Why is my software update not working on my PC? (2 Reasons)

Software updates are very important for the PC since it brings more security and developments in the applications along with user interface modifications. Due to this, you have to keep an eye on the updates posted by the OS provider.

At certain times, you can find that the software update doesn’t work properly. This might be caused due to poor installation of the update or some errors in the system itself.

Rectifying them is necessary because, without proper updates, your PC might be at risk. Your PC might become insecure and some applications might not work properly.

Therefore, it is required to rectify the issue as soon as possible and try to get the updates working on the PC. Let us explore the reasons behind the improper working of updates and try to solve it with possible solutions.

Why is my software update not working on my PC

Why is my software update not working on my PC?

Software updates don’t work properly on the PC due to the following reasons. You can rectify these issues on the PC and reinstall your update to get the latest software experience.

Improper Installation

This is a common issue encountered when the installation of the update is not done properly. This can happen due to a few major reasons such as:

  • PC turned off during installation
  • Installation file corruption

While an update is installed, it is important to keep the PC awake. When it is shut down during installation, the updates are not properly installed on the PC.

Also, when the installed files are updated during an automatic restart of the PC, you can find warnings like Don’t Turn off the PC. You should not ignore these warnings.

When the PC gets turned off during such warnings, the updates are stopped midway and it can even corrupt the OS. 

You will encounter BSOD (Blue Screen of Death) errors frequently and you might have to reset the PC or revert back to the earliest update on the PC.

Another reason might be the installed files might have been corrupted due to improper download of the file or a virus attack on the PC.

While downloading an update, it is important to get the files directly from the windows update settings. Don’t download the software updates from other websites. They might be corrupted with malware.

If your PC has a virus or malware, it might corrupt the downloaded file and affects your software update during installation.

Most of the time, these two reasons are found popularly with users encountering an issue while updating their software.

Driver Compatibility

Drivers are important for software updates to work properly on the system. If the drivers are outdated, then they will not be compatible with the latest update to work on it.

Usually, windows will provide driver updates automatically with their cumulative updates. You need to make sure that they are properly installed.

You can also check out the optional updates which have specific driver updates that might suit your PC. 

Failing to update the drivers will not allow any major updates to work on the PC. You will have to make sure that the downloaded update is compatible with the drivers available.

Read: How does Internet Filtering Software work?

Why Software updating is important?

Software updates are the core of improving your computing experience as well as establishing more secure computing. Here are the major reasons to be up to date with software:

Security Improvements

Your PC can become vulnerable to malware and hackers because they are always looking for errors and flaws in the system.

So, Windows periodically patches those security issues with cumulative updates and protects the integrity of the PC.

Since this malware can access your PC and personal information, you need to protect your data in all the ways possible.

Updating the software periodically is the best way to protect your PC from such security threats. Therefore, keep your system up to date.

More Features with Improved Performance

Not every software update is released with security patches. Some are released for improving the user experience.

Major OS updates usually include a new UI with many helpful features that can enable your computing more productive.

There can be new applications that are installed and the old ones are removed for better use of the PC.

Certain features might even make your PC performance better and it helps your PC to become more efficient.

So, with new features, your PC might become superfast, battery efficient, and more productive. These are the major reasons to update your PC software regularly.

How to do troubleshoot if software updates do not work?

When software updates don’t work properly, you need to check the following and do the recommended actions to rectify the issues:

Run windows troubleshooter

  • In Settings, you can find the troubleshooter option from the System menu.
  • Click on the Windows Update Troubleshooter and let it run.

Most of the time, the troubleshooter finds out the errors that occurred during the update installations or download.

So, you can simply follow the directions shown by the troubleshooter and get it rectified easily. 

Sometimes, the updates might have downloaded properly but you can find them to be not installed. This can be rectified by reverting back to the previously updated file and reinstalling the updates once again properly.

You can always recover your PC to the previous version of the OS.

  • Go to the Windows Update settings and choose Recovery.
  • Here click on the option that says ‘Go Back to the Previous version of Windows’. 

Scan for Malware and Virus

Use the Microsoft Windows Defender and run a thorough scan of your PC to find out the malware present in the PC.

Since this malware can affect the installation, you need to remove the corrupted files and refresh the PC.

After performing a full scan, if there are any threats found, remove those files. Restart the PC to delete any temporary cache. 

Now reinstall the updates and you can easily find the updates to be working properly.

Conclusion

Software updates are very important irrespective of the device or OS used. Because they provide major security patch updates and keep the data safe.

You need to be vigilant about the updates and make sure to perform them so that the PC can be protected. Also, when you get some troubles with the installation or working, you can use the recommended fixes to rectify them. 

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