[cbuq]

This isn't a problem if, like me, Windows manages to corrupt itself and is unable to perform a Windows update.

A little over a year ago the automatic update failed, I've tried all sorts of ways to get an updated version of Windows, but they have all failed. My research seems to point me to a full reinstall of Windows.

But my computer hasn't restarted arbitrarily in over a year!

[zip1234]

Have you tried Windows 10 Update Assistant? I had the same problem until I tried it. Worked well. [https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/3159635/windows-10-...]

[mark-r]

I had that problem with Windows 7. For years my media center PC was free from unexpected restarts. Finally I had to give in and reinstall Windows because some software needed VS2017 redistributable, and it refused to install on the borked system.

Decided to upgrade to SSD at the same time since prices have dropped so drastically.

[Negitivefrags]

The need for windows update to be working to install the VS2017 redist was a super annoying move by microsoft.

It wasn't required for previous versions of visual studio.

Because windows update is non-functional for so many windows users (mostly due to piracy) we we basically forced to change to static linking to avoid the need for the redist.

Of course, after we changed to static linking we started to run into a bunch of virus scanners giving false positives with their heuristics because all viruses are statically linked.

[mark-r]

Thank you for that info, I didn't realize it was a deliberate move by Microsoft! Luckily my Windows installation wasn't pirated; I never did figure out why the updates stopped working.

[ConceptJunkie]

That's because the VS redistributables now add extra functionality to the OS. It's insane.

[isodude]

I went into that rabbit hole some time ago, there are two tools available from Microsoft to mitigate problems with updates (other tools than the update-tool referenced in another answer). I can dig them articles up again if needed.

[mdorazio]

I have the same issue as the parent commenter. I tried every tool Microsoft provided as well as various recommended manual processes of deleting files, changing registry values, etc. Nothing worked and it appears to be an issue of hardware incompatibility with the Creators update (not surprising since some of my components are over 6 years old). Based on the number of people reporting the same issue when I was troubleshooting, this is disturbingly common and the only solution is to reinstall windows entirely and hope it works.

[marmaduke]

That’s odd but the updates are pretty easy to disable. Or at least choose when they happen.