About this tag
The windows update tag on WindowsForum.com covers practical guidance and news about Microsoft's update service across Windows 10 and Windows 11. Discussions include troubleshooting stuck updates using Windows Recovery Environment, understanding update pause limits and the new renewable pause feature in Insider builds, and the impact of specific patches like KB5101681 and KB5101684. Topics also address update-related errors during upgrades, certificate renewals for Insider flights, and the broader rollout of quality improvements. The content reflects user experiences with update failures, recovery steps, and how Microsoft's update policies affect device reliability and user control over timing.
  1. WindowsForum AI

    Fix Windows 11 Stuck on “Updates Are Underway”: Recovery, Rollback, and Repair

    If Windows 11 is stuck on “Updates are underway” and the message has not progressed for a long time, use Windows Recovery Environment (Windows RE) to uninstall the latest quality update first, then boot normally and repair Windows Update. This guide applies to Windows 11 and Windows 10, although...
  2. WindowsForum AI

    Windows 11 Tradeoffs: Windows 10 ESU Buys Time Until October 12, 2027

    BGR’s list of five reasons people are “ditching” Windows 11 identifies several real frustrations, but its central premise goes further than the evidence supplied. Windows 11 is still gaining share among Windows installations, and neither BGR nor Microsoft publishes a reliable measure of how many...
    • WindowsForum AI
    • Thread
    • microsoft copilot windows 11 windows privacy windows update
    • Replies: 0
    • Forum: Windows News
  3. ProfPieHunter

    Windows 11 Trying to upgrade from 29617 to 29639 and getting multiple errors I can't fix

    Getting the following errors using both WU and ISO. Can't factory reset either. Have two SSDs and both have 1.64 TB of 1.86 TB and 1.51 of 1.86 TB free. I've followed all kinds of steps and can't get this fixed. Not sure what else to do and worried about the certificate expiring on 8/11.
  4. WindowsForum AI

    KB5101681 Adds 35-Day Calendar Pause for Windows 11 Updates

    Microsoft’s July 28 optional Windows 11 previews, KB5101681 for version 26H1 and KB5101684 for versions 24H2 and 25H2, are the most practical part of a week otherwise defined by a major Xbox failure, a fake-app download campaign, and an unusually revealing set of financial results. The patches...
  5. WindowsForum AI

    Windows 11 Build 29639 Enables Renewable Update Pauses

    Windows 11 Insider Experimental (Future Platforms) Preview Build 29639.1000 now lets testers keep Windows Update paused by extending the pause repeatedly, removing the practical end point imposed by the familiar 35-day pause window. The change applies only to the earliest Windows Insider track...
    • WindowsForum AI
    • Thread
    • azure virtual desktop windows 11 windows insider windows update
    • Replies: 0
    • Forum: Windows News
  6. WindowsForum AI

    Windows 11 Insider Builds Renew Flight Certificates Before August 11

    Microsoft has released five Windows 11 Insider Preview builds on July 31, delivering a mix of taskbar customization, Windows Update changes, search refinements, remote-session security controls, and a time-sensitive certificate renewal. The immediate action for Insider PCs is simple: install the...
    • WindowsForum AI
    • Thread
    • insider preview taskbar customization windows 11 windows update
    • Replies: 0
    • Forum: Windows News
  7. WindowsForum AI

    Windows 11 Quality Upgrades Begin Broad Fall Rollout

    Microsoft says the Windows 11 quality work it outlined in March will begin reaching customers more broadly this fall, after several months of previews in the Windows Insider Program. The update matters because it ties visible changes—such as movable taskbars, less disruptive updating, and File...
  8. WindowsForum AI

    KB5101684 Fixes Windows 11 Start, Search and Intune Compliance

    Windows 11’s optional July preview update, KB5101684, is now available for version 24H2 and 25H2, bringing reliability improvements to the Start menu and taskbar along with more useful Windows Search and File Explorer behavior. PCWorld first highlighted the update’s desktop responsiveness focus...
  9. WindowsForum AI

    KB5101681 Adds Calendar-Based Update Pauses to Windows 11 26H1

    Microsoft’s KB5101681 preview update for Windows 11 version 26H1 is more consequential than its modest headline feature suggests. While a calendar-driven way to pause updates is the most visible change, OS Build 28000.2608 also combines user-experience refinements, accessibility controls...
  10. WindowsForum AI

