damage it by simultaneously touching the current-carrying parts of the power supply and the legs of its microcircuits.

Logic circuits working with a data stream are designed in such a way that they work with very low voltages (except for directly supplying power to the "+" and "-" in the circuit) in tenths and hundredths of a volt, and the sudden appearance on the legs of the microcircuit of voltage from several volts and more guaranteed to "break through" the semiconductor crystal underlying such a microcircuit.

A modern RAM module is two or more microcircuits on one printed circuit board (strip).

Upgraded RAM performance, making it easy to take your toughest job with you

It is possible to guess that it is the RAM that has deteriorated by signals from the PC's service "beeper" (a series of short and long beeps) controlled by the BIOS / EFI, or when the "screen of death" suddenly appears while the Windows system is running or when it starts up. On older PCs running Award BIOS, the RAM was checked immediately before the Windows (or Microsoft) logo appeared.

Checking RAM with Memtest86 +

Memtest's flaw is the infinity of RAM check cycles. You can interrupt the check at any time.

Commands are distributed by keys - use any of them

The program interface resembles the Windows 2000 / XP boot loader and, like the BIOS, is very easy to manage. The action plan is as follows:


In Memtest86 +, each BAD cluster is indicated (on which megabyte of RAM it is located) and their number is called. The presence of at least one such cluster on the RAM matrix will not let you work calmly - resource-intensive applications such as Photoshop, Dreamweaver, media players (for example, Windows Media Player), many games with detailed three-dimensional graphics (Call of Duty 3 , GTA 4/5, GrandTurismo and World of Tanks / Warcraft, Dota and others that require from / to several gigabytes of RAM and performance up to several cores of a modern CPU). But if you can somehow put up with the "crashes" of games and films, then work, for example, in a studio on such a PC will become hell. You shouldn't forget about BSOD ("screen of death"), which sweeps away all unsaved data.

When at least one BAD cluster appears, you no longer have to wait for the check to complete. The RAM is not repairable - replace the faulty module immediately.

Video: how to use Memtest86 +

Checking RAM using standard Windows tools

Do the following:

  1. Click "Start" and enter the word "check" in the search bar, run the Windows Memory Checker.

    Windows Memory Checker gives you the most complete RAM scan

  2. Select to restart Windows immediately. Save your work and close all active applications before restarting your PC.

    Memory check works without the main Windows graphical shell

  3. Wait while the Windows application checks the RAM.

    The severity of the check can be adjusted by pressing F1

  4. When testing, you can press F1 and enable advanced settings, for example, specify 15 (maximum) passes for more detailed diagnostics, select a special test mode. Press F10 to apply new settings (like in BIOS).

    You can increase the number of passes, RAM check algorithm, etc.

  5. If the result does not appear after restarting Windows, find the Windows Event Viewer in the Start menu, launch it, give the command Windows Logs - System and open the Memory Diagnostics Results report. On the General tab (near the middle of the System Information window), Windows Logger will report errors. If they are, an error code, information about bad RAM sectors and other useful information will be indicated.

    Open RAM check results by going to Windows 10 logs

If there are errors identified using Windows 10, the RAM bar must definitely be replaced.

Video: how to check RAM using standard Windows 10 tools

Incorrect BIOS settings

To begin with, you can reset the BIOS settings to optimal ones. The BIOS is entered with the F2 / Del keys when the CMOS Setup screen with the manufacturer's logo is displayed before Windows starts booting. Select Load Fail-Save Defaults by pressing F8.

Select Load Fail-Save Defaults

When you reset the default settings, according to the manufacturer, the optimal BIOS settings are set, thanks to which the "dead" freezes of the PC will stop.

