Fixpath

Windows

The update will not finish

A large update can sit on one percent for a long time and still be working. A full disk and a pending restart are the usual reasons it is actually stuck.

  1. Leave it plugged in. Watch disk use in Task Manager. If the disk is busy, wait another hour before you interrupt it.
  2. Free space. Windows Update needs several free gigabytes on the system drive.
  3. Restart once. Repeated restarts in the middle of setup make the state worse.
  4. Run the Windows Update troubleshooter from Settings, System, Troubleshoot.
  5. If the failure loop continues, the official repair is Microsoft's in-place repair with the Media Creation Tool from Microsoft's site. It can keep your files when you choose that option.

Do not delete System32, and do not hold the power button while the percentage is still moving. That turns a slow update into a PC that will not start.