G'day yourself
iBawbag,
I appreciated the tip. It was certainly effective, but a bit of a heart-stopping ride for me (I don't get out much and I've stopped watching cricket).
But, I had an interesting experience and one I'd better relate so yourself and others are forewarned/forearmed. I'll run through what I did, referring to the suggested link, which readers might want to open and refer to.
1. "From the WinX Menu, open Command Prompt (Admin). Type the following one after the other and hit Enter:
net stop wuauserv
net stop bits
This will stop the Windows Update related Services."
I did this and Win. Update and Intelligent Update stopped. No probs.
2. "Next browse to the C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution folder and delete all the files and folders inside. Press Ctrl+A to Select All and then Delete."
Done. No probs.
3. "If the files are in use, and you are unable to delete some files, restart your device. After rebooting, run the above commands again. Now you will be able to delete the files from the mentioned Software Distribution folder."
Handy - I needed to do this with respect to Data Store (Folder) and Reporting Events (Text file). No Probs.
4. "After you have emptied this folder, you may restart your computer or you may type the following commands one at a time in the CMD, and hit Enter to restart the Windows Update related Services.
net start wuauserv
net start bits"
Done. No probs.
5. "Run Windows Updated again and see....." (OK, do that...)
6. "You will be able to download and install the updates successfully. Once done, you will see that a restart has also been scheduled." (There was only one update and I restarted without noticing whether the Restart Schedule window popped or not).
7. "I suggest you restart immediately to complete the process. / This worked for me and I hope it does for you too."
OK, well, No - WHOA!! Here is where things need to be looked at. I did my own thing from here.
8. On restart, I checked my Win. Update history. (See top screenshot below). One (1) update only in it (KB3001652). Didn't populate any further. Panic. Restarted twice - same result. Panic deepening.
9. Meanwhile, C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution had repopulated - presumably with the KB3001652 update (see bottom screenshot below).
10. Fortunately, I hadn't emptied recycle bin. So, I:
(a) Disconnected from the internet;
(b) Transferred the latest contents of C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution to a New Folder I created on the desktop. (I had to use the "stop the Windows Update related Services" step to effect the transfer of the same recalcitrant file/folder).
(c) Restored all the originally-deleted files/folders to C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution from the Recycle Bin.
(d) Remembered to do the "restart the Windows Update related Services" step.
(e) Restarted computer.
11. I re-opened Win. Update, Update History and found it repopulated with all updates since Win. 10 installation (19/8/15 - and see the middle screenshot below).
12. I reconnected to the internet and Checked for Downloads (there were none). Obviously, I couldn't have done that if Update had still been frozen.
SUMMARY - So, the upshot is:
a. The method suggested in the link seems useful in clearing the blockage -
BUT USE WITH CAUTION!
b. CAUTION being:
- transfer the C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution folder's contents to a new folder on your desktop rather than the Recycle Bin, which you may (with undue enthusiasm) empty and regret it later.
- transfer any newly-acquired C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution folder's contents to a second new desktop folder. (
Disconnect from the internet first so you don't keep populating the SoftwareDistribution folder). Label both folders so you remember what they contain.
- when restoring the original folders/file to the C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution folder, KEEP the folder with the newer items (see my thought below).
c. THOUGHT. I may later (if Administrator permissions let me do it) see if I can figure out what lines of the later Reporting Events file to insert into the earlier so Update History reflects reality (i.e., that KB3001652 actually did install successfully). I'm NOT sure I'll do that yet and I'm NOT recommending anyone reading this try it. I have NO IDEA what the result would be.
So, iBawbag, I do (and sincerely) thank you for the tip because it seems to have had a practical, positive result; but I do URGE CAUTION for anyone thinking of trying it themselves.
Cheers
:)
ausgumbie