2004 Upgrade went from Available to Blocked - Can I use WUA?

I'm on a Lenovo laptop running Windows 10 1903 Home. I had the 1909 upgrade offered to me for a while but never did since it was optional. About 4 weeks ago it changed to offering me the 2004 upgrade. Then, about 2 weeks ago the Windows Update message changed again to now say my PC is not yet ready for the upgrade. I've noticed quite a few people on these forums that have said something similar. That the 2004 update was offered to them but is now being blocked. I downloaded the Windows Update Assistant (Windows10Upgrade9235.exe or similar?) and it says my PC is compatible. Is using the WUA as safe as doing it from Windows Update? Or should I wait since my PC is currently being blocked for some reason? I'm on 1903 Home and would really like to upgrade soon as I want to try the GPU Hardware Scheduling, since I mostly use the laptop for gaming. Alternatively, isn't there a way to be offered the 1909 update instead? I thought I read if I delay updates for 30-60 days it will change and offer me 1909 instead of the blocked 2004 message. Thanks for any feedback!

Edit: I also visit forums for my exact laptop, a Lenovo Y740, and it seems tons of users with the exact same hardware as myself have received the 2004 update. This makes me think Microsoft just slowed down the 2004 roll-out instead of it being a compatibility issue. I also do a Full Image Backup every other week, so reverting if 2004 has major issues wouldn't be a problem for me.

dalchina said:

Hi, the wise course right now would seem to be to wait. I've now seen a number of minor issues of odd things not working after upgrading for people above and beyond the 'Known and resolved' list in the News section.

2004 probably offers nothing you need, so why take the risk?

You may well find that even if you were to download the iso and try to upgrade that way it will still be blocked- I've seen comment that MS has applied the same compatibility check then.

Glad you're using disk imaging... if you wish to try it, create a current disk image beforehand.

Some who've upgraded to 2004 have decided to revert.

Do you think using the Windows Update Assistant is as safe as officially through Windows Update? WUA says my PC is compatible, so I would use that instead of an ISO installation. I'd think it would check for compatibility since it literally says 'This PC is Compatible' ,but maybe not... The only thing I really want to try from 2004 is the GPU Hardware Scheduling for Gaming. Also, 1903 Home doesn't have any MAJOR issues, but it does have a few slightly annoying ones. For example my search window freezes sometimes and on reliability report it says 'windows search application has stopped working'. So I'm hoping the new Search fixes that.

The safe way to upgrade Windows 10 is to make a backup image using a program such as Macrium Reflect (free), and create and test it's rescue USB flash drive. Once you have a backup image created, and a method to restore the image, then do the upgrade however you like. I've always done it from the ISO file. Most reliable methods to complete the upgrade are ISO file, Windows Upgrade Assistant, Windows Update, in that order. If something goes wrong with the upgrade, you restore you backup image.

NavyLCDR said:

The safe way to upgrade Windows 10 is to make a backup image using a program such as Macrium Reflect (free), and create and test it's rescue USB flash drive. Once you have a backup image created, and a method to restore the image, then do the upgrade however you like. I've always done it from the ISO file. Most reliable methods to complete the upgrade are ISO file, Windows Upgrade Assistant, Windows Update, in that order. If something goes wrong with the upgrade, you restore you backup image.

Why would using Windows Upgrade Assistant be more reliable than Windows Update? And yeah I do a full image backup every other week so I can always restore if something goes really wrong.

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f14tomcat said:

From my experience with WUA it is a fine and clean way of upgrading. But, be aware, from what I remember, the "compatibility" is very limited...... space, mem, cpu, very basic elements. It does not do what WU does with the driver deep check or any other current blocking checks. So the term "compatible" may be misleading.

As mentioned, whatever path you take, make a verified system image first so you have a fallback.

Ah I see. Yeah, I'm mostly just curious why the 2004 update was offered to me for so long and then suddenly blocked. I've heard it could be due to MS wanting to just do a slower roll-out, or some other options like from Windows Security center blocking it.

therealhendrix said:

Why would using Windows Upgrade Assistant be more reliable than Windows Update? And yeah I do a full image backup every other week so I can always restore if something goes really wrong.

Windows Upgrade Assistant will upgrade the computer before Windows Update will show the upgrade is available.