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Windows 11 update failure stops machines from updating to version 24H2 using WSUS

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An update with a downside.

Windows Update
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Most Windows updates come with a plethora of features and patches to address security issues, making the forced reboot well worth it. Going forward, we might not even need to restart to update Windows nearly as often. However, a recent update to Windows 11 is causing issues for both business and enterprise users, preventing the machines from upgrading to Windows 11 24H2.

A recent blog post from Microsoft confirmed the issue and isolated it to an update released on April 8th. Machines using the Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) application are now having trouble updating to Windows 11 24H2. The issue does not affect Windows 11 Home users.

If you're not familiar with WSUS, we'll catch you up to speed. This application is designed for servers to schedule updates to batches of machines in an enterprise environment. WSUS lets administrators choose when to delay or even skip certain updates entirely. This is the main source of the update failure, which is why Windows 11 Home users are largely unaffected.

Users might encounter several errors with the issue. When Windows 11 24H2 tries to deploy, it's unable to complete and will return specific codes in the update logs. Users will see error code 0x80240069 listed along with text that states, "Service wuauserv has unexpectedly stopped."

Microsoft hasn’t issued a fix as of this writing, but the team has confirmed that a resolution is being investigated. Microsoft plans to provide an update to the public regarding the matter when a solution is available to roll out. In the meantime, users cannot update to Windows 11 24H2 if they received the April 8th update.

Microsoft confirmed that the versions of Windows 11 that are most likely to be affected are Windows 11 23H2 and Windows 11 22H2. Again, Windows 11 Home users don't rely on WSUS for updates and shouldn't encounter any of the issues outlined by the recent failure.

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Ash Hill
Ash Hill
Contributing Writer

Ash Hill is a contributing writer for Tom's Hardware with a wealth of experience in the hobby electronics, 3D printing and PCs. She manages the Pi projects of the month and much of our daily Raspberry Pi reporting while also finding the best coupons and deals on all tech.

7 Comments Comment from the forums
  • FunSurfer
    Well as a Windows 11 Pro 24H2 home user I don't have this failure, but I do have that Windows Update service bug that "Microsoft\Windows\DeviceDirectry\Client\RegisterUserDevice" prevents PC shutdown.
    Reply
  • Mara Winterhyde
    FunSurfer said:
    Well as a Windows 11 Pro 24H2 home user I don't have this failure, but I do have that Windows Update service bug that "Microsoft\Windows\DeviceDirectry\Client\RegisterUserDevice" prevents PC shutdown.
    I find this article ABSOLUTELY freaking HILARIOUS. I personally, use Windows 11 Home Edition and WISH I had this "prblem". Yup, I got hit with that HORRIBLE 24H2 update. It bricked my laptop. That 24H2 update is an abomination. So many people are having issues. Blue Screen. Briking hard drives. You name it, it's happening. So I find this article HILARIOUS saying that by bypassing that update is actually an issue... when the issue the whole time is that 24H2 update. It was an unexpected $370 CDN bill that I had to BORROW because I work from home, and use my laptop for work. If I dont' have a computer, I don't work. If I don't work, I don't get paid. If I don't get paid, I don't pay rent... buy food... etc. SO Yeah, this "issue:" isn't really an issue. It's a god send for those that haven't been able to or don't WANT to update to 24H2.
    Reply
  • Mara Winterhyde
    Mara Winterhyde said:
    I find this article ABSOLUTELY freaking HILARIOUS. I personally, use Windows 11 Home Edition and WISH I had this "prblem". Yup, I got hit with that HORRIBLE 24H2 update. It bricked my laptop. That 24H2 update is an abomination. So many people are having issues. Blue Screen. Briking hard drives. You name it, it's happening. So I find this article HILARIOUS saying that by bypassing that update is actually an issue... when the issue the whole time is that 24H2 update. It was an unexpected $370 CDN bill that I had to BORROW because I work from home, and use my laptop for work. If I dont' have a computer, I don't work. If I don't work, I don't get paid. If I don't get paid, I don't pay rent... buy food... etc. SO Yeah, this "issue:" isn't really an issue. It's a god send for those that haven't been able to or don't WANT to update to 24H2.
    By the way, this happened JUST last weekend on Sunday going into Monday morning. I was without my laptop for 2 days. Which means that I missed 2 days of work. I'm a single mom. I can't afford to miss one day of work, let alone two.
    Reply
  • USAFRet
    Mara Winterhyde said:
    I find this article ABSOLUTELY freaking HILARIOUS. I personally, use Windows 11 Home Edition and WISH I had this "prblem". Yup, I got hit with that HORRIBLE 24H2 update. It bricked my laptop. That 24H2 update is an abomination. So many people are having issues. Blue Screen. Briking hard drives. You name it, it's happening. So I find this article HILARIOUS saying that by bypassing that update is actually an issue... when the issue the whole time is that 24H2 update. It was an unexpected $370 CDN bill that I had to BORROW because I work from home, and use my laptop for work. If I dont' have a computer, I don't work. If I don't work, I don't get paid. If I don't get paid, I don't pay rent... buy food... etc. SO Yeah, this "issue:" isn't really an issue. It's a god send for those that haven't been able to or don't WANT to update to 24H2.
    Meanwhile...all of my house Win 11 systems, both Home and Pro, are on 24H2.
    Zero an issue with any of them.
    Reply
  • Loadedaxe
    Mara Winterhyde said:
    By the way, this happened JUST last weekend on Sunday going into Monday morning. I was without my laptop for 2 days. Which means that I missed 2 days of work. I'm a single mom. I can't afford to miss one day of work, let alone two.
    From what I have been hearing, just around the web and my own experience, the updates to 24H2 lately are only causing issues with people that installed it on unsupported systems.

