How to Fix Windows Update Problems

If you are running a Windows operating system, regular updates need to be installed. Although it is unfortunate that the operating system needs patches, it is good that this happens on a regular basis. By default Windows will be configured to automatically download and install updates.

But even the update process can have errors, in which case the whole computer update will fail. This potentially means security wholes are not patched, so nobody wants this to last too long. In many cases the solution is to turn off the automatic updates and manually update Windows. This means browsing to the Windows update website and scanning your computer for the necessary updates from there. If the manual update succeeeds, the automatic update function can be turned on again.

However, not all Windows update errors can be solved this way. Some are related to the svchost.exe process and others are related to the Windows installer, msiexec. In the case of Windows installer problems, it can help to re-register the installer program, msiexec.

Re-registering the Windows installer only requires a few steps:

1. Click the Windows Start menu and select the Run option.
2. In the Run box, type msiexec /unreg, and press Enter.
3. Now click the Start menu again , and select the Run option.
4. This time, type msiexec /regserver in the Run box, and press Enter.

There will not be any messages, maybe just a short hourglass cursor. But once these steps are complete, errors related to the Windows installer should be gone.

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