This error frequently appears when people attempt to upgrade to newer versions of Windows especially on Windows 8, which had a short lifespan and is no longer supported by Microsoft. If you are experiencing this problem, continue reading to find out how to resolve it. If you have Windows 10 and are experiencing updates that are not installing correctly, you can look to find the answer. During an update, many things can cause Windows to freeze. On earlier Windows systems when this happened, the operating system tries to roll back to the way Windows was before the update. That is what happens when you see this screen. Updates can fail for a variety of reasons. Keep reading to resolve this issue on your Windows Vista, Windows 7, or Windows 8 computer. Ending the Failure Configuring Windows Updates Reverting Changes error Fix 1: Wait It Out This is the best thing to try first. If there were numerous updates or if some of the updates were large, it can take a long time to finish reverting the changes and download them again. It is best to allow your computer to sit for at least 10 hours without pressing buttons or trying to restart it. Even in the best of conditions, this error will take a minimum of thirty minutes to resolve itself. It is thorough and very effective, and many users have said it has restored their lost computer capabilities. To start with, Advanced System Repair offers users a free scan feature. There are also options at the bottom of the wizard, to pause and stop the scan if you like. It also checks for junk files and carries out deep scans for usernames and passwords that could be exposed to hackers, and eventually gives you a privacy scan summary. The free version of Advanced System Repair will do a complete scan of your computer, but unfortunately it will only repair 30% of the errors found. Fix 3: Remove and removable memory cards, disks, flash drives, etc. Although removable media does not create a problem with the update, it does cause a problem during the system restart where the updates are installed. If you do find something, continue to Step 2. Step 2 Shut down the computer if it is not already shut down. You may have to perform a hard shut down by holding down the power button for thirty seconds. Step 3 Remove the media from the computer. If you need to remove a disk with the computer off, you insert the unfolded end of a paper clip into the manual disk eject hole. This is a tiny hole located somewhere on the front of the disk player. Examples can be seen in the following pictures. Step 4 Once the media is removed, start your computer and see if the updates install properly. Fix 4: Use the Windows Update Troubleshooter The Windows Update Troubleshooter by Microsoft is an app that finds the exact problem with an update and fixes it. To use the Troubleshooter, you must first download it for Windows Vista or Windows 7 or 8. Make sure you only download it from the official Microsoft website. This should automatically open the Troubleshooter. Step 3 Follow the onscreen prompts to run the Troubleshooter. It will automatically detect any update problems and fix them. Fix 5: Do a Clean Reboot Sometimes third-party apps might be interfering with the download. If this is the case, restarting the computer without these apps running should resolve the matter. Step 1 Log into an administrator account. If at any time during the following steps you are asked for your password, type in the password for this administrator account. This opens the Run box. When you are finished, close the Task Manager. Step 4 If you have Windows 8, skip this step and go to Step 5. Step 7 Once the computer restarts, attempt to run the updates again. Then choose Update and Recovery, and Windows Update. Installing updates in Safe Mode ensures that only the necessary programs are running in the background. Then click Windows Update to open that window. Step 6 When the updates finish installing, you should restart failure configuring windows update windows 7 computer. Because the settings have been changed, it should automatically restart in Safe Mode. With the updates applied in Safe Mode, you should have no problems restarting your computer. Fix 7: Break the Updates Into Smaller Groups Sometimes you get stuck in the loop because there are so many updates in the queue it takes too long to download them all at once. To fix this problem, you need to install the updates manually in smaller groups. Step 1 If the loop is continuous and you cannot access your computer, press F8 during the reboot and enter Safe Mode when prompted. Follow the instructions in method 5 to ensure your computer continues rebooting into Safe Mode throughout this process. None of the other boxes should be marked. This time click on the blue words telling you the number of significant updates available. Step 6 You should see a list of updates. Step 7 Continue repeating steps 4 and 5 until all the critical updates have been installed. You can then repeat the process for optional updates if you want. When you have finished, reset the Windows Update settings to update Automatically. Step 8 Restart your computer in Normal Mode. Fix 8: Run the System File Checker Some files may become corrupt or damaged. The file checker will fix them for you so updates can continue normally. Step 2 If you have Windows 7 or Windows Vista, skip this step and go to step 3. You can create this media from another Windows 8 computer that is not having the Failure configuring Windows updates error. Once you press enter, the repair should take place automatically, but it may take a little time. Step 3 Now, you failure configuring windows update windows 7 to check for other corrupt files you may have. You will need to wait for the process to be 100% complete before closing the window and exiting the Command Prompt. Many messages could appear once the scan is complete. Windows may not find corrupt files or may automatically fix them. If the message says Windows could not perform the requested operation, you need to retry the scan in Safe Mode. In some cases, Windows may fix some of the files but be unable to fix others. If this happens, you may be able to access the log and simply replace the files that are corrupt with good copies. Hopefully, repairing Windows Updater will resolve your Failure configuring Windows error. If not you can still try the next method. Fix 9: Do a System Restore In some cases, you may need to do a system restore using the Windows installation disk. Make sure you back up any files you have before you perform this method. Step 1 Log in as an administrator. If at any point during this process you are asked for your password, use the password for your administrator account. Place the Windows installation disk in the disk drive. Restart your computer and press any key when it asks if you want to start the computer using the disk. Step 2 If you have Windows 8, skip this step and go to Step 3. On Vista or 7, you will need to configure the installation language, currency and time format, and the methods of input such as the keyboard. Step 4 Skip to Step 5 if you have Windows Vista or 7. Step 6 If you are asked which disk you want to restore, choose the hard disk. You may also need to confirm the restore point. Fix 10: Do a System Installation When all else fails, you may have to reinstall windows. Again, make failure configuring windows update windows 7 you have completely backed up all your files before you begin. Step 1 Insert the installation disk in the disk drive. Step 2 At this point, you will need to perform an extended amount of updates. It is best to install these updates in smaller groups as was done in Method 6 above. You may also need to do an Upgrade if you made any upgrades to newer versions of Windows. Step 3 When you have finished upgrading and updating, you will failure configuring windows update windows 7 to restart the computer. If the error occurs again, you might want to try one of the additional methods to resolve it since each method fixes a different problem that could be causing the issue.
