Last ditch method to install a failed update before doing a Clean Install

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First, a bit of history…

I have 2 PCs with the same OS + S/W on them

• Dell Latitude D830 laptop
• Custom desktop with a Maximus VIII Gene M/B

The laptop is used when I deploy for on-site support.

Approx 6 months ago I started having problems installing monthly updates as follows:

• Laptop always successfully installed the updates.
• Desktop always failed at ~97% on the reboot (with “generic” error 0x800f0922) and rolled back the update.

SFC, DISM, CHKDSK and Windows Update Troubleshooter never found any problems on the Desktop.

Tired doing an “in-place” repair using a bootable USB for my version of Windows and it always got stuck at “Making sure you’re ready to install” (waited 16 hrs one time and it was still at that screen!)

Tired multiple on-line solutions for fixing error 0x800f0922 and the “stuck at Making sure you’re ready to install” screen with absolutely no luck.

Didn’t want to do a clean install because I have a ton of different programs I’ve installed over the years (since I started in-place Windows upgrades on Windows ME) and didn’t want to have to go back and redo all the various tweaks I’d put in place since then (besides, the Dell laptop had the exact same OS + S/W + tweaks and it updated just fine.)

This weekend I decided to spend the time trying to figure out exactly what was causing the update problem on my Desktop and found it was because of a CMIADAPTER failure.

Couldn’t find any info on the web about exactly what that meant or how to fix it (anyone here know anything about it?) and “assumed” I might just have to bite-the-bullet and do a “Clean Install” after all.

Then I had a sudden inspiration…

I knew it was possible to install (the term is “slipstream“) an update directly into a Windows install image (install.wim/install.esd) so the updates were already in-place when you finished installing Windows from that source (typically a USB/DVD.)

So I wondered… is it possible to create such an install image using an existing Windows installation including all its users, S/W, tweaks, etc.?

The answer was yes, so…

• I created an image of my existing Windows 10 Pro installation.
• Slipstreamed this month’s update into it.
• Deployed the updated image over my old one.

And it worked, my desktop is now at the same build level as my Laptop!!

• I know because when I rebooted a few on my installed programs indicated they recognized there was a newer version of Windows and they needed to reapply the tweaks I’d done previously.

So, there’s at least one final method you can use to try installing a failed update before you take the “nuclear option” of doing a clean install.

Note: the whole process of creating, updating and then redeploying a Windows image is quite complicated and not for the faint of heart.

There are multiple sites on the web that explain how to do but, if anyone wants to know the exact steps I took, please let me know and I’ll post a followup?

Since this method does work, I have to wonder why none of the sites I found on-line ever mentioned it as a possible solution to failed updates; especially the generic 0x800f0922 error that seems to be quite common?!?!

 

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I would be interested to see the steps you took to make your image and how you slipped in the update.

 

Thanks

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It’s a bit long and complicated but here they are.

Create a FULL backup of your primary Windows drive (I used a Paragon Backup & Recovery USB for this but any program that can backup/restore a complete disk will work.)

Create a bootable “Install” USB for your specific version of Windows.

Step 1: Create an image of your current Windows installation that includes all users, S/W and tweaks.

• Boot from your Windows install USB
• At first screen, press shift + F10 to get a command prompt
• Diskpart
• List Vol (to determine drive letters)
• Exit Diskpart
• DISM /Capture-Image /ImageFile:”F:\Wim\MyWin10.wim” /CaptureDir:”C:\” /ScratchDir:”F:\Scratch” /Name:Win10Pro /description:2021-06-27 /CheckIntegrity /Verify /EA

Exit the Windows install process and reboot your PC.

Step 2: Manually download all the updates you want to apply from the Microsoft Catalog to a directory on a local disk. Ensure the downloaded updates apply to your specific version of Windows.

Mount the image you created above.

• DISM /mount-wim /wimfile:”F:\Wim\MyWin10.wim” /index:1 /mountdir:”C:\Mounted-Wim“

Slipstream the updates into that image.

• DISM /image:”C:\Mounted-Wim” /Add-Package /PackagePath:”C:\Updates\{.msu file name}“

Save the changes made to the image.

• DISM /Commit-Image /mountdir:”C:\Mounted-Wim” /CheckIntegrity

Unmount the image.

• DISM /unmount-wim /mountdir:”C:\Mounted-Wim” /discard

Step 3: Deploy the updated image over your existing installation.

• Boot from your Windows install USB
• At the first screen, press shift + F10 to get a command prompt
• Diskpart
• List Vol (to determine drive letters)
• Select Vol # (the one with Windows on it)
• Format fs=NFTS quick
• Exit Diskpart
• DISM /apply-image /Imagefile:”F:\Wim\MyWin10.wim” /index:1 /applydir:”C:\“

Exit the Windows install process and reboot your PC.

Notes:

• Items shown in red are for my particular setup and will vary depending on how a PC is configured.
• /CaptureDir: is your Windows drive.
• /ImageFile: is the location where the image will be stored.
• /ScratchDir: is temp storage for intermediate file processing and is required.
• The /ImageFile: and /ScratchDir: can be on the same drive but must not be on the Windows drive.
• The /ImageFile: path must have enough free space to contain the image you’re creating (it’ll be ~27% smaller that the total space “in use” on the Windows drive.)
• /Name: can be whatever you want but should be easily identifiable as your image.
• /description: is optional (I used the date the image was created.)
• /PackagePath: points to each individual msu update file. If installing multiple updates, simply add additional /PackagePath: entries for each update file.
• If you plan on using an “external” source for the image, ensure it’s recognized by WinPE and was assigned a drive letter after booting the Install USB (if it’s a network connected drive, there are special procedures you’d need to take from the command prompt to map it so it can be used which are not covered by these instructions.)
• Creating the initial image and slipstreaming the updates into it are very time consuming if you use an “external” source but fairly quick if you use an “internal” source.
  • It took well over 3 hrs to create the image and inject the updates into it using an external 64GB USB 3.1 thumb drive plugged into a USB 3.1 port.
  • It took less than 40 mins to do the same thing using one of my “non-Windows” internal SATA drives.

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