Cannot install Windows 10 Creator update: "something went wrong" error code 0x800703ed

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I have an older Lenovo Thinkpad that I dual boot Win10 & Kali Linux on. I cannot get the "Creator's Edition" update to install. The error code I keep getting is 0x800703ed

So far I have:
- Ran ChkDsk /F /R
- Reset Windows Update Components via these instructions (though perhaps I missed a step since there are so many).
- Ran DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth /Source:E:\ /LimitAccess (where E:\ was the Windows 10 mounted ISO)

I am out of ideas here. Any help appreciated. Thank you.

windows-10
updates
windows-10-v1703
dism
asked on Super User Oct 4, 2017 by KidACrimson • edited Oct 4, 2017 by TomEus

4 Answers

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The error 0x800703ed means ERROR_UNRECOGNIZED_VOLUME:

//
// MessageId: ERROR_UNRECOGNIZED_VOLUME
//
// MessageText:
//
// The volume does not contain a recognized file system.
// Please make sure that all required file system drivers are loaded and that the volume is not corrupted.
//
#define ERROR_UNRECOGNIZED_VOLUME        1005L

Updating from a Windows 10 Build to a newer one is an upgrade like Win7 to 8. And here Windows always failed in dual boot situations with Linux. Backup the Linux, delete the Linux, update to (Fall) Creators Update 1703/1709, restore the Linux partition.

answered on Super User Oct 6, 2017 by magicandre1981
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I had very similar situations several times, and each time it went away when I removed some external devices and removed my 4k screen.

So try to disconnect all non-elementary USB devices, and reduce your screen resolution to 1024x768. Then try it again. Once it is successfully installed, change the screen back to what you had, and plug everything back in, there should be no issues.

answered on Super User Oct 5, 2017 by Aganju
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SOLVED! This is what I did to fix the issue:

  • Created Win10 bootable USB installer with Rufus and latest Win10 ISO from MS
  • Booted to Win10 partition (which had the updating issue) -> DiskMgmt.msc -> marked System Partition as Active
  • Rebooted, this time using Win10 USB installer -> Advanced -> CMD prompt: ran all 4 BootRec.exe commands (/FixBoot /RebuildBCD, etc.)
  • Rebooted -> Win10 boots normally (Linux is temporarily broken or "missing" at this point due to GRUB bootloader being inaccessible by the machine)
  • Used EasyBCD to add Linux partition as a boot option in Windows BCD (you can also just use CMD prompt to do this, but I took the lazy route :P)
  • Booted to Win10 partition and updated Windows normally
answered on Super User Dec 21, 2018 by KidACrimson
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This is what worked for me. I suspected my BCD file was what was causing Windows update to always give me a "Something Went Wrong" message so I downloaded EasyBCD from Neosmart at www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/easybcd.html. (Other sites require you to download something called "Inbox" so I didn't use those sites.) I ended up also purchasing Easy Recovery Essentials from Neosmart for $19.95 because that is needed. I put EasyRE onto a USB thumb drive before running EasyBCD. I ran EasyBCD and deleted my BCD file. (The reason I deleted it is that I couldn't edit it so it was my only choice since I suspected that was the problem.) After deleting it I couldn't boot Windows so that is where the EasyRE was needed. I put in the thumb drive and rebooted. EasyRE booted right up and proceeded to install a new BCD. I restarted my PC and not only did it boot up but this time when I ran Windows update it worked. No error messages! I will note though, it did take almost and hour and a half to complete the year and a half of updates.

answered on Super User Apr 3, 2019 by Scott Alber

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