Repair Install Windows 10 with an In-place Upgrade  

Bree said:

Welcome to Ten Forums.

Yes, an in-place repair install is exactly the same as a major Feature Update to a new version of Windows. It installs new copies of the system files and corrects or resets some registry settings. And like a Feature Update, it retains your installed apps and files. The only difference is that you are 'upgrading' to the same version of Windows that you currently have installed.

Thank you! My Windows Security went blank after my Kaspersky Cloud free magically gone along with the Windows Defender services. Eh.. I'll stick with Windows Defender next time. Hopefully this in-place upgrade will fix that

Bree said:

It's only possible because 2004/20H2 is a minor feature update via an enablement package. The underlying system and registry is the same. You cannot downgrade 2004/20H2 to 1909 and keep apps because the 1909 installer doesn't understand the new registry settings.

Right - you explained that well in the previous response

"If you have Windows 10 version 20H2 installed, then it is required to have KB4586853 for build 19042.662 or higher installed to be able to do a repair install and keep everything."
I have tried to install this update manually but Windows told me that the update is not required, and did not install.

"The installation media (ex: ISO or USB) must be the same edition and same or newer build as your currently installed Windows 10. If it's not, then the repair install will fail."
I am trying to do this on Win 10 Home version 20H2, build # 19042.685, but when I download the media creation tool from here, the file version is for 19041.572.

Am I SOL and will need to do a 'refresh' instead of the in-place upgrade?

Bree said:

You do not need to install the CU for 19042.662, you are already on a higher build than that, one where the bug that prevented keeping everything has been fixed.

The requirement for the ISO to be the same build or higher only refers to the major build number, 19042. Builds !9041 and 19042 have exactly the same system files, the enablement package that turns on the 20H2 features bumps the major build number up by 1 as its installed, and a 20H2 ISO will install the enablement package during the install. You can perform a repair install with an ISO with a lower minor build number, so a 19041.572 ISO can repair your 19042.685. A check for updates will then install the latest CU and update you to the latest minor build number.

You could let Setup check for updates during the repair install, but to avoid possible complications the tutorial recommends waiting until the repairs are complete, then checking for updates.

Awesome. Thanks very much, it's greatly appreciated.

So the situation that brings me here is that some time ago I got hung up on a Windows 10 update (KB5000802 initially) with the following error message.

"Some update files are missing or have problems. We'll try to download the update again later. Error code: (0x80070003)"

I found a thread on a Microsoft forum addressing this particular issue: "Cannot install Windows Update KB5000802 (Win. 10, build 19042.844)" (https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/ans...in-10-bui.html). I read and tried the myriad of suggestions for fixes (e.g., update troubleshooter, DISM, sfc, etc.) with no results. Come to find out there was some issue with this particular KB that supposedly Microsoft subsequently pulled. After a number of attempts at the suggested fixes, KB5000802 dropped off the update radar and was replaced by KB5001330 in the queue of updates to be. I thought I was in the clear but unfortunately Windows update still behaves the same so the underlying problem is more fundamental. Trying the recommendations in the HowToWindows forum thread "Windows Update KB5001330 fails to install Windows 10 version 20H2 [Solved]" (Windows Update KB5001330 fails to install Windows 10 version 20H2 [Solved]) did not bring any satisfaction.

So it appears my next step is to try an in-place upgrade, which brought me to this forum and thread. Full disclosure: while have have read a fair portion of this thread I did not read all of it (yet) so please feel free to point me to a specific section if necessary.

I assembled my computer from components in 2011 so it's a bit dated by most standards. The configuration essentials exported from System Information are as follows:
OS Name Microsoft Windows 10 Pro
Version 10.0.19041 Build 19041
Other OS Description Not Available
OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation
System Manufacturer MSI
System Model MS-7673
System Type x64-based PC
System SKU To be filled by O.E.M.
Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-2600 CPU @ 3.40GHz, 3401 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 8 Logical Processor(s)
BIOS Version/Date American Megatrends Inc. V1.12, 7/22/2011
SMBIOS Version 2.7
Embedded Controller Version 255.255
BIOS Mode Legacy
BaseBoard Manufacturer MSI
BaseBoard Product P67A-C43 (MS-7673)
BaseBoard Version 1.0
Installed Physical Memory (RAM) 8.00 GB

An item of additional note for the in-place upgrade is that all my user document files are on a separate drive from the OS and user installed applications. This may or may not be relevant for the preservation of the user files part of the upgrade.