Video: how to reset BIOS settings

Windows Explorer crashes

Any errors in the explorer.exe process lead to a complete freeze of the "Explorer" and to its periodic restarts. But if the PC is frozen tight, the taskbar and the Start button are gone, and only the Windows desktop screensaver with or without the mouse pointer remains, then this problem could arise for the following reasons:

  • data corruption of the explorer.exe file in the system folder C: \ Windows \. The explorer.ex_ file (folder I386) is taken from the installation disk and copied to the \ Windows \ folder. It is better to do this from the Windows LiveCD / USB version (via the "Command Line"), starting from the installation flash drive, since when Windows hangs, control from the previously working OS is tightly lost. In this case, a multiboot disk / flash drive is what you need;
  • wear and tear, disk failure while Windows is running. In this case, sectors are damaged exactly in the place where the explorer.exe executable component was currently located. A very rare situation. The version of the Victoria program (including the DOS version) will help, all from the same multiboot flash drive or DVD. If software repair is impossible, the disk must be replaced;
  • viruses. Since the antivirus programs already installed are not available, only a fresh installation of Windows will help. Before that, start from a multiboot disk that has a Windows LiveCD / USB (any version), and copy the valuable files to other (external media), then run the reinstallation of Windows.

For example, when installing earlier versions of the Daemon Tools program, it is impossible to log into Windows 8/10 - only the desktop background is displayed, and Windows Explorer and applications from the startup list do not start, it is impossible to start any work in Windows at all. Attempts to log in with a different account do not lead to anything: the Windows desktop is not displayed and the account selection menu reappears. Absolutely no methods, including "rollback" the system, work. Only OS reinstallation helps.

Deadly stuck Windows applications

In addition to PC hardware crashes and Windows component problems described above, users often experience a specific application crash. Fortunately, this problem is less critical than the final freeze of system processes that are vital for Windows.

The reasons are as follows:

  • frequent installation of other, new applications that disabled this application. There was a substitution of common entries in the Windows registry, a change in the settings of any services, a substitution of common system DLLs;
  • requires forced reloading (from third-party sites) to the C: \ Windows \ System32 \ dll files, pointed to by this or that application that refuses to start. This action is unsafe. Before any actions with the \ Windows \ folder, check the received library files with antivirus programs;
  • the version of the application is incompatible. Install a newer version, latest Windows 8/10 updates, or use an earlier version of Windows. You can also enable compatibility mode for the launch file of this application by right-clicking on the shortcut, clicking on "Properties", then "Compatibility" and selecting the version of Windows in which this application was running;

    After saving the compatibility setting, run this application again

  • careless work of third-party PC performance optimizers, for example, jv16PowerTools. This package includes an aggressive Windows registry cleaner. After such a procedure, many components and applications, including this program, stop starting. If Windows is not frozen firmly, use the System Restore tool. To do this, press the Windows + Pause / Break key combination, in the system properties window, give the System Protection - Restore command, and in the System Restore wizard that starts, select any of the restore points;

    Choose the restore point at which your problem did not manifest itself in any way

  • viruses that have damaged the launch file of a particular application. For example, if there are problems with the Microsoft Word editor (the winword.exe file is damaged in the C: \ Program Files \ Microsoft Office \ MSWord \ folder - the location of the executable.exe files changes depending on the version of the program), you need to check the PC for viruses, and then uninstall (if uninstallation is still possible) and reinstall Microsoft Office.

    Scanning Windows for viruses often fixes the source of the problem

  • crash of any application. In older versions of Windows, a message about the inadmissibility of any action appeared. This error was not fatal: it was possible to restart the same application and continue working for a long time. In Windows 10, the problem may appear more often;

    If an error code is displayed, you will need to update the application or write to Microsoft

  • unspecified errors. The application starts and runs, but hangs in the same place. Remove all frozen applications using the Task Manager.

    After closing the frozen application, you can start it again

Cases of Mozilla Firefox crashing when going to an unverified site and submitting a bug report to the Mozilla Foundation are just the beginning. A similar "trick" existed in Windows XP: you could immediately send Microsoft information about the error of any application. In modern versions of Windows, interaction with software developers has reached a more advanced level.

