Is it possible to install 1803 without losing apps, settings and data?

Hi, many people find they encounter problems upgrading and you will find many such threads on this and other forums.

My question is: is there a way to install 1803 without losing my installed applications and their settings?

You are thinking of an in-place upgrade repair install, normally though of as an 'over the top' install using an older version of the same build. This is a very useful repair option which keeps all data and progs.

As to diagnosing your problems, it is possible that some tweak or modification may be responsible for not being able to upgrade, or it could be as simple as a lack of appropriate disk space or conflicting security program.

There are log files which you can inspect.

Please post back if you seek help trying to resolve this.

Of course in successfully upgrading to 1803, you would keep programs and data and most settings.

Hi, you can certainly attempt the upgrade using a previously downloaded iso, and attempt the upgrade without an internet connection (= do not choose to accept updates at that point).

There are some very basic steps you should take to simplify things.

Basics:
Uninstall any AV
Disconnect unnecessary peripherals
Consider disconnecting all disks bar your system disk
Please check your disk.
E.g. Download, install and run Hard Disk Sentinel (trial) and post a screenshot of its GUI.
Make sure you have at least, say, 28Gb free on C: (or the size of your Windows folder + some extra).
Expect a new Recovery partition to be created of around 500Mb.

Run the Windows Update Troubleshooter and post the outcome.
From an admin command or powershell prompt:
- Run chkdsk c: /scan and report the outcome
- Run SFC /SCANNOW and report the outcome

If ok
Attempt a manual upgrade using a previously downloaded iso file without accepting updates as part of the procedure. Report precisely any error message.

Should things go wrong:
Please post a screenshot of your partitions, using Minitool Partition Wizard, expanding columns as necessary so all text is visible.
To post a screenshot please use the Insert Image icon above your post.

See
Upgrade to Windows 10 | Windows 10 Tutorials
from
Resolve Windows 10 upgrade errors
Follow the links to find further documents and information.

A list of some log files:
C:\Windows\Panther
C:\$Windows.~BT\Sources\Panther
The panther logs are often hidden. Configure file explorer so that you can find the hidden files.
Locate these logs and post share links in the forum:
setuperr.log
setupact.log
setupapi.dev.log
Setupmem.dmp
BlueBox.log

$Windows.~bt\Sources\Rollback\setupmem.dmp
$Windows.~bt\Sources\Rollback*.evtx
$Windows.~bt\Sources\Rollback\setupapi\setupapi.dev.log

Trying to find out why it failed from the Windows update logs is not straightforward. Here are some guides.
Generating the Log Files for Troubleshooting Windows Updates for Windows 10 | Windows 10 content from Windows IT Pro
Windows 10, WindowsUpdate.log and how to view it with PowerShell or Tracefmt.exe Charles Allen’s Blog
http://www.thewindowsclub.com/read-w...-in-windows-10
https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/...pdate-log-file
https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/...advanced-users

Create a image backup BEFORE you start the upgrade. Then no matter what goes wrong you can always get back to where you are now.

Macrium Reflect and an External Hard drive are the way to go to do this.