Updates failed, cannot revert back? 1

[guitarzan]

I have a Dell Latitude 3540 laptop with Win 7 pro, maybe 2+ years old...

Stuck in this loop: "Failure configuring windows updates. Reverting changes. Do not turn off your computer". Presumably Windows Updates ran overnight recently, failed and now cannot revert back, and I cannot get to a login screen / desktop no matter what I try.

I tried Safe Mode, Safe Mode with Networking, and Last Known Good Configuration, no luck.

Tried F8, then "Repair Your Computer", (which brings up "System Recovery Options" ... "Choose a recovery tool"):
- Chose "Startup Repair", got "Startup Repair could not detect a problem".
- Chose "System Restore", found only 5 system restore points (6/22, 6/23, 6/24, 6/25, and 6/26). All are from 11PM, all say Windows Update / Critical Update. Tried to restore each, after 30 seconds got "An unspecified error occurred during System Restore. (0x80070057)" each time.

I also ran Dell's diagnostic utility and it found no errors. It did complain about the Optical drive, but there was no CD or DVD in, and the optical drive is never used. All other components passed.

So I'm stuck... Any other ideas??

 

[ClayTaco]

How long did you let the reverting changes run? Could be that it hadn't finished and it's now corrupted.

What happens when you boot into safemode? Does it give you the same error or a different error.

 

[guitarzan]

It's certainly possible that the user shut it down prematurely. They did say that at one point they let it sit overnight and the same message was on the screen, though I didn't give it that much time. Maybe I will tonight.

Safe mode shows the same message.

 

[ClayTaco]

I'd let it run at least overnight.
Other thing you can do is use a win7 disk to try and repair the installation. If it can't boot safe mode the installation is corrupted.
If all that fails pull the user data and do a fresh install.

 

[guitarzan]

Wow ... you were right, though it took longer than just overnight (over 12 hours), but it actually finished. I then tried running the updates manually, which worked, but it failed on the reboot again. At least I know I can get back into windows eventually, so I have more options.

 

[guitarzan]

So frustrating.

Checked for updates, found like 15 or so, unchecked all but the oldest (KB 3162835)... it installed, then i rebooted, it said installing update 1 of 32 or so (why? I only selected one)..... got to 20% then rebooted, then continued, got to 81% then rebooted, then back to "Failure configuring..."

Any ideas? Can I reset the WU cache? I will research more this weekend, just wondering if anyone has dealt with this before. Seems like every step now takes 6 hours (better than 12+ hours though)

 

[ClayTaco]

Sometimes when windows hasn't updated in a long time it'll have trouble working out which updates need to be completed before others.
Can you attach the windows update log? I'll take a look at the errors you're getting and see if I can suggest some solutions. There are a few hotfixes that may do the trick but it depends on which updates are failing. In the meantime I suggest just setting it to automatic updates and letting it do it's thing. You can schedule a reboot for every 12 hours or so and do auto updates.

If you do have automatic updates enabled you'll want to disable the windows 10 update. Here's the best way I've found to do it: Microsoft Blog

 

[ClayTaco]

I wrote that late last night and forgot this part. I'm operating under the assumption that you don't have a metered or limited connection. Delete the windows cache and remove previous updates. You want to force windows to get fresh versions of the updates.

I wouldn't discount doing a fresh install. As much of a pain as doing a reimage is it'll probably be less trouble than getting the win updates to work.

 

[guitarzan]

Sorry for the delay...

I used the instructions here..
How do I reset Windows Update components?

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/971058

Tried the fixit, then the manual steps, that didn't solve the problem fully but seemed to prevent the "Failure configuring windows updates" nonsense, then I could check for updates again (took like 4 hours, but that's not unusual with Windows 7). I ran all the security patches a few at a time (just 10 or so appeared), and they all installed. Then I did the recommended updates, and kb3133977 seemed to be the culprit. It failed, but did not take as long to revert back, then magically that update disappeared... never showed up to install again, nor did it show in the Update History as having installed or failed. So problem solved.

So your advice was correct, ClayTaco. As it happened, I spent less of my own time on the fix than on a re-load, but only because it was a holiday weekend here and I could try things without time pressure... if the user needed it back fast, reload may have been quicker.