Unfortunately, sometimes one or more of those patches will cause a problem, ranging from serious ones like error messages preventing Windows from starting or freezing the update process to less serious ones like video or audio problems.
How to Use This Troubleshooting Guide
We wouldn’t normally explain how to use a troubleshooting guide, but since you have the great fortune of a theory about the cause of your problem, the help we provide below is structured a bit differently than other tutorials we’ve created where you work through some other problem with a completely unknown cause. That said, the first thing you need to do is read the Are You Sure This Is an Issue Caused by a Windows Update? section below. Even if you’re 100 percent certain that an update from Microsoft caused the problem you’re having, do us a favor and read it anyway. If you spend the next hour or two trying to fix a problem using the wrong assumption about its cause, it’s unlikely that you’re going to walk away with a working computer. Once you’re fairly certain that your issue is directly related to the installation of one or more Windows updates, the second thing to do is decide which set of troubleshooting steps to follow: Windows Starts Successfully or Windows Does Not Start Successfully. Just to be clear, here’s what we mean:
Windows Starts Successfully: You have normal access to your Desktop or Start Screen. Certain programs may not work properly, you may not have access to the internet, moving around Windows may be slow, etc., but you do get all the way in. Windows Does Not Start Successfully: You do not have access to your Desktop or Start Screen. You may receive a Blue Screen of Death, a black screen with nothing on it, a frozen login screen, a menu of diagnostic options, etc., but you never get all the way into Windows.
To summarize, read the section immediately below this paragraph first and then scroll down and follow the correct set of troubleshooting steps for your problem, determined by how much access to Windows you have right now.
Are You Sure This Is an Issue Caused by a Windows Update?
If none of the above apply to your situation, continue troubleshooting your problem as a Windows Update/Patch Tuesday problem by following either of the below sections. The troubleshooting in the two sections below is most helpful if your problem is caused by fully installed patches. If Windows is stuck during the update installation process, see instead our How to Fix a Stuck Windows Update tutorial. Other software companies often push updates to your computer via their own software and so have nothing to do with Microsoft or Windows Update, and would be outside the scope of this troubleshooting guide. Some popular companies that do this include Google (Chrome, etc.), Adobe (Reader, AIR, etc.), Oracle (JAVA), Mozilla (Firefox), and Apple (iTunes, etc.), among others. For example, if your computer no longer powers on at all, turns off immediately after powering on, comes on but displays nothing on the screen, or has some other problem prior to the beginning of the Windows boot process, then a recent Windows update was simply a coincidence. See How to Fix a Computer That Won’t Turn On (items 2, 3, 4, or 5) for help working through your problem. For example, around the day you think the update was installed, did you also install a new piece of hardware, or update a driver, or install some new software, or receive a notice about a virus that was just cleaned, etc.?
Windows Starts Successfully
Follow this troubleshooting guide if you’re experiencing a problem after one or more Windows updates but you’re still able to access Windows.
Windows Does Not Start Successfully
Follow this troubleshooting guide if you’re unable to access Windows normally after one or more Windows updates were installed. While it was more an issue in older versions of Windows like Windows XP, sometimes one or more updates won’t fully install on a single computer restart, especially when a large number of updates are installed simultaneously.
Problem: Some websites are inaccessible in Internet Explorer. Solution: Reset Internet Explorer’s Security Zones to their default levels. Problem: A hardware device (video, sound, etc.) is no longer working properly or is generating an error code/message. Solution: Update the drivers for the device. Problem: Installed antivirus program won’t update or produces errors. Solution: Update the antivirus program’s definition files. Problem: Files are being opened by the wrong program. Solution: Change the file extension’s default program.
If System Restore fixes the problem you’ve been experiencing, see How to Prevent Windows Updates From Crashing Your PC before you do anything else. You’ll need to make changes to how Windows Update is configured, as well as follow some best practices in regards to installing the updates again, or you might experience the same exact problem when the patches try to automatically install again. System File Checker (the name of the tool run by executing the sfc command) isn’t a particularly likely solution to a post-Patch-Tuesday or other Windows update issue but it’s the most logical next step if a System Restore doesn’t do the trick. If either test fails, replace the memory or replace the hard drive, and then install Windows again from scratch. Choose a repair method based on the version of Windows you have. If there’s more than one option for a given version of Windows, the first is the least destructive option, followed by the more destructive one. If you try the least destructive one and it doesn’t work, you’re left only with the more destructive option: Windows 11 & 10: Use Reset This PC to reinstall Windows 11/10, with or without keeping your personal files intact. See How to Reset Your PC in Windows 11/10 for help. You could also clean install Windows if Reset This PC doesn’t work. Windows 8: Use Refresh Your PC to reinstall Windows 8, retaining personal files and Windows Store apps only. Use Reset Your PC to reinstall Windows 8, retaining no personal files, apps, or programs. See How to Refresh or Reset Your PC in Windows 8 for help. You could also Clean Install Windows 8 if Reset Your PC doesn’t work for some reason. Windows 7: Reinstall Windows 7, retaining no personal files or programs. See How to Clean Install Windows 7 for help. Windows Vista: Reinstall Windows Vista, retaining no personal files or programs. See How to Clean Install Windows Vista for help. Windows XP: Repair Windows XP, retaining personal files and installed programs. See How to Repair Install Windows XP for help. Reinstall Windows XP, retaining no data or programs. See How to Clean Install Windows XP for help. Chances are you’ve already done this several times but if not, give it a try. If you can’t, don’t worry, just move on to the next step below. You’ll need to know how to start System Restore from the Command Prompt in order to do an offline restore. Replace the memory or replace the hard drive if the memory or hard drive tests fail, and then install Windows again. There are a few more ideas in that troubleshooting guide that might apply to your situation, especially if you suspect that there might be a non-Windows-update reason for this error. Find your version of Windows below and perform the repair task listed. If your version has more than one option, try the first one first since it’s less destructive: Windows 11 & 10: Use Reset This PC to reinstall Windows 11/10, with or without keeping your personal files intact. See How to Reset Your PC in Windows 11/10 for help. You could also clean install Windows if Reset This PC doesn’t work. Windows 8: Use Refresh Your PC to reinstall Windows 8, retaining personal files and Windows Store apps only. Use Reset Your PC to reinstall Windows 8, retaining no personal files, apps, or programs. See How to Refresh or Reset Your PC in Windows 8 for help. You could also Clean Install Windows 8 if Reset Your PC doesn’t work for some reason. Windows 7: Reinstall Windows 7, keeping nothing (no personal files or programs). See How to Clean Install Windows 7 for help. Windows Vista: Reinstall Windows Vista, keeping nothing (no personal files or programs). See How to Clean Install Windows Vista for help. Windows XP: Repair Windows XP, keeping personal files and programs. See How to Repair Install Windows XP for help. Reinstall Windows XP, keeping nothing (no personal files or programs). See How to Clean Install Windows XP for help.