Video: how to restore Windows 10 using a restore point

Mouse pointer not working

Mouse failure in Windows is not uncommon and unpleasant. The reasons for its occurrence are as follows:

  • breakage of the USB or PS / 2 connector / plug, the mouse cord is frayed. Check the operation of the device on another PC or laptop. If the mouse is USB, connect it to a different port;
  • contamination, oxidation of the contacts of the USB or PS / 2 port. Clean them up. Reconnect the mouse to the PC;
  • wireless mouse Nano Receiver (or Bluetooth) device failure, or depleted built-in battery or device replaceable battery. Test the mouse on a different PC, insert a different battery (or charge the battery). If you are using a Windows tablet, the Bluetooth function must be enabled in the tablet settings (when using a Bluetooth mouse);

    If you are using a mouse with Bluetooth, check if this function is enabled in the settings of your tablet.

  • a problem with the mouse driver. Older versions of Windows that do not have the built-in drivers and system libraries needed to run mice, especially newer ones, often crash. Update the Windows version, the driver itself. Remove and reinstall the mouse: this is also an external device, and it must be correctly registered in the system;
  • the PS / 2 connector has been pulled out and reconnected. Unlike the USB bus, which supports hot plugging and unplugging, the PS / 2 interface requires restarting Windows after the mouse “reconnects”, even though the mouse seems to be working (backlight is on). Operate from the keyboard: the Windows key will open the main menu, in which you can give the command "Shutdown" - "Restart (Shutdown)" by moving the cursor using the arrows and / or the Tab key. Alternatively, press the power button (Windows is configured by default to shut down your PC) and then turn on your computer again;

    After disconnecting and attaching the mouse connector, the PS / 2 interface will ask you to restart Windows

  • hard drive failure. It is not necessarily caused by damage to the disk structure: the disk itself turns off when there is a power shortage caused by overloading other PC resources (processor, RAM, connecting several external disks via USB, operating "coolers" at maximum speed, etc.). This happens when the PC's power supply is also working at the limit of its power output (almost 100% loaded). In this case, after Windows freezes, the PC may shut down on its own;
  • PS / 2 or USB controller failure. The most unpleasant thing is replacing the "motherboard" of a PC, especially if it is old, and all ports "sit" on one rear USB controller at once, or a motherboard without USB ports was used with only PS / 2. Fortunately, the port can be replaced separately by contacting the same service center. If we are talking about a tablet, the cause may be a faulty microUSB port, OTG adapter and / or USB hub.

Dealing with a complete freeze in Windows 10 and specific programs is easy. The above guides to action will help you. Good job to you.

Windows 10 is by far the largest downloadable update for the Microsoft operating system to a computer from the web. More than 60 million users have already downloaded and installed it all over the world. But the system turned out to be rather crude and slightly unfinished, which is why a colossal number of errors arise in the process of working with it or during its installation. Those who decided to hurry up and update the OS version are now faced with them. Fortunately, with each patch, there are fewer and fewer bugs.

One of the main and very unpleasant problems is that Windows 10 freezes during the update process tightly, and you can save yourself from this only if you restart your computer. However, after enabling the update successfully disappears, and Windows remains the same. For a long time this problem was almost the key one - when the operating system hangs so godlessly, all the desire to update to it simply disappears.

How to calculate freeze

This problem has several of the most common manifestations. Even with the availability of ready-made solutions from time to time during installation, it is still possible for any of these signs to appear:

  • Installing updates for the operating system hangs by 25%.
  • Copying user files stops at 84% progress.
  • Renewal progress does not progress beyond 44%.
  • May hang at 32% of installation progress.
  • The computer freezes during the "Get updates" step.

Very often it is impossible to understand, especially if the computer is very old, whether the progress loading is stuck or something very heavy is just being installed, so the process is too slow. Of course, you can just leave the computer overnight and see what happens to it in the morning. But more often than not, it is this combination of interest and slowness that signals a problem.

As a rule, there are practically no other varieties if the computer fits the new OS according to the system requirements.

Problem solving

Each error has its own solution, most often associated with hardware or software. Most problems can be solved in an elementary way - the main thing is to know what needs to be done. Many users have not faced solving problems with a PC on their own, so they get scared after such errors occur.

The first problem

The first two freezes are associated with error 0xC1900101 - 0x20004. Another characteristic symptom of this problem is that the LED on a laptop or computer stops blinking immediately, which signals a freeze. Usually, a simple reboot is possible to return the device to a working state, but in this case it will not be possible to update.

