How to Avoid Updating to Version 20H2 of Windows 10

My situation is never typical. On any subject!

Just to be complete. I have gone back and tried the Media Creation Tool to upgrade (20H2). Successful but same result. I then went through EVERY step of the suggestions by "dalchina". All were already in place........

So I again today downgraded for the third time, back to version 1909. I guess when I am no longer able to get security updates on my PC, I will pay someone to come upgrade my home network.

If I did not have other family members who protest, I would dump Microsoft all together & move to Apple........... Of course who knows, they may by now be as bad as Microsoft?

The computer's can be troubleshooted for free.
The free though has a time cost.
Microsoft provides free support for upgrade problems.
Tier 3 is needed for complicated cases and it can take substantial time.

I've got several computers with unsupported Microsoft versions.
They have been saved for a possible tutorial.
The computer used to type this post has version 1809 (OS Build 17763.1282)
The defender AV: 1.333.988.0 created 03/21/2021 3:20 PM

zbook said:

The OS can be upgraded to any version with the following understanding:

a) there is a default 10 day rollback period
b) the rollback period can be modified to 60 days
c) rollbacks can fail
d) making free backup images should enable you to return anytime
e) system restore points disappear as part of the upgrade process

@zbook thank you for that!

This is my first time posting to this forum, so bear with me, I'll probably screw something up.

Anyone:
I am about to jump from 1909 to 20H2 simply because I allowed WU to decide. I stopped the download at 91%.
I'm wondering if WU can be trusted to know the right things to do, because in the screenshot you'll see that at the same time as it's downloading 20H2, it has an update for 1909 pending install (KB4589211).
Can WU be trusted to not try to install that microcode update after installing 20H2?
Or is that KB4589211 a necessary component for 20H2 to work properly?
The fact that WU shows things out of order has me very nervous. I really don't have time for a learning curve right now.

Update: See screenshot of Update History! I didn't know this was happening. Considering the WU attempts have been failing, what would you recommend as my simplest plan of action?

I have Macrium Reflect making system images, and a thumb drive with bootable rescue media made recently. But I've never had to to a complete Restore - ever, and I'm new to Macrium Reflect.

I can't remember if I've ever installed Windows via an ISO before (but I think I did for the current install). I do know that I have a "custom" install: Users is in its own partition. I did this following Shawn Brinks' tutorial, and had done it with Win 7 before that, using Kari Finn's tutorial.

I can't begin to say how grateful I am for such people, and all the rest of you who keep guiding "the rest of us".

JustWandering said:

Or is that KB4589211 a necessary component for 20H2 to work properly?

KB4589211 does not apply to version 20H2 as per this article:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/...b-7b537a947de9

KB4589211 is nowhere to be found in my version 20H2.

JustWandering said:

what would you recommend as my simplest plan of action?

Clean installation of Windows 10.

@dalchina: Thank you! I used the tools found on this page: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/...3-966e85d4094e
which included using the DISM tool first. That tool gave me a reply that left me uncertain, but the SFC tool found one corrupted file: difxapi.dll.
No real idea what that file does, but I realize it's essential.
So thank you for pointing me to the basics! Chkdsk was clean BTW.
Next I will follow your advice to do an in-place upgrade repair, and report back (it could be days - I have so much other pressing business!).

@Matthew Wai: Thank you for that. Hopefully I can get my version 1909 working correctly, then allow the KB4589211 patch to install for good measure before attempting to upgrade to 20H2.

- - - Updated - - -

dalchina said:

So assuming (and we don't know) the disk is ok and the file system is ok - these are worth checking.. an in-place upgrade repair of 1909 would seem appropriate.

I did a lot of homework including reading the tutorial, which says: "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."

Do you see any downsides to skipping to a newer build, such as 21H1 or 21H2? If I'm interpreting the tutorial correctly, this is an acceptable option.

You should skip 20H2, which will soon reach the end of support.

@Matthew Wai: Thanks for the tip. I skipped to 21H1.

I followed the tutorial here: Repair Install Windows 10 with an In-place Upgrade
and it went better than expected. Not only did it keep all my apps and data, but some of the things Shawn Brink warned about in the tutorial such as System Protection defaulting back to Off, possibly having to renew Wi-fi connections, etc. never happened. I even forgot to turn off my AV (Bitdefender) and suffered no negative consequences! Network connections were still happy also.

Sometimes you get dumb luck! I usually don't, but I'm mighty happy today!

Windows Update is now pushing Win 11.

Thanks for the help!