Windows 10 update installation failure is proving a real headache for some

Frustrated Windows 10 User
(Image credit: Shutterstock)

Windows 10’s freshly released cumulative update for November is being problematic in terms of failing to install for some users, and there are a couple of other bugs besides – although fortunately minor ones.

Update KB4586781, for Windows 10 machines running the May 2020 Update or October 2020 Update, is failing to install for some people with a mysterious error message – something that we have seen with previous cumulative updates for Microsoft’s OS.

As Windows Latest spotted, the installation failure is accompanied by an error message which reads something like: “Some update files are missing or have problems. We’ll try to download the update again later. Error code: (0x8007000d).”

That error code may vary – again as we’ve seen in the past – and some users are finding that the patch takes a long time, leaving them sitting there wondering what their PC is doing, before getting the failure message.

Another user reported in Microsoft’s feedback hub: “The update downloads and installation goes to 100%. After reaching 100%, the update fails with [error] 0X80070308.”

On Microsoft’s Answers.com help forum, other users are reporting issues. One post read: “‘KB4586781 Failed to install on ‎11/‎12/‎2020 - 0x8007000d.’ I have tried several times to load KB4586781 using the ‘check for updates’ and also the download of the msu file. I also tried the version of the Nov update that would take me to 20H2. Neither will load and install without giving me that error message.”

Another disgruntled Windows 10 user chimed in: “This update has frozen my laptop for 2 days, and I’ve had to pause updates. It is just going through the same cycle as described downloads, installs to 100% freezes everything and after a hard boot is marked as failed. MS you need to get this fixed.”

Pointer problem

As well as the installation failure, there are a couple of slight bugs which have been reported, including the mouse pointer apparently blinking on and off after applying the KB4586781 update, and Microsoft Edge taking longer to fire up. Only a very small minority are affected by these minor issues, though, according to Windows Latest – but sadly the installation bug seems to be more prevalent.

If you are one of those hit by the installation failure problem, there’s no known solution or workaround, and your best bet may simply be to pause the update for now, and hope a resolution is forthcoming.

KB4586781 applies some important security fixes to Windows 10, and to Microsoft Office products.

Darren is a freelancer writing news and features for TechRadar (and occasionally T3) across a broad range of computing topics including CPUs, GPUs, various other hardware, VPNs, antivirus and more. He has written about tech for the best part of three decades, and writes books in his spare time (his debut novel - 'I Know What You Did Last Supper' - was published by Hachette UK in 2013).