KB4592438 won’t install on Windows 10 – how to fix it?
The KB4592438 update turned out to be extremely problematic. Some Windows 10 users claim that they are unable to install this latest update (December 2020) on their operating system, at least by automated means.
Moreover, the “lucky ones” who still managed to install KB4592438 have to deal with a number of not very pleasant problems, namely:
- excessive load on the CPU;
- periodic freezes of Windows 10;
- loss of OS compatibility with old applications;
- blue screens of death (BSoDs);
- and other.
In general, you still need to think carefully about whether to install such a problematic update at all or wait a bit. Anyway, in today’s article we will show you how to install KB4592438 on your computer.
Troubleshooting KB4592438 Installation
Solution # 1 Start / restart WMI and IP Helper services
Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) and IP Helper are two services that are critical to the successful completion of the Windows 10 update. work or work, but not correctly.
Do this:
- press Win + S to call the system search bar and enter the query “Services”;
- click on the found result;
- find services such as Windows Management Instrumentation and IP Helper in the list;
- right-click on the service and select “Restart”;
- do the same for the other service;
- close the Services window and restart your computer.
Solution # 2 Installing the KB4592438 update manually
If restarting the above services did not resolve the problem with installing the update, then you can always install the latter yourself by contacting the Microsoft Update catalog. Simply put, download and install the update we need manually. First, you need to go to the following link:
Select the update version that suits you and click “Download”. Then click on the download link for the update, click on the “Save” button and wait for the download to complete. You just have to run the downloaded file and install the update. The installation is carried out in a semi-automatic mode, so you have nothing to worry about.
Solution # 3 Using the command line
Updating Windows is a highly complex process involving a wide variety of operating system components. You will not be able to update the OS if at least one of its components is malfunctioning or damaged. This is where a special series of command line commands come to your rescue. Try this:
- right-click on Start and select “Command Prompt (Admin)”;
- then enter the following series of commands:
- net stop wuauserv
- net stop cryptSvc
- net stop bits
- net stop msiserver
- Ren C: Windows SoftwareDistribution SoftwareDistribution.old
- Ren C: Windows System32 catroot2 Catroot2.old
- net start wuauserv
- net start cryptSvc
- net start bits
- net start msiserver
- close Command Prompt and restart your computer.
The KB4592438 update should now install without any problems.
Solution # 4 Global reinstallation of updates
Ok, nothing worked, the update doesn’t want to happen, but you really need it. In this case, you can try to remove the last major update from the system, and then update the OS through the media creation tool. Here’s what you need to do:
- open Windows Update in system settings;
- click on the item “View update log”;
- then click on the item “Uninstall updates”;
- find in the list of updates “Feature Update to Windows 12 20H2 via Enablement Package”, right-click on it and select “Uninstall”;
- go to the following link:
- click on the button “Download the tool now”;
- click on the downloaded tool RMB and select “Run as administrator”;
- follow the instructions on the screen until you come across the question “What do you want to do?”;
- select “Upgrade this PC now” and click “Next”.
The process of updating Windows 10 in this way may take some time, but everything should go fine. You won’t have any problems with KB4592438.
