Windows: How to Run the Update Assistant

If the normal Windows Update Process (link opens in a new tab) has failed to update your computer past Windows 10 (21H2) or earlier when you check your version (link opens in a new tab) after updating, running the Windows Update Assistant can resolve issues with updating and bring your computer up to date.

Windows 10 Instructions

Follow these steps to run the Windows Update Assistant:

1. Visit Microsoft's Windows Update page (link opens in a new tab)

2. In the section titled "Windows 10 Update", click Update Now

3. The Windows 10 Update Assistant will download to your Downloads folder. Double-click this file to install

   • You'll be prompted for a username and password, enter .\admin as the username and your admin password

   • If you don't know your admin password, contact the Help Desk to have it reset

4. When the Windows 10 Update Assistant launches, click Update Now

5. It will run a compatibility check. If your computer is listed as not compatible, please send the information in the window to the Help Desk.

6. You can continue to work while the assistant is running

NOTE: The update may seem to get stuck between 70% and 90% complete.  It will eventually move on.

If you see this window, STOP!

Your computer is missing some required Windows Updates.

1. Click the X in the upper right of the message box to cancel the update

   1. Select Cancel or Close in any additional message boxes until the Windows 10 Setup stops running

2. Follow the Windows 10 Update Process (link opens in a new tab) again

   1. When you get to Step 4, click the link to Check Online for Updates from Microsoft

   2. Click the link to View Optional Updates and apply all of the available Optional Updates

There may be more updates that are hidden. The check for updates checks our Carleton Windows Update Server for Operating System updates.  Once Windows is updated to current, it is important to check for hardware driver updates. To check for hardware driver updates on Windows 10, open the Device manager, navigate to the specific device you want to check, right-click it, and select Update Driver. You then want to chose search automatically for updated driver software to let Windows scan for available updates; you can also access driver updates through Windows Update settings by checking for updates regularly.