We often come across reports of Windows 10 updates take so long. In the case of Microsoft's updates, this is not new, because it has been happening for a long time, but what to do in such cases and why does it happen at all?
Twice a year, Microsoft releases a development update to Windows 10. This update is not intended to fix bugs, deficiencies or security holes. This is a completely new version of the system, introducing new functions, mechanisms and API. This unfortunately means that its installation takes a long time.
Windows Update Taking Forever
First, let's deal with the reason for this.
If you have a low-speed Internet connection, downloading one or two gigabytes of data (especially over a wireless connection) can take several hours.
Maybe the Windows Update components are broken.
Antivirus or some other programs are conflicting with the update.
Windows updates could take up an amount of disk space. Thus, the “Windows update taking forever” issue could be caused by low free space.
The outdated or faulty hardware drivers can also be the culprit.
Corrupted or damaged system files on your computer may also be the reason why your Windows 10 update is slow.
Whatever the reason, there are some methods that you can try to fix the “Windows 10 update taking forever” issue.
Methods to Fix the “Windows Update Taking Forever” Issue
Method 1: Restart the Windows Update Service
The first solution is to restart your updates and see if that fixes the “Windows 10 update” slow problem. The steps are as follows:
Step 1: Press the Windows and R keys at the same time to open the Run dialogue box.
Type services.mscand click OK to open the Services application.
Step 2: From the list of applications, right-click Windows Update to select Stop.
Step 3: Next, open File Explorer and go to C:\ > Windows > SoftwareDistribution. Remove all the files in the folder.
Step 4: Go back to Services and right-click Windows Update again. This time click Restart.
Then update your Windows again and check to see if the “Windows update taking forever” has gone. If not, try the next solution.
Method 2: Run Windows Update Troubleshooter
You can use the Windows Update Troubleshooter which is useful because it can help you to find out the cause of the “Windows update takes forever” issue and bring it to you. You can refer to the step-by-step guide.
Step 1: Press the Windows key and I key together to open the Settings application.
Step 2: Then go to the Troubleshoot tab and choose Windows Update.
Step 3: Click Run the troubleshooter to continue. Then the Windows Update Troubleshooter will start detecting problems. It may take some time.
Step 4: Then click Apply this fix.
Then Windows Update Troubleshooter will continue detecting and fixing the problem. When the whole process is finished, you are required to reboot your computer to take effect and run Windows update again and check whether the issue is solved.
Method 3: Free up Space
Windows updates could use a lot of disk space. In this case, you can fix the “Windows update taking forever” issue by freeing up hard drive space. Here is how to do it:
Step 1: Search for Control Panel in the Search box.
Step 2: Click the Programs and Features section.
Step 3: Right-click the program that you want to uninstall to select Uninstall. Then follow the on-screen instructions to uninstall the program to get more space.
Method 4: Perform a Clean Boot
Performing a clean boot can avoid software conflicts while installing Windows updates. In order to perform a clean boot, you need to do:
Step 1: Type msconfig in the Run box, and click OK.
Step 2: Then go to the Services tab. Check the Hide All Microsoft Services box.
Step 3: Now, click the Disable all button, and click Apply to save the change.
Step 4: Navigate to the Startup tab and click Open Task Manager.
Step 5: In the Task Manager tab, select the first enabled application and click Disable. Here you need to disable all enabled applications one by one. After disabling all programs, close Task Manager and click OK.
Afterward, you can restart the computer to update Windows again. If the “Windows 10 update taking forever” error doesn’t occur in a clean boot state, then it indicates that one of the programs was causing the error.
Method 5: Reset Windows Update Components
If the previous methods don’t work, you can try to reset the Windows Update Components manually to fix the annoying issue. Here are the steps for doing that:
Step 1: Type Command Prompt in the Search box and choose the best-matched one. Then, right-click it and choose Run as administrator to continue.
Step 2: Type the following commands and press Enter after each command.
net stop bits
net stop wuauserv
net stop appidsvc
net stop cryptsvc
ren %systemroot%\softwaredistribution softwaredistribution.old
ren %systemroot%\system32\catroot2 catroot2.old
net start bits
net start wuauserv
net start appidsvc
net start cryptsvc
After you have finished all steps, you can reboot your computer and check whether the “Windows update takes forever” issue is solved.
Method 6: Update Your Device Drivers
If not, you can also try manually updating drivers through Device Manager. Check the how-to guide below.
Step 1: Open Device Manager.
Step 2: Double-click the device category and select the device that you want to update its driver.
Step 3: Then right-click it to choose the Update driver option.
Step 4: After that, you can choose the Search automatically for updated driver software option, and Windows will search your computer and the Internet for the latest driver software for your device.
If there is a newer update, it will be downloaded and installed automatically. Then, update your Windows to check if the problem still exists.
Method 7: Repair Corrupted System Files
Windows system files corruption can cause the issue. In such an event, you can use two command-line utilities – SFC (System File Checker) and DISM(Deployment Image Servicing and Management) to fix your Windows system files.
SFC is a tool that can scan your system and repair any corrupted files. However, when SFC isn’t able to get the errors, DISM can help you do this work. It will perform a thorough search of your system and fix the corrupted files.
Here is how to use SFC to fix corrupt system files:
Step 1: Input Command Prompt in the search bar and click Run as administrator from the context menu.
Step 2: Type the following command and press Enter.
sfc /scannow
After the verification is 100% completed, you can check the scan results to see if there are some errors found. If some errors are found, you can run the SFC command several times to try to fix them.
Back up Your System
After solving the problem of why does windows update take so long, you had better back up your system to restore your system when it crashes. It is strongly recommended to do that with the help of the professional backup software – MiniTool ShadowMaker.
MiniTool ShadowMaker enables you to back up files and keep them safe from an unbootable computer. Besides backing up files or folders, it can also back up disks, partitions, and even the operating system. It can also help you clone the OS from HDD to SSD without data loss.
Although we have successfully tested the shutdown process while installing the update, there is no guarantee that the Windows operating system will continue to function properly after performing a hard shutdown. However, if the update process is indeed frozen all you can do is perform a hard shutdown. Just in case, I recommend that you always have backups of your important personal files.
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