As it was established empirically, this problem during the update occurs due to the fact that the system conflicts with some components installed on the computer, or when interacting with peripheral devices. It is also believed that if more than one hard disk is installed, the chance of this problem is increased.

Based on this, we can offer a simple solution for error 0xC1900101 - 0x20004:

  • Remove and disconnect all unnecessary devices from the system unit or laptop. After that, nothing should be left except the essentials - a mouse, keyboard and monitor in the case of a stationary PC or a mouse in the case of a laptop. The system may not interact with any of the additional devices crookedly, so it is better to turn them off during the update.
  • In the case of a stationary PC, you need to temporarily disable additional drives (you can only leave one), drives and hard drives. Leave only the essentials for the functioning of the computer. Just unplug the SATA cable during installation, if possible.
  • If possible, the best option would be to download the update to removable media and then install the package to your computer from there. But there is one significant drawback - such an update will make the system unlicensed after installation, which may cause some problems during use.

The second problem

The device freeze highlighted in point three applies to the November build of Windows 10 (version 1511). In this case, progress stopped at 44% of the update and did not want to move on in any way.

On this error, as many as two answers were given from representatives of Microsoft. In the first, it was said that, according to observations, this problem affects a part of devices in which an SD card reader is installed with a card in it. The second answer was much more informative and carried, if not the most convenient, but a solution to the problem.

Microsoft representative Annanya Podder suggests the following actions. As it turned out, the problem really lies with the connected SD card. For some reason, the system has a conflict with it, and therefore progress freezes. It is easy and simple to eliminate the occurrence of the problem - the computer does not have to have an SD drive in it.

However, for those users who used this method of increasing disk space due to its lack, it is not very convenient. Downloading Windows 10 requires about 3 GB of free space, and to install an update - even more, about 20 GB. In this case, it is recommended to clean the computer of unnecessary files to create free space on the hard disk, or to use USB drives.

Problem three

The update hangs at 32%, which this time is not connected with the connection of certain devices, but with the software part of the operating system. It appears after trying to update through Windows Update.

In this case, the process is able to hang for 20 hours or more, but it is easy and simple to exclude such an outcome. Before upgrading to a new version of the system, you must first install all available packages for the old one. That is, you need to download and install all available optional updates, for example, for Windows 8.1, if this OS is installed. After that, the system should install without problems.

Additionally, you need to diagnose the Update Center by activating a special utility. To do this, you need to press the Win + R key combination, and then enter msdt / id WindowsUpdateDiagnostic in the window that appears.

After clicking on the "OK" button, a new window will appear. Here you need to click on the inscription "Additional".

New lines will appear, from which it is necessary to select the "Automatically apply fixes" item and then click on "Run as administrator".

And then click on "Next". After starting it is enough to follow all the instructions of the program. The existing problems will be eliminated, after which the preparation has been successfully completed, you can safely update the existing system if there are updates available, and then to Windows 10.

The fourth problem

In some cases, there is a situation when the process of installing a new version of Windows hangs on "Getting updates". This process can last an infinitely long time, but not move a single step.

Typically, the solution is to "kill" the Windows Update process, as it is the one that triggers the hang. Therefore, you should disable it for the duration of the update.

In order to disable this service, you must press the Win + R key combination, and then enter the services.msc command in the window that appears.

And then click on "OK". In the window that appears, you need to find the line "Windows Update", click on it with the right mouse button, and then select the item in the drop-down menu "Stop".

Also, in some cases, antivirus can interfere with the process. Therefore, it must be removed prior to updating. Anyway, transferring files from one system to another for some reason does not apply to anti-virus programs, so it will be deleted after the update and so on.

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Having problems with Windows 10 after updating? Computer freezes after entering password and logging in? The latest Anniversary Update is causing the system to freeze on some computers. See what you can do to get your computer back up and running.

Windows 10 - what to do if the system freezes after an update

There is more and more information on the Internet that the latest Anniversary Update for Windows 10 is not as seamless as one might have assumed at the very beginning. It turns out that some users have problems with the system freezing after upgrading to version 1607. The computer boots normally, but after entering the password on the Windows 10 login screen, it freezes and nothing can be done - the cursor does not work, and the system does not respond to commands from the keyboard. After a reboot, the same thing happens - and so on in a circle. Sometimes the computer freezes immediately after logging in, other times after a few minutes.

