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Troubleshoot Windows Update Stuck Downloading Updates: There may be updates available on your PC and as soon as you start downloading the updates they will get stuck at 0%, 20% or 99% etc. Every time you try to download the updates it will get stuck at a different figure than above and even if you leave it for 4-5 hours they will stay stuck or frozen at the same particular percentage.

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Windows update is very important to protect your PC from security breaches like recent WannaCrypt, Ransomware, etc. And if you don't keep your PC up to date, then you risk being vulnerable to such attacks. Therefore, it is very important to fix the problem Windows Update is waiting for installation, so without wasting time we will see how to do it.

Windows Update Stuck Downloading Updates [Fixed]

Make sure to create a restore point in case something goes wrong.

Method 1: Run the Windows Update troubleshooter

1.Type "troubleshooting" in the Windows search bar and click Troubleshooting.

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2.Then, in the left pane of the window, select View all.

3.Then, in the list of computer problems, select Windows Update.

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4.Follow the instructions on the screen and let the Windows Update troubleshooting run.

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5.Restart your PC and try again to install any updates that got stuck.

Method 2: Make sure that all Windows Update-related services are working

1.Press Windows key + R, then type "services.msc" (without quotes) and press Enter.

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2.Locate the following services:

Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS) Cryptography Service Windows Update Installer MSI

3.Right click on each of them and make sure their startup type is set to automatic.

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4.Now if any of the above services stop, make sure to click Start under Service Status.

6. Click Apply and then OK and restart your PC to save the changes.

This step is essential as it helps to fix the Windows Update stuck update download problem, but if you still cannot download the updates then proceed to the next method.

Method 3: Rename the software distribution folder

1.Press Windows key + X and then select Command Prompt (Admin).

2.Now type the following commands to stop Windows Update Services and then hit Enter after each one:

net stop wuauservnet stop cryptSvcnet stop bitnet stop msiserver

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3.Next, type the following command to rename the Software Distribution Folder and then hit Enter:

ren C: NWindowsN-SoftwareSoftware DistributionSoftware Distribution.oldren C: N-System32Ncatroot2 catroot2.old

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4.Finally, type the following command to start Windows Update Services and hit Enter after each one:

net start wuauservnet start cryptSvcnet start bitsnet start msiserver

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5.Restart your PC to save the changes.

Method 4: Disable all non-Microsoft services (Clean boot)

1.Press Windows button + R key, then type $0027msconfig$0027 and click OK.

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2.On the General tab, make sure the "Selective boot" option is checked.

3.Uncheck "Load startup items" in selective startup.

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4.Select the Service tab and check the "Hide all Microsoft services" box.

5.Now click $0027Disable all$0027 to disable all unnecessary services that may cause conflicts.

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6.On the Start tab, click "Open Task Manager".

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7.Now in the Startup tab (inside the Task Manager) disable all the startup elements that are activated.

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8. Click OK and then Restart. 9. Now try to update Windows again and this time you will be able to do it successfully.

9.Again press Windows key + R and type $0027msconfig$0027 and click OK.

10.On the General tab, select the Normal startup option and then click OK.

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11.When you are prompted to restart your computer, click Restart. This will definitely help you to fix Windows Update stuck update download problem.

Method 5: Run System File Checker (SFC) and Check Disk (CHKDSK)

1.Press Windows Key + X and then click Command Prompt (Admin).

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2.Now type the following in the cmd and hit enter:

Sfc / scannow sfc / scannow / offbootdir = c: / offwindir = c: Nwindows

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3.Wait for the above process to finish and once done, restart your PC.

4.Then run CHKDSK from here Fix file system errors with Check Disk Utility (CHKDSK).

5.Let the above process complete and restart your PC again to save the changes.

Method 6: Run Microsoft Fixit

If none of the above steps were helpful in troubleshooting Windows Update stuck download updates, then as a last resort you can try running Microsoft Fixit, which seems to be helpful in fixing the problem.

1.Go here and then scroll down until you find "Fix Windows Update Errors"

2.Click on it to download the Microsoft Fixit or you can download it directly from here.

3.Once downloaded, double-click the file to run the Troubleshooter.

4. Make sure to click on Advanced and then on the "Run as administrator" option.

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5. Once the Troubleshooter has administrator privileges it will open again, then click on advanced and select "Apply repairs automatically".

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6.Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the process and it will automatically fix all the problems with Windows updates and fix them.

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That's it, you have successfully fixed Windows Update crashing to download updates, but if you still have any questions about this post, feel free to ask in the comment section.

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