I had a client that thought they would upgrade Windows 7 to 10. The system downloaded the Windows 10 upgrade and upon reboot the installation attempt would fail. The system was stuck attempting to do this every time and would not give and option to uninstall. Selecting “Check for Updates” in the Windows Update control panel would reply with the error: “Update cannot currently check for updates because you must first restart the computer.”
Windows installs an update called KB3035583 which installs the application in the taskbar that is responsible for the download and installation of Windows 10. Removing that installed update will keep Windows from nagging you to upgrade. In this case, the upgrade was downloaded and it attempted to install.
Note: If you have already installed Windows 10 and you don’t like it and want to revert to the prior version of Windows, it can only be done for the first 30 days; after that point, you are stuck with it. Nice thing is that reverting back to the prior version is VERY fast (should take about 20 minutes).
WARNING: Edit the registry at your own risk.
Here is what I did to fix my stuck upgrade problem. I think it is possible to skip to step 2 but these are pretty much the steps I did — your mileage may vary. I think I had already removed KB3035583 prior to all of this. Anyway, If you render your computer inoperable — your problem — not mine.
1. Using regedit, delete the following key:
HKLM/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/WindowsUpdate/OSUpdate
2. Edit the following key:
HKLM/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/WindowsUpadate/AutoUpdate
Set OSUpgradePendingReboot to 0
3. Reboot
4. Control Panel > Windows Update > View Installed Updates, uninstall KB3035583.
5. Control Panel > Windows Update > Check for updates, right click and hide update KB3035583.
6. Run Disk Cleanup and be sure to select the 5+GB item containing the Windows 10 Upgrade. I selected everything as it is a good idea to clean these files out on a regular basis. I find that things run much better.
7. Reboot.
If you ever want to attempt the Windows 10 install, simply unhide the KB3035583 windows update and install it.
Don’t forget to change your upgrade “sharing” options so you don’t slam your internet connection providing the rest of the Internet with your downloaded upgrade files. Se my quick note Windows Could be Hogging Your Network!