All these points are actively discussed in the forums. Several solutions have appeared to help fix this issue.

Important! The solutions below are solely for fixing the freeze issue that appeared after the Anniversary Update. Don't use these methods when Windows 10 freezes for other reasons. It is also important that the problem with freezing after the last Anniversary Update is quite extensive and its appearance can be caused by many factors, so we are not 100% sure that you will be able to fix the problem using one of the listed methods. The one-stop solution will have to wait - it can only be developed by Microsoft and released as an update.

Method number 1 - uninstalling update KB3176929

The KB3176929 update includes a set of fixes that should improve the performance of Windows 10 in version 1607 (i.e. after the Anniversary Update). Several users have noticed that updating can cause the computer to freeze. Uninstalling it helped some users to get rid of the system freeze.

Right click on the Start button and go to Control Panel. Then go to the Programs and Features tab. The classic window of the software installed on the computer will appear. In the left side menu, click on the "View installed updates" tab.

All updates installed in the system will appear in the window that opens. Find "Update for Microsoft Windows (KB3176929)" here, select it, then click on the "Uninstall" button and restart your computer.

Method # 2 - Installing the Intel Rapid Storage Technology driver

The Intel Rapid Storage Technology driver is responsible for the operation of hard drives in AHCI and RAID mode. Windows has its own driver versions, so if you don't have an Intel driver installed, the system files are used. It turns out that for some users, the lack of a driver from Intel was the reason for Windows 10 freezing after the Anniversary Update.

If you have a laptop, then look for the driver on the manufacturer's website in the section with files for your model. However, if you cannot find it, then the driver can be downloaded from the Intel official website.

After installing the driver, restart your computer. The Windows 10 freeze issue should be fixed.

Method number 3 - Create a new user account in safe mode

Reddit user jaySeraph submitted his own method that allowed him to solve the freeze issue. It consists in starting the computer in safe mode, creating a new user account, removing antivirus programs, scanning the computer using Windows Defender and restarting the computer as usual.

Step 1. Start your PC in Safe Mode. This is easy enough to do, even before you sign in. At the login screen, hold down the Shift key on your keyboard and click the Power (Shut Down) icon in the lower right corner, then select Restart. The computer will restart in recovery mode - select "Troubleshoot - Advanced - Boot options".

Select the option to reboot the system, then on the boot method selection screen, press "4" to enter Safe Mode.

Step 2... After logging into Windows, open the Settings app and navigate to the Users tab. Create a new user account (without logging into a Microsoft account).

Step 3... If you have any security or anti-virus software installed on your computer, uninstall it.

Step 4... Log out of your current account and log back in with the new user account.

Step 5... Go to the Settings tab via the Start menu and select Update & Security - Windows Defender. Turn off Auto Sample Submission.

Step 6... Start Windows Defender by searching (search for an appropriate name) and allow virus definition updates to run. Perform a quick scan of your system for threats.

Step 7... After the scan is finished, restart your computer in normal mode and log in with your account that you previously used.

After completing these steps, the problem should go away in most cases. But if Windows still freezes, try the next solutions.

Method number 4 - Disable AppXsvc service in the Registry Editor

Many users reported that disabling the AppXsvc service helped them fix system freezes after the Anniversary Update. This service is responsible for maintaining apps downloaded from the Windows Store. In addition to freezing the system, AppXsvc can also overload the processor.

To disable it, you need to restart the PC in safe mode. How to do this, see above. After entering Safe Mode, press the Windows key + R key combination, and then in the Run window type the following command:

Confirm its execution by pressing Enter. In the Registry Editor that opens, on the left side of the window, go to the path:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SYSTEM \ ControlSet001 \ Services \ AppXSvc

Click on the AppXSvc entry on the left side and then look at the right side of the Editor window. Here are the entries related to this section. Find the entry "Start" and double-click on it to change its value. Set the value to "4". Save the changes by clicking on OK, close the Registry Editor and restart the computer normally.

Method # 5 - Disabling search services and preloading into memory

Some users have fixed the freeze issue by disabling the following two services:

  • Windows Search;

However, disabling them has certain disadvantages. The Windows Search service is responsible for indexing files on the disk to quickly find them. Disabling this service will affect the speed of searching for files on the disk through the Windows search engine.

To disable the service, restart the system, and then press the Windows key + R key combination. In the window, enter the command:

services.msc

The system services window will open. Find the first of the above (Windows Search).

Double click on it to enter its properties. Select Stop and then set the startup type to Disabled. Repeat for the next service (Memory Preload). After the steps taken, restart your computer.

Method number 6 - Restoring the previous version of Windows 10 (removing the Anniversary Update)

If none of the above solved your computer freeze problems after the Anniversary Update, then the only solution is to uninstall the update and roll back to the previous version of Windows 10. The Anniversary Update creates a backup copy of the previous OS during installation, so you can revert to it quite easily.

Even if your computer freezes immediately after logging in, you can do it without any problems. Turn on your computer and wait for the login screen to appear. At the login screen, press and hold the Shift key, then click the Power (Shut Down) icon in the lower right corner and select Restart.

The system will go to the recovery menu. Select Advanced Options - Restore Previous Build. Then follow the instructions on the screen. Windows 10 guides you step by step through the process of restoring your system to a previous version.

After rolling back to the previous Windows 10 (without the Anniversary Update), just in case, completely disable the installation of updates (Defer updates) until Microsoft releases a patch that fixes freezing problems.

Windows 10 is a flawed system and problems are common in it, especially when installing updates.

There are a lot of mistakes and ways to solve them.

First of all, it all depends on at what stage the problem arose and whether it was accompanied by a code.

We will cover all possible cases.

The computer freezes during the update

If your computer freezes while updating Windows 10, you need to find the cause of the problem and fix it. To do this, you need to interrupt the system update.

First you need to make sure that the computer is really frozen. If nothing changes at all for 15 minutes or some actions are repeated cyclically for the third time, the computer can be considered frozen.

How to interrupt the update

If the update starts to install, most likely you will not be able to simply restart your computer and return it to its normal state: every time you restart, the installation will be retried. This problem is not always encountered, but it is very common. If you encounter it, you must first interrupt the system update, and only then eliminate the cause of the problem:

How to fix the cause of the freeze

There can be many reasons for getting stuck getting updates. In most cases, you will see an error code message after 15 minutes of inactivity. What to do in such cases is described at the end of the article. However, it happens that no message appears, and the computer continues endlessly trying. We will consider the most popular cases from similar ones.

Stuck at the stage "Getting updates"

If you see the Get Updates screen without making any progress for about 15 minutes, wait no longer. This error is caused by a service conflict. All that is required of you is to disable the Windows automatic update service and start checking for updates manually.

Video: How to Disable Windows Update

Freeze 30 - 39%

If you are upgrading from Windows 7, 8, or 8.1, this step will download the updates.

Russia is big, and there are almost no Microsot servers in it. As a result, the download speed of some packages is very slow. You may have to wait up to 24 hours for the entire update to download.

The first step is to run the Update Center diagnostics to exclude an attempt to download packages from a non-working server. To do this, press the Win + R key combination, enter the msdt / id WindowsUpdateDiagnostic command and click OK.

Press the Win + R keyboard shortcut, enter msdt / id WindowsUpdateDiagnostic and click OK

Also try updating your current version of Windows (without upgrading to Windows 10). When finished, try running Windows 10 upgrade again.

If that doesn't work, you are left with 2 options:

  • put the update overnight and wait until it ends;
  • use an alternative update method, for example, download the Windows 10 image (from the official website or torrent) and update from it.

Video: What to do with the endless upgrade to Windows 10

Hang on 44%

Update 1511 had a similar bug for a while. It is caused by a conflict with the memory card. The bug in this service pack has been fixed for a long time, but if you somehow encountered it, you have 2 options:

  • remove the SD card from the computer;
  • update via Windows Update.

