While most of the users have witnessed a seamless experience during the Windows 10 upgrade process, some are facing Windows 11/10 installation or upgrade errors. For some, Windows 11/10 upgrade has failed! Microsoft has already come up with a list of errors that one might encounter during the upgrade process and how you could go about fixing Windows 11/10 installation or upgrade errors that you may face. The common among them are Something Happened and Error code 80240020.
We have already seen Windows Upgrade error codes and solutions – now let us take a look at these errors.
Windows 11/10 Installation & Upgrade Errors
The Windows 11/10 upgrade errors are generally accompanied by an error code which you can use it as a reference to troubleshoot and fix. When you get errors during the upgrade process, copy the error message along with the error code.
The following is the list of common upgrade or installation errors and solutions to fix problems.
Something Happened
This is a pretty intriguing error message which does not help much. But to resolve this, do the following.
Open Control Panel > Clock > Language > Region > Administrative tab > Change System Locale button and set it to English (US). Restart your computer. Try again.
If this does not work, use the Windows Media Creation Tool to create a bootable USB, and then install it.
Error Code 0x80073712
0x80073712 error occurs when the file needed by Windows 11/10 is missing or corrupted.
Error Code 0x800F0923
The above error fires up whenever the driver or software on your computer is not compatible with Windows upgrade. The best way to fix this issue is by contacting Microsoft support.
Error Code 0x80200056
The error occurs if you had accidentally restarted your PC or signed out of the computer, causing an interruption to the upgrade process. In this case, you might want to start over and complete the upgradation process. Remember to turn on your PC and make sure it is plugged in to avoid interruption.
Code 0x800F0922
The above error essentially means your computer couldn’t connect to Windows Update servers. This might be because you are on a VPN connection to connect to a work network. To continue Windows Upgrade smoothly, disconnect yourself from any VPN network and turn off the VPN software temporarily and try upgrading again.
We couldn’t complete the updates. Undoing changes. Don’t turn off your computer
This is a generic error message which pops up on your screen whenever your Windows upgrade fails. Try to get the specific error code to further investigate and resolve the problem.
Failure configuring Windows Updates. Reverting changes
In order to trace the error code for the failed update, view your update history and spot the updates that were not installed and note down the error code, which you could use to contact Microsoft support.
Steps to view update history on Windows 11/10
- Press Win+I to open Settings
- On the left side, click on Windows Update
- Next on the right side, click on Update history
- On the next page, you will see the Windows Updates that your Windows has installed.
Steps to view update history on Windows 8.1:
- Using the charms bar by swiping, find the “Settings” option and then choose “Change PC settings” and then click on “Update and recovery”.
- Choose “View your update history.”
Steps to view update history on Windows 7 :
- Open the search box by clicking on the Start button. In the search box, type “Update”, choose “Windows Update” in the list of results.
- Select “View update history”.
The update isn’t applicable to your computer
The above error message occurs when your PC doesn’t have the required updates installed. Before you start the Windows upgrade process make sure that all other important updates are installed first.
Error Code 0xC1900208 – 0x4000C
The error shows up when an incompatible application is installed on your PC which is blocking the upgrade process from getting completed. Do a thorough check that any incompatible apps are uninstalled and then try upgrading your PC.
Error Code 80240020
Says Microsoft: This is an expected error message if the upgrade requires customer user action. For example, the message may be present if one or more applications or disk utilities need to be uninstalled before upgrading. PCs seeing this error message will get instructions on how to fix this when they perform the upgrade. We recommend waiting until your PC receives a notification to upgrade and then following the instructions provided.
To resolve this issue, open C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download and delete the contents of the folder.
You may also open an elevated CMD and run Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth to repair system image.
Next, open the Win+X menu and click Command Prompt (Admin). In the elevated command prompt window, type wuauclt.exe /update now and hit Enter.
If this does not help, open regedit and navigate to the following key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate
Now in the left pane, right-click WindowsUpdate and create a new key here and name it OSUpgrade. Next, in the left pane, right-click in an empty area and create a new DWORD called AllowOSUpgrade and give it value 1.
Error Code 0xC1900200 – 0x20008, Error Code 0xC1900202 – 0x20008
It is possible that your existing PC doesn’t meet the minimum requirements to download or install the Windows upgrade. Check the minimum system requirements for Windows upgrade.
Error Code 0x80070070 – 0x50011, 0x80070070 – 0x50012, 0x80070070 – 0x60000
The above error suggests that your PC has run out of space. There is not enough space available to install the Windows 10 upgrade. To continue, free some space on the drive and start over.
Errors 0xC1900101 -0x20017
Errors 0xC1900101 – 0x20017 when upgrading from Windows 7 to Windows 10, or Windows 10 to Windows 11.
Error Codes 0xC1900101 – 0x20004, 0xC1900101 – 0x2000c, 0xC1900101 – 0x20017, 0xC1900101 – 0x30018, 0xC1900101 – 0x3000D, 0xC1900101 – 0x4000D, 0xC1900101 – 0x40017
These errors are usually caused by faulty device drivers. If you see these errors, here are a few things you could try:
- Make sure that your device has enough space
- Run Windows Update 2-3 times
- Unplug all external storage devices and hardware that is possible
- Update all your device drivers to the latest versions
- Check your Devices Manager for any errors
- Temporarily disable your security software
- Open an elevated CMD and run the following command:
chkdsk/f C: - Try to perform Windows Update in Clean Boot State.
Error 0x80004005
Error 0x80004005 when upgrading to Windows 11/10.
Modern Setup Host has stopped working
See this post if you receive Modern Setup Host has stopped working error.
Working on it
See this post if you receive Working on it error message.
Installation failed in a Phase during some Operation
- The installation failed in the FIRST_BOOT phase with an error during SYSPREP operation
- The installation failed in the SAFE_OS phase with an error during a BOOT operation
- The installation failed in the SAFE_OS phase with an error during INSTALL_DRIVERS operation
Clear up disk space, disable your antivirus software, and disconnect any external/USB drives.
Seeing different Windows 11/10 Installation or Upgrade Errors, which are not listed here? You can contact Microsoft immediately using the Support app and get their help.
For details, you can visit docs.microsoft.com and Microsoft.com.
See this post if Windows Feature Update is not installing.
Need more help?
Speaking of Error Codes, these posts too, are likely to be of interest to you:
