win10 v.1902 worked all night upgrading to 20H2. Never actually did

I have two old DEL T5400 machines running windows v.1909. I finally let one upgrade. I used the Windows 10 update assistant which checked my system to make sure all was "well" for the upgrade to 22H2. I started the upgrade around 1PM yesterday afternoon and finally said it was completed around 11PM, and then said "working on updates, do not turn off your PC, your PC will restart several times". I checked on the "%" about once an hour to see if there was progress, but by 1:30AM it was only at about 20%, and I went to bed. This morning I turn on the monitor and see my familiar desktop and login, and soon did a "winver" to check what had changed. Not surprisingly, I'm still at 1909. Further, it looks like after manually restarting, I'm back at "working on updates, do not turn off your PC, your PC will restart several times". Since there was no explanation anywhere as to why the machine wasted an entire day and accomplished nothing, I'm looking for a way to (1) find out exactly why nothing changed, and (2) if the machine has a problem making upgrades impossible, how to cancel further attempts so I can avoid getting bogged down in endless attempts every time I re-boot, thus making any use impossible for hours.

dalchina said:

Hi, I agree with the above post that some have reported that- but I had PCs on 1903 and upgraded them to 20H2 and later directly.

First, considering the failure:
There are many threads you can review on upgrade failures. So, once again:

Attempting to diagnose upgrade failures successfully
a. is hard
b. requires great experience and study to have any great likelihood of success
c. is iterative and time-consuming
d. is fraught with difficulty

Thanks. I've read all you wrote and here are my thoughts... First yes, I have been blocking updates. Once before I think I successfully went from go from 1903 to 1909. I recall also trying to upgrade again (though beyond recalling it had a "H" in the version and that the attempt was over a year ago) and the update failed, leaving me with the same v.1909. (These are all "online" updates, by the way, never using an ISO file or DVD) As with this attempt, last time there was no explanation or error messages as to why it failed, so I decided there might be a flaw in Microsoft's update process, or their analysis (via windows update assistant) telling me I could do the update. (the nev version after all was "new", so maybe the upgrade bugs hadn't been worked out"). So, thinking maybe the process improved I thought I'd try again.

Since you asked, I block all updates from Microsoft by using a DNS service that allows me to list unwanted URLs using "parental restrictions" options. When I DO want to go to Microsoft (either with a browser or to update) I first go into my Ethernet (or in this case Wifi) adapter setting and change the DNS back to Google (8.8.8.8) and my router's default as an alternate.

Anyway, the last time I had a failed attempt, and used the DNS settings to block further attempts, I was not in this situation! Last time, the process completed, rebooted, and just left me back in 1909. Subsequent reboots just took me back to the same 1909 login.

This time, however, after the upgrade process completes (and lies to me saying all that is needed now is a restart) there seem to be a boatload or updates that are waiting for me to reboot. So when i do, I get this big blue screen (not a BSOD) telling this "Working on updates, do not turn off your PC, Your PC will restart several times", along with a % complete). As I can't sit by the machine all day waiting to see what happens, I'll just have to wait for it to finish and once again see when my existing login appears. (And it WILL take all day, and probably some of the evening!)
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So when it does, besides doing my DNS trick, and looking in any system settings to disable updates as best I can, is there something I can delete that is being set to divert subsequent restarts, to attempting to go around this circle of attempting to install all the updates it has apparently stored?

The thing is, Microsoft is no into windows 11 (so much for the promise that Win-10 would be the last), and the machine is old. But we're retired and can't just waste money on new machines often (I bought these Dell T5400 machines in 2020 with windows already installed, and these are already 13 y/o machines then). So this upgrade attempt was just a failed experiment. If today's re-attempt succeeds I don't think its worth my time to go through what seems like days of work to try and find out why. So at that point I just want the machine back in usable service (with 1909), but without doing anything but normal rebooting.

So is there a file or folder with all the "updates" I can delete? And is there a setting that will eliminate the attempt to re-try updates with each re-boot? And if there are simple settings to block updates, can you point me to it? I saw some thing on google about group policies, but could not figure out how to use it.

Thanks for any help

dalchina said:

I don't really see a response to the rest of my post...

As to the many updates you mention, I've already suggested upgrading using an iso file, without accepting updates as part of the procedure - assuming you get as far as that prompt. (Hint- completely disconnect the internet).

Thanks! If I do make another update attempt that's what I'll do then. In the mean time, the info and links you sent me did allow me to clear out existing update downloads, block automated attempts, and get my system back to normal usage. Thanks for all the help!