If this does not help you, free up 20 GB of free space on the disk with the system.

Computer freezes after update

As with problems during the upgrade process, you will most likely see one of the code errors, the solutions to which are described below. But this does not always happen. In any case, the first thing you need to do is get out of the frozen state. You can do this in the same way as when freezing during the update process: press F8 when turning on the computer and select "Safe Mode with Command Prompt".

If you haven't seen the error code, try all of the following methods in turn.

Getting information about an error

Before fixing the problem, you should try to find out a little information about the error that has occurred:

Video: Event Viewer and Windows Logs

Eliminating conflicts

The most common cause of a freeze is an incorrect transfer of Start Menu and Windows Search settings from a previous version of Windows. The result of such an error is a conflict with key system services, which prevents the system from starting.

  1. Open the "Start" menu, type "services" and open the found utility.

    Open the "Services" utility

  2. In the window that opens, find the Windows Search service and open it.

    Open Windows Search Service

  3. Select the startup type "Disabled" and click the "Stop" button if it is active. Then click "OK".

    Disable Windows Search Service

  4. Open Registry Editor. It can be found by searching for "regedit" in the Start menu.

    Open "Registry Editor" from the "Start" menu

  5. Copy the path HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SYSTEM \ ControlSet001 \ Services \ AppXSvc to the address bar and press Enter.

    Follow the path HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SYSTEM \ ControlSet001 \ Services \ AppXSvc

  6. On the right side of the window, open the Start or Start option.

    Open the Start parameter

  7. Set the value to "4" and click "OK".

    Set the value to "4" and click "OK"

  8. Try restarting your computer normally. Perhaps the steps taken will help you.

User change

Start menu settings and Windows Search services are the most common causes of conflicts, but there may be others. It takes neither the strength nor the time to search and fix every possible problem. It would be more competent to reset all changes, and the easiest way to do this is to create a new user.

  1. Go to the "Options" window. This can be done through the key combination Win + I or the gear in the Start menu.

    Go to the "Options" window

  2. Open the "Accounts" section.

    Open the section "Accounts"

  3. Open the "Family and other people" tab and click on the "Add user ..." button.

    Click on the button "Add user ..."

  4. Click on the "I have no data ..." button.

    Click on the button "I have no data ..."

  5. Click on the "Add user ..." button.

    Click on the inscription "Add user ..."

  6. Enter the name of the new account and confirm its creation.

    Enter the name of the new account and confirm its creation

  7. Click on the created account and click the "Change account type" button.

    Click the "Change account type" button

  8. Select the type "Administrator" and click "OK".

    Select the type "Administrator" and click "OK"

  9. Try restarting your computer normally. If all is well, you will see a selection of accounts.

Video: how to create an account with administrator rights in Windows 10

Removing an update

If changing your account does not help, you will have to roll back the updates. After that, you can try to update the system again.

Video: how to uninstall an update in Windows 10

System Restore

This is an extreme way to solve the problem. It is equivalent to a complete reinstallation of the system.

Video: How to Reset Windows 10 to System Preferences

Black screen problem

The black screen problem is worth highlighting separately. If the display does not show anything, then this does not mean that your computer is frozen. Press Alt + F4 and then Enter. Now there are 2 options for the development of events:

  • if the computer does not turn off, wait half an hour to exclude a prolonged update, and proceed with the system recovery, as described above;
  • if the computer shuts down, you have a problem with the playback of the picture. Do all of the following methods one at a time.

Switch between monitors

The most common cause of this problem is misidentification of the primary monitor. If you have a TV connected, the system can install it as the main one even before downloading the necessary drivers for it to work. Even if there is only one monitor, try this method. Before downloading all the required drivers, errors can be very strange.

  1. If you have multiple monitors connected, disconnect everything except the main one and try restarting your computer.
  2. Press the Win + P keys followed by the down arrow and Enter. This is switching between monitors.

Disable Fast Startup

Accelerated launch implies delayed activation of some system components and neglect of preliminary analysis. This can cause an "invisible" monitor.