So I want to confirm some things before I go pushing buttons. Generally is my computer configuration as described OK to proceed with an in-place upgrade as described in this thread? My goal is to fix the Windows update issue while preserving my data files and user installed applications if possible. I would royally hate to have to install all those applications and reactive licenses associated with a number of those apps.

Thanks in advance to any and all who can comment on my situation and provide recommendations, caveats, and so on before I push the button.

- - - Updated - - -

So the situation that brings me here is that some time ago I got hung up on a Windows 10 update (KB5000802 initially) with the following error message.

"Some update files are missing or have problems. We'll try to download the update again later. Error code: (0x80070003)"

I found a thread on a Microsoft forum addressing this particular issue: "Cannot install Windows Update KB5000802 (Win. 10, build 19042.844)" (https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/ans...in-10-bui.html). I read and tried the myriad of suggestions for fixes (e.g., update troubleshooter, DISM, sfc, etc.) with no results. Come to find out there was some issue with this particular KB that supposedly Microsoft subsequently pulled. After a number of attempts at the suggested fixes, KB5000802 dropped off the update radar and was replaced by KB5001330 in the queue of updates to be. I thought I was in the clear but unfortunately Windows update still behaves the same so the underlying problem is more fundamental. Trying the recommendations in the HowToWindows forum thread "Windows Update KB5001330 fails to install Windows 10 version 20H2 [Solved]" (Windows Update KB5001330 fails to install Windows 10 version 20H2 [Solved]) did not bring any satisfaction.

So it appears my next step is to try an in-place upgrade, which brought me to this forum and thread. Full disclosure: while have have read a fair portion of this thread I did not read all of it (yet) so please feel free to point me to a specific section if necessary.

I assembled my computer from components in 2011 so it's a bit dated by most standards. The configuration essentials exported from System Information are as follows:
OS Name Microsoft Windows 10 Pro
Version 10.0.19041 Build 19041
Other OS Description Not Available
OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation
System Manufacturer MSI
System Model MS-7673
System Type x64-based PC
System SKU To be filled by O.E.M.
Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-2600 CPU @ 3.40GHz, 3401 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 8 Logical Processor(s)
BIOS Version/Date American Megatrends Inc. V1.12, 7/22/2011
SMBIOS Version 2.7
Embedded Controller Version 255.255
BIOS Mode Legacy
BaseBoard Manufacturer MSI
BaseBoard Product P67A-C43 (MS-7673)
BaseBoard Version 1.0
Installed Physical Memory (RAM) 8.00 GB

An item of additional note for the in-place upgrade is that all my user document files are on a separate drive from the OS and user installed applications. This may or may not be relevant for the preservation of the user files part of the upgrade.

So I want to confirm some things before I go pushing buttons. Generally is my computer configuration as described OK to proceed with an in-place upgrade as described in this thread? My goal is to fix the Windows update issue while preserving my data files and user installed applications if possible. I would royally hate to have to install all those applications and reactive licenses associated with a number of those apps.

Thanks in advance to any and all who can comment on my situation and provide recommendations, caveats, and so on before I push the button.

- - - Updated - - -

Sorry about the accidental duplication of my previous post regarding some question on the Windows in-place upgrade. When I created the post I thought there was an indication of some error but in the process of checking I accidentally created a duplicate update and I could not determine how to edit after the fact to trim it down.

- - - Updated - - -

One additional system configuration detail; I have ESET antivirus installed. I think I saw a set of posts indicating that, among other things, third-party antivirus software should be removed before initiating the update. Please confirm this action in addition to any other comments on my situation.

- - - Updated - - -

D-oh; noted uninstall of antivirus and anything else installed into the operating system in instructions up front when preparing to execute update.

My dad's laptop is having real issues trying to update to 20H2. He's tried via windows update three times, which always get stuck at "Installing 61%" and gives error "Error 0xc1900104 Low Disk Space". He's renamed/deleted the Softwaredistribution folder and tried again but it did the same thing again...

He tried the "in place upgrade" with USB, and after 24 hours it gets stuck "installing 31%" on step 14. So he cancelled and then ran "DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth" then "sfc /scannow" and reboot. Also tested hard drive with Crystal Disk Info and Mark. I know the USB contents are good because I used it to do a clean install on another machine.

I updated to 20 H2 yesterday by running setup exe direct from the ISO.

Took about 45 minutes; no issues.

I recall reading yesterday before I started that circa 9 GB of free space was required. I assume that's needed for temp space during the procedure.

I had over 60 free, so no issues.