Acer S5-371 Super Thin Laptop Will Not Install Recent Win 10 Updates.

My Acer S5-371 Super Thin laptop has not been able to install Win 10 updates since 21/05/2018. The last one being Version 1709 KB413466.

The 240 GB SSD is divided into two partitions
C: 100 GB For the OS and software (with 20 GB unused space)
D: 19 GB For all data (with 199 GB unused space)



You can see that it downloads the updates OK but the install fails, and upon the next laptop boot-up in shows a message that the laptop is waiting for a restart to install updates. If I do this, the cycle repeats. If I ignore it, I can use the computer normally but there is a regular notification appearing above the system tray that there are updates awaiting installation.

I thought that the last update to be installed may be the culprit so I restored my C: Drive from an Acronis Back-up made on May 1st which is before this update. Win 10 downloaded them all again and only installed the one dated 21/05/2018. Hence this plan didn't work.

I then found via Google that some SSD's in thin laptops are a problem - so contacted Acer UK Support who confirmed that my laptop model had been tested and will install all the latest updates including Version 1803. They suggested I make more space on the C drive or plug a USB hard drive into the laptop to give Updates more space for temporary files. This didn't help.

The laptop warranty expired 4 months ago and Acer are now suggesting I should send it to them for repair at my cost. I cannot conceive that it is a hardware problem and am loath to do this without further advice.

I am now considering restoring the laptop to factory settings and trying to update Win 10 again. This means I will need to reinstall all my software and data. Before I take this step I would welcome other ideas.

Exactly how much room do you have a C: partition with that partition so small I can see that room to install could be limited. and clean installing may be your best way to get 1803 installed.
Then again you could upgrade the SSD to a 512 or 1TB and have plenty of room for now and in the future.

I ran into the same issue a while back and upgraded to a 512gb SSD Still wouldn't install so I follow Brink Tutorial using DISM to repair windows and then 1803 did install.

Thanks for your replies guys.

I realise that the stats for the drives don't add up to 240GB - I assume the remainder is taken up by the drive utilities and the hidden recovery partition.

At one stage I did try to shrink the D: drive to be able to expand the C: drive - but the drive refused to be shrunk, even though it was not full.

At some point in this saga I connected a USB 240 GB drive, as suggested by Acer, to give Win 10 extra space for temporary files - but the screen message said that only 10 GB was required and it ignored the external drive.

The SSD in my computer is a small thin flat rectangle about as big as 3 SD cards side by side. Without completely dismantling the computer I cannot see all of it, but it appears to be either a part of, or attached to, the mother board. Changing that is way beyond my ability.

I have just completed the procedure for removing all updates and rebooting the machine suggested by Caledon Ken. They were gone - so I tried to download updates again. Only one update was downloaded, one I have not seen before, V1709 cumulative Update KB 4345420. This downloaded OK but failed to install just like its predecessors.

The suggestion by Clintlgm to carry out a DISM repair looks too complex for my 81 year old brain to take on board. Hence I have chickened out. You clearly have some formidable talent on this forum and I appreciate your readiness to help those, like me, who have only basic computer knowledge.

This machine is being mighty stubborn. My Desktop computer and my Wife's Acer laptop - which both have conventional 2.5" SSD's - have had no problems at all. It's just this skinny 13.3" laptop that is proving to be grumpy.

The 1803 update has not yet shown. I guess all the 1709 ones need to be installed before it can be downloaded and installed.

I have a feeing that even if I spend hours resetting it to factory settings and reinstalling all my software - I might end up where I started. Perhaps dumping it in Acers's lap to sort out will be the ultimate solution if the SSD is the cause - but at what cost? Us poor pensioners have to watch the pennies (or cents)

Lets see If I can make the DSIM Tools a little easier for you. Typ in your search box CMD then right click cmd.exe and select Run as administrator
That will open up a Command Prompt in admin mode. Then copy and paste each of these command one at a time. Some of these will take quite some time to complete especially if repairs are needed so don't get impatient.

Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /CheckHealth
Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth
Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth
Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /StartComponentCleanup
SFC /scannow

chkdsk C: /f when you paste this one in it will ask if it can run on the next reboot type in Yes

It is now 01:50 am and I have been arm wrestling with the beast for what seems ages before I saw your latest posts.

I decided to try and shrink the D drive and extend the C drive but met a problem with the Windows 10 disk manager utility. It will only extend a partition into unallocated space if they are adjacent, and when I shrank the D drive the unallocated space was at its end - leaving the C and D drives adjacent.

I have EASEUS Partition Magic installed on my desktop computer - so I used the home network to install it on the beast. I was then able to shrink the D drive with the unallocated space at its beginning - next to the C drive. This enabled me to extend the C drive by 20 GB.

To finalise the change the computer has to be rebooted - but lingering in the background was a Windows update waiting for a reboot to install. Hence when I rebooted the computer the two programmes must have had a fight - because the computer refused to boot up. The BIOS boot up was caught in a loop with a black screen headed by the words EASEUS partition manager boot - or words to that effect.

I was not able to stop the loop or use F2 to access the BIOS so I could change the boot order to use a USB recovery utility . I therefore tried accessing the Acer Recovery mode by pressing and holding Alt + F8 upon pressing the start button but this produced a blue screen telling me the computer needed repairing and to use a third part recovery tool.

I'm not sure what I did, but eventually I managed to access the BIOS and change the boot order to the DVD drive so that my USB DVD Drive could load Acronis True Image and enable me to recover the C drive back to January 2018.

The EASEUS partition changes have not been actioned - but the shrinkage of the D drive using Win 10 Disc management have. However, back in January, I did not have so much software installed - so there is now 38GB of unused space on the C Drive. I can and will extend the D Drive to reclaim the unallocated space tomorrow using the Win 10 utility. EASEUS have joined my hate list and I will not use it again.

I then tried Windows Update - it did not find any of the Version 1709 updates, instead it tried to install Version 1803 and failed just as before.

I will tackle the problem again In a couple of days - we had a new great grandson born this evening and my wife has gone into broody chicken mode and insists we go visit the grand-daughter and see the new addition to the family. There aint no peace for the wicked.

Watch this space.



I'm now going to bed and will live to fight another day.

Yes Minitool makes a great partition magic program for working with disks on partition free trial version

Most of us use Macrium Reflect free for back up and disk and partition images I move away from Acronis back in 2015 because of so many failures to restore and lack of tech support

I wish it were a grandson - it is actually, to make me feel older, a great-grandson who has been named Colt - not a name I would have chosen. It will only become appropriate when he is older and has a bad cold and sore throat - then he will be a little hoarse.

As it happens the trip to see them didn't happen - our grand-daughter and the baby remain in hospital and only her partner is permitted in the ward. Hence I have been at home and able to play with the beast.

I decided to try both suggestions posted by Caledon Ken and Clintlgm in the order posted.

I am delighted to report that the thumb drive and MCT method worked - but I had to do a full install - it would not let me use the option to retain my software. Typical of me - after it finished installing Win 10 it restarted - only to revert back to the beginning and wanted to install Windows all over again. I had not removed the thumb drive which of course it booted from.

After getting Windows working I downloaded all the updates which included the Version 1803 one - they all installed perfectly but it took an hour or two to do it.

However - thanks to you guys - all is well and the laptop is in my good books again. It is much appreciated.

Now for the long slog, moving the location of Docs, Pictures, Downloads etc to the D: drive. Installing all my software and restoring all my data. Then take an Acronis back-up to a USB 2 TB Hybrid HDD I keep in the study and a USB 500 GB Portable SSD which I keep in the garage away from the house as double security.

The laptop is only used when we are away from home and I usually take backups the day before we depart.

My desktop is loaded with "Second Copy" which keeps an image of my D: drive on an internal HDD and a duplicate on an external HDD. It copies across all the files that have been added. deleted or amended each time the computer is closed down. Hence my data back-ups are updated daily. I back up the C: drive monthly - again onto the internal and external drives.

We call it belt and braces protection - you possibly call them suspenders.