Video: How to turn off Fast Startup in Windows 10

Resetting the incorrect driver for the video card

It might be Windows 10 or you have installed the wrong driver. There can be many variations of errors with a driver for a video card. You need to try several ways to install it: with the removal of the old driver, manually and automatically.

  1. Restart your computer in Safe Mode (how to do this was described above), open the "Control Panel" and go to the "Hardware and Sound" section.

    Open "Control Panel" and go to "Hardware and Sound"

  2. Click on the inscription "Device Manager".

    Click on the inscription "Device Manager"

  3. Open the group "Video adapters", right-click on your video card and go to its properties.

    Right click on the video card and go to its properties

  4. In the "Diver" tab, click on the "Rollback" button. This is uninstalling the driver. Try restarting your computer normally and check the result.

    In the "Diver" tab, click on the "Rollback" button

  5. Reinstall the driver. Open Device Manager again, right-click on the graphics card and select Update Driver. Perhaps the video card will be in the "Other devices" group.

    Click on the video card with the right mouse button and select "Update driver"

  6. Try automatic driver updates first. If the update is not found or the error persists, download the driver from the manufacturer's website and use the manual installation.

    Try the automatic driver update first.

  7. For manual installation, you just need to specify the path to the folder with the driver. The checkbox for "Including subfolders" should be active.

    When installing manually, you just need to specify the path to the folder with the driver

Video: How to Update Your Graphics Card Driver in Windows 10

Errors with the code, their reasons and solutions

Here we list all errors with a code that are associated with updating Windows 10. Most of them can be solved quite simply and do not need detailed instructions. The last resort, which is not mentioned in the table, is to completely reinstall Windows 10. If all else fails, use it and install the latest version right away to avoid a problematic update.

Instead of "0x", the error code might say "WindowsUpdate_".

Table: Upgrade Errors

Difficult solutions

Some of the methods listed in the table are complex. Let us examine those with which difficulties may arise.

Reconnecting the problematic component

To turn off, for example, a Wi-Fi module, it is not at all necessary to open the computer. Almost any component can be reconnected through the "Task Manager".

Clearing Scheduled Tasks and Startup Lists

If an unwanted process is included in the startup list, its presence may be equivalent to the presence of a virus on your computer. A scheduled task to start this process can have a similar effect.

The standard Windows 10 tools may be useless. Better to use CCleaner right away.

Video: How to Disable Auto Launch Applications Using CCleaner

Disable Firewall

Windows Firewall is built-in system protection. It is not an antivirus, but it can prevent some processes from accessing the Internet or restrict access to important files. Sometimes the firewall makes mistakes, as a result of which one of the system processes can be restricted.

Video: How to Disable Firewall in Windows 10

Restarting "Update Center"

As a result of the "Update Center" operation, critical errors may occur that will interfere with the main processes of this service. Restarting the system does not always help to solve such a problem; it will be more reliable to restart the "Update Center" itself.

Defragmentation

During the operation of the hard disk, bad sectors may appear on it. When the system tries to read information from such a sector, the process can drag on and freeze.

Defragmenting reallocates the files on the disk, ensuring a contiguous sequence of clusters. It can last an hour or more.

Defragmenting your hard drive includes searching for such sectors and prohibiting their use:

Video: How to Defragment Windows 10

Registry check

Registry is a hierarchical database that contains all settings, presets, information about all installed programs and system processes. An error in the registry can have a wide variety of consequences: from an unremovable shortcut to damage to key services and a complete system crash.

Video: How to manually clean the registry with CCleaner

Alternative update methods

Due to various circumstances, it may not be possible to update Windows 10 in the usual way. Among the methods that can help in such cases, two can be distinguished:

DNS check

Internet connection is not always the cause of Microsoft server connection problem. Sometimes the error lies in the flown DNS settings.

Activating the "Administrator" account

An "Administrator" account and an account with administrator rights are different things. There is only one "administrator" on the computer and it has more opportunities than an account with administrator rights. The Administrator account is disabled by default.

Video: how to activate the "Administrator" account in Windows 10

Windows 10 update stuck is a common event, but the solution to this problem is quite simple. Not all cases are unambiguous, but as a last resort, everything can be fixed by simply removing updates.

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