Solved Win 11 Updates Failing - Solution at Last!!!

slcidea · Dec 29, 2022

I followed these steps suggested by STRGGG on this forum and my problem with updates failing to complete was finally resolved. After months of struggling and posting on this forum with little success, I am happy to report that this fix worked! I've updated the suggested steps below with some minor changes.

1) Make sure to backup your system with Macrium or some other software so you can revert back if something goes wrong.
2) Download PsTools - Sysinternals
3) Extract PSExec.exe or PSExec64.exe depending on your system 32 or 64 bit from the archive.
4) Copy the PSExec.exe or PSExec64.exe in your root directory or directory of your choice.
5) Enter CMD in the Windows search box. Select Run as Administrator in the search results box. This is required to run at the System level.
6) Enter “psexec -s -i regedit.exe” in the command window (make sure you enter the path in CMD to go to the directory where the PSExec is located)
7) I extracted PSExec64 from the archive so I ran "psexec64 -s -i regedit.exe" instead
8) Navigate to registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SECURITY\Policy\Secrets\NL$KM
9) Select CurVal and right click the “Default” name in the right pane. Choose Delete
10)Do the same for OldVal
11)Reboot
12)Run Windows Update and install the 22H2 update. Good luck!

BTW, this fix also works on Win 10 update issues which have been plaguing many users since August 2022.

Wolverine2590 · Jan 14, 2023

I attempted this fix for my issue, but no luck. I'm attempting to upgrade Windows 11 2021H2 Pro to Windows 11 2022 H2 Pro. The result is always this error: 0xC1900101 - 0x30017 The installation failed in the FIRST_BOOT phase with an error during BOOT operation. I have attempted everything with no luck, then I saw your post and was a little optimistic since I have never seen this solution before. So I tried it, but I still get the same error message. My computer is fully compatible, properly setup, have plenty of space in the UEFI partition, have plenty of free space on my boot partition. When I followed your instructions, I ran the update directly from the ISO. The upgrade no longer shows up in Windows update. I do have TPM enabled, bitlocker encryption configured, secure boot enabled, etc. etc. One suggestion that someone made was to disable secure boot, which is a kind of workaround; however, you can't turn it back on, or you will get the same error. And it kind of defeats the secure boot security feature, which is supposed to be a prerequisite for installing Windows 11 in the first place! I've also re-installed factory settings which took me back to Windows 10 Pro. Then ran windows update, updated all my drivers, etc. Then the Windows 11 2022H1 updated showed up. Installed it, udpated all drivers again. Then the Windows 11 2022H2 udpate showed up, installed it, and I get that lame First_Boot phase error. No, I haven't opened a support ticket with Dell, since I don't necessarily feel like re-running every step I've taken which adds up to about 30 hours+ of time. I did post on the Dell forum where I uploaded various log files, but the reviewer said there was nothing useful in the logs, and suggested I open a ticket with Microsoft. Well, I decided to post here instead, since I found this unique fix. I was wondering if others have succesfully used this method, or perhaps there's something new I'm missing. Your help is appreciated.

slcidea · Jan 14, 2023

Wolverine2590 said:
I attempted this fix for my issue, but no luck. I'm attempting to upgrade Windows 11 2021H2 Pro to Windows 11 2022 H2 Pro. The result is always this error: 0xC1900101 - 0x30017 The installation failed in the FIRST_BOOT phase with an error during BOOT operation. I have attempted everything with no luck, then I saw your post and was a little optimistic since I have never seen this solution before. So I tried it, but I still get the same error message. My computer is fully compatible, properly setup, have plenty of space in the UEFI partition, have plenty of free space on my boot partition. When I followed your instructions, I ran the update directly from the ISO. The upgrade no longer shows up in Windows update. I do have TPM enabled, bitlocker encryption configured, secure boot enabled, etc. etc. One suggestion that someone made was to disable secure boot, which is a kind of workaround; however, you can't turn it back on, or you will get the same error. And it kind of defeats the secure boot security feature, which is supposed to be a prerequisite for installing Windows 11 in the first place! I've also re-installed factory settings which took me back to Windows 10 Pro. Then ran