After removing an update, Windows 11 is only allowing "update and restart" or "update and shut down"

JoeK said:

then I must have picked one that is different from that one. I'll try to find it.

Click to expand...

You can run the Windows Update Troubleshooter directly from the command line. Open a command prompt and type the command:
msdt /id WindowsUpdateDiagnostic

I already found how to do it, and it was unable to fix it.

Bear in mind too, that some parts of certain updates CANNOT be uninstalled. As an example, Servicing Stack Updates (SSUs) used to be packaged separately. SSUs are now bundled with the LCU (Latest Cumulative Update). Once installed, if the LCU included an SSU, uninstalling that LCU uninstalls only the LCU. The SSU CANNOT be uninstalled.

@hsehestedt So, the SSU makes it think there is an update needing a restart?

Try resetting it.....

@Bree That did not work. Thanks though.

JoeK said:

@hsehestedt So, the SSU makes it think there is an update needing a restart?

Click to expand...

Not saying that. I was merely pointing that there are some elements that cannot be uninstalled. Another good reason for always having good backups on hand

I assume you do not have a backup? If not, for the future, you could just restore it and be back in business. Also, I believe there are some possibilities we could try, but I wouldn't try them without a backup of your current system.

@geneo I thought I did, but something was wrong with that file.

Not really a solution, but if anyone else is interested, I did finally find these sites:
Microsoft Update Catalog
The first is for a list of windows 11 updates. The second is where you can put in the update's code to download it manual.
My computer still thinks there is an update requiring a restart, but this does give me a way of getting around it to still get new updates.

A trick that I sometimes use that seems to help in situations like this....

Go into Windows Settings, Windows update, choose to pause updates. I usually just select the default of one week. Then resume updates. For me at least, this seems to reset updates and causes a new search for available updates.

@hsehestedt thanks, but already tried that...no changes.