Windows operating systems provide Updates in order to fix bugs, patch security vulnerabilities, and add new features. With the Windows 8 and Windows 10 operating systems, the Windows updates are automatically installed by default. But in some cases, the update may not be installed properly and we have to force it to update. There are different methods to force a Windows update. In this tutorial, we explain how to force Windows updates to be installed.
Restart Windows Update Service
Windows updates are handled and managed by the Windows Update Service . The Windows Update Service runs always and checks for updates by connecting Windows Update servers and downloads them if they are available. If the Windows Update Service is not running properly the updates can not be installed automatically. In order to force to install Windows updates, the Windows Update Service can be restarted via the Services .
In the Services screen find the Windows Update and right-click on it. In the context menu click to the Restart . This restarts the Windows Update service and the updates are checked and restarted again.
Restart Background Intelligent Transfer Service
The Windows Update service is related to another service named Background Intelligent Transfer Service which is used to transfer the update data. It is also called as BITS as short name. Even the Windows Update service is running properly if the BITS service is not working as expected the updates can be stopped. We should restart the BITS service via the Services.
Delete Windows Update Folder
Windows Updates are stored under the path located C:\windows\SoftwareDistribution . If an update is downloaded but not stored properly this prevents the update to be applied. In order to force the windows update, we should remove these downloaded updates and cache files.
Disk Cleanup For System Files
Similar to the previous step the Windows update files are downloaded and cached. If the downloaded update files are corrupted they should be removed and deleted. The Disk Cleanup tool can be used to clean downloaded update files. Click to the Start Menu and type disk which lists the Disk Cleanup tool.
In the Disk Cleanup tool click to the Clean up system files.
Use wulnstall Command via MS-DOS
Windows provides the wuauclt.exe command in order to manage Windows updates via command-line interface like MS-DOS or PowerShell. We can for the Windows update by using this command with the /updatenow option.
> wuauclt.exe /updatenow