Last Updated on January 15, 2022
For quite a lot of users, Windows 10 is getting stuck on the restart screen [forever] while trying to manually restart their PCs. Even for me, especially since upgrading to Windows 10, the OS just doesn’t do anything until it’s hard to reset and will just sit there unless intervened.
From my experience, though, this doesn’t stay forever because if you give it enough time, it eventually does restart. So, it seems like some process or program running in the background is hindering the whole restart mechanism.
After digging a bit about the issue, I have realized that the problem is with our very old Windows Update. What’s happening is that in order to download updates for the OS, the updater updates itself. This is where it is getting stuck. So, the solution to this problem is to just regenerate the SoftwareDistribution packages in Windows update. The regenerated packages will allow Windows update to check the updates for all the installed programs and software from the beginning unlike previously where it was getting stuck. Let’s see the steps to do that.
Fix Windows 10 Stuck on the Restart Screen
- Press Windows + X and then C to open Command Prompt [Admin].
- Type net stop wuauserv. Press Enter. This will stop the update service from running in the background.
- Now type cd %systemroot%. Press Enter. This command will navigate the command prompt to the installation directory of Windows OS.
- Type ren SoftwareDistribution SD.old. Press Enter. By this command, the OS will rename the SoftwareDistribution folder to SD.old for a backup. In case anything goes wrong, you can just go to the C:\WINDOWS\SoftwareDistribution and change it to its original name. You can also try clearing the data of SoftwareDistribution and Downloaded Installation folders.
- Lastly, type net start wuauserv. Press Enter. With this command, we will restart the update service in order to enable updates in the system.
By following the steps, Windows 10 will stop getting stuck on the restart screen like it used to. If you are having any problems with Windows 10 getting stuck on the start screen, even after following the steps, please let us know in the comments section so that we can help you.
Hello......the problem iam facing is WINDOWS UPDATE SERVICE[wuauserv]
is gone....its no longer even showing up in services manager....any
way to reinstall it ? iam using Vista Ultimate btw.....thanks
Run the System File Checker. To do this, right click on Command
Prompt [Start Menu\Programs\Accessories], and choose
Run as Administrator. Copy the following, and Paste it after the prompt: sfc /scannow Press Enter. It will scan all your system files. It may take a few
minutes. If things are okay, you are given the text message "Windows
Resource Protection did not find any integrity violations".
wrote in message
>
> Hello......the problem iam facing is WINDOWS UPDATE SERVICE[wuauserv]
> is gone....its no longer even showing up in services manager....any
> way to reinstall it ? iam using Vista Ultimate btw.....thanks
>
news:[email protected]
i'm having this problem too. I've tried deleting the software distribution folder so the windows update program is re-downloaded but that doesn't fix the fact that the service is not available. Any ideas? Otherwise i'll have to wait till SP1 to see if that will fix it or reinstall. [sfc didn't fix it either]
Cheers.
You could try this: Right-click Command Prompt [in Start Menu\Programs\Accessories] and choose
Run as Administrator. Type [or Copy and Paste] the following commands,
pressing Enter after each one: regsvr32 wuapi.dll regsvr32 wuaueng.dll regsvr32 wups.dll regsvr32 wups2.dll regsvr32 wuwebv.dll regsvr32 wucltux.dll Close Command Prompt, and try Windows Update again.
"whatsupwez" wrote in message
>
> i'm having this problem too. I've tried deleting the software
> distribution folder so the windows update program is re-downloaded but
> that doesn't fix the fact that the service is not available. Any ideas?
> Otherwise i'll have to wait till SP1 to see if that will fix it or
> reinstall. [sfc didn't fix it either]
>
> Cheers.
>
>
> --
> whatsupwez
news:[email protected]
Thanks, I gave that a try. All the Dlls registered accept 1 with the error: 'The module "wuaueng.dll" was loaded but the call to DllRegisterServer failed with error code 0x80070005.' Does this mean their is a different problem that is stopping windows update from working? I'll give google a look tonight... Anymore ideas?
Cheers.
it appears to be an "Access Denied" error. Did your right-click on Command
Prompt, and choose Run as Administrator? There was an attempt to write to
the registry when you ran the command, but the privileges to do so weren't
there, so the command was blocked. Wuaueng.dll is the Windows Update agent, AKA wuauserv, AKA the Service
called Windows Update.
"whatsupwez" wrote in message
>
> Thanks, I gave that a try. All the Dlls registered accept 1 with the
> error: 'The module "wuaueng.dll" was loaded but the call to
> DllRegisterServer failed with error code 0x80070005.'
>
> Does this mean their is a different problem that is stopping windows
> update from working? I'll give google a look tonight... Anymore ideas?
>
> Cheers.
>
>
> --
> whatsupwez
news:[email protected]
I'm definitely running it as an administrator. When I try to access the windows update website it also gives an error saying that I am not an administrator. When instead it should prompt me to use the built in windows update as I am running windows vista!
So defiantly a serious problem with windows update and maybe the security settings involved with it. Tried everything I can think of so looks like I'm going to have to do an upgrade reinstall. Just hope it doesn't mess up my programs and settings!
Before the upgrade re-install, you could try creating a new administrative
account, if only temporarily [it can be deleted after the test], and see if
Windows Update works from the new account, or if the command will work.
Another thought is to run the command in Safe Mode [although Windows Update
won't work in Safe Mode].
"whatsupwez" wrote in message
>
> I'm definitely running it as an administrator.
>
> When I try to access the windows update website it also gives an error
> saying that I am not an administrator. When instead it should prompt me
> to use the built in windows update as I am running windows vista!
>
> So defiantly a serious problem with windows update and maybe the
> security settings involved with it. Tried everything I can think of so
> looks like I'm going to have to do an upgrade reinstall. Just hope it
> doesn't mess up my programs and settings!
>
>
> --
> whatsupwez
news:[email protected]
No joy unfortunately! Same error messages, I dunno no whether to wait for SP1 to see if that fixes it or to re-install. Its not a major problem as i can manually download and install updates but its still annoying! Thanks for your help anyways!
Later, WeZ
a big thanks to dean-dean, your solution worked perfectly for me and did not just fix windows update but also other related programmes like the defender.
you saved me a lot of work there...
You could try this: Right-click Command Prompt [in Start Menu\Programs\Accessories] and choose Run as Administrator. Type [or Copy and Paste] the following commands, pressing Enter after each one: regsvr32 wuapi.dll regsvr32 wuaueng.dll regsvr32 wups.dll regsvr32 wups2.dll regsvr32 wuwebv.dll regsvr32 wucltux.dll
Close Command Prompt, and try Windows Update again.