Manually install 20H2 prior to 21H1 - possible?

Hi all - I procrastinate installing major updates to my systems, and I finally installed 20H2 on my desktop a few weeks ago. However, I was just about to install 20H2 on my laptop and saw it is no longer available (only 21H1 in Windows Update). I found a manual download of a 20H2 .msu file that matched my system (x64) (last file listed here) but that would not install, giving me a "not applicable to your computer" error.

Is it simply too late to install 20H2 now that 21H1 is officially released? I'd much rather update to a build I've already used first, but I guess I can just wait another couple months and go straight to 21H1.

I'm currently on Win 10 Pro 2004 x64.

Try3 said:

You can select whichever current or old version you want form some of the sources identified in
Download Windows 10 ISO File from MS - TenForumsTutorials
[TechBench by WZT is the one I normally use]

Is using the ISO method an in-place update? Or will it do a full (clean) install? I'd rather not do a full install just for the 20H2 update, but I don't mind trying it if it will preserve everything.

Try3 said:

No, this method is not a full install.

The significant difference in procedures is that, for a full install, you would boot from the InstallUSB whereas for a Repair install - InPlace upgrade procedure you would boot into Windows normally and run the procedure from within Windows itself.

Thanks! Sounds like it's just what I need. I think I actually used the TechBench method when I installed Windows for a relative last year, so I should be familiar with the general procedure.

Just wanted to post that the 20H2 install worked great and I'm posting from my updated laptop. Thanks again!