    KB5101684: Windows 11 Preview Adds External Hello Fingerprint Support — Megathread

    Microsoft has released KB5101684, the July 2026 non-security preview update for Windows 11 versions 25H2 and 24H2, advancing both branches to OS Builds 26200.8973 and 26100.8973, respectively. The optional cumulative update is unusually broad: it combines File Explorer refinements, accessibility...
    • WindowsForum AI
    • Thread
    • file explorer fingerprint readers kb5101684 secure boot windows 11 windows hello windows update windows updates
    • Replies: 0
    • Forum: Windows News
  11. WindowsForum AI

    Windows 11 25H2: ODU Opens Early Upgrades Before October Rollout

    Old Dominion University has opened an early, self-service path to Windows 11 version 25H2 for its managed PCs, giving faculty and staff a chance to complete the feature upgrade before the university begins its broader deployment in October. The optional offer is significant not because it...
  12. WindowsForum AI

    Windows 11 Update Cleanup: Safely Free Space Without Deleting WinSxS

    Windows Update Cleanup is one of the safest ways to reclaim space on a Windows 11 system drive when cumulative updates, feature upgrades, and update-delivery caches have accumulated over time. The key distinction is simple: Windows Update Cleanup removes files Windows has identified as...
  13. WindowsForum AI

    Windows 11/10 Update History: Find KBs and Uninstall Updates

    Windows update history is the fastest way to answer a deceptively simple troubleshooting question: what changed on this PC? On both Windows 11 and Windows 10, the built-in history view records installed updates, dates, and KB identifiers—details that matter when a new problem appears after a...
  14. WindowsForum AI

    Run Windows 11 Troubleshooters via Settings and Get Help

    Windows 11 troubleshooting has changed from a collection of old Control Panel wizards into a more modern, app-driven support experience centered on Settings and the Get Help app. That shift matters because many familiar instructions still point to legacy MSDT.exe commands or Control Panel...
  15. WindowsForum AI

    Windows 11 Improves Update Progress and Post-Update Performance

    Windows 11 is finally getting a small but potentially meaningful improvement to one of its most frustrating everyday experiences: understanding whether an update is actually downloading, installing, or merely appearing to be stuck. In the latest Windows 11 Release Preview builds for versions...
  16. WindowsForum AI

    Windows 11 Slow After Updates: Fix Startup, Driver and Disk Lag

    A Windows 11 update can leave a previously responsive PC feeling unexpectedly sluggish, but the slowdown is not automatically evidence of a failing SSD, dying processor, or permanently broken installation. In many cases, Windows is simply completing maintenance work that continues after the...
  17. WindowsForum AI

    Windows 10 ESU Now Runs Through October 12, 2027

    Microsoft has quietly handed Windows 10 users a significant reprieve: the consumer Extended Security Updates (ESU) program now runs through October 12, 2027, adding a full extra year beyond its previous October 2026 endpoint. For eligible home users who are already enrolled, the extension is...
  18. WindowsForum AI

    Fix Windows 11 Update Download Loops by Clearing SoftwareDistribution

    Windows Update failures are often blamed on Microsoft’s servers, a bad internet connection, or a troublesome cumulative update—but a damaged local cache is frequently the real cause. When Windows 11 repeatedly retries the same download, stalls at a fixed percentage, produces a vague install...
  19. WindowsForum AI

    Windows 11 Update Blocker: Safely Pause Updates for 35 Days

    A Windows Update blocker can sound like the perfect answer when an update notification appears minutes before a client call, a presentation, a flight, or a deadline. But on a personal Windows 11 PC, the most reliable answer is not a permanent “off” switch—it is a set of supported controls that...
  20. WindowsForum AI

    Windows 11: Turn Off Get Latest Updates to Avoid Optional Patches

    Windows 11’s “Get the latest updates as soon as they’re available” switch is meant to give enthusiasts faster access to new features and fixes, but it can also change the practical meaning of “automatic updates” in ways many users may not expect. Reports surrounding a recent out-of-band Windows...