    Yep, including me.
    I am in the process of building a new machine. I can fight it all I want, but MS holds the keys here so, like Apple, upgrade or use Linux and while I play with Linux, I can not use it as a main OS.

    I also read that they increased the CPU requirement to 11th Gen Intel and 3rd Gen AMD chips.

    You can go back to 23H2, but good luck finding a legit copy, MS has removed all but the latest 24H2 release from their site.

    My 6700k is getting retired. I reloaded Windows 10 on it for now.
    Reply
  • FunSurfer
    Loadedaxe said:
    From what I have been hearing, just around the web and my own experience, the updates to 24H2 lately are only causing issues with people that installed it on unsupported systems.

    Yep, including me.
    I am in the process of building a new machine. I can fight it all I want, but MS holds the keys here so, like Apple, upgrade or use Linux and while I play with Linux, I can not use it as a main OS.

    I also read that they increased the CPU requirement to 11th Gen Intel and 3rd Gen AMD chips.

    You can go back to 23H2, but good luck finding a legit copy, MS has removed all but the latest 24H2 release from their site.

    My 6700k is getting retired. I reloaded Windows 10 on it for now.
    My problem happens on a PC with Ryzen 5600x used only for gaming with Windows 11 Pro 24H2, and there is also a reddit thread about this, so it is not only my system that is affected, and this started about 2 months ago. I have another PC with Intel 10th gen CPU for general use, it is running Windows 11 Home 24H2 with no problems.
    Reply
  • Loadedaxe
    FunSurfer said:
    My problem happens on a PC with Ryzen 5600x used only for gaming with Windows 11 Pro 24H2, and there is also a reddit thread about this, so it is not only my system that is affected, and this started about 2 months ago. I have another PC with Intel 10th gen CPU for general use, it is running Windows 11 Home 24H2 with no problems.
    Interesting, I sold my Ryzen system, it was a 5700x but that was sold before the 24H2 update. I sold it because I literally saw no difference in my older system than it, at the time.

    Im on the fence with MS, I get they dont want to have to support old hardware, but jees they are getting worse than Apple and bricking PCs isnt the answer.
    Linux could really take a ton of market share here. I hate that my 10 year old system, that works fine and has given me no issues has to be basically tossed in the dumpster. I am going to use it for a Linuxx box, but I only have room for one desk in my office so it will sit in the corner until I have time to play with it.

    The only software that inhibits me using Linux alone is Compass Downloader for Honeywell security systems, I can not for the love of god get it to run on Linux.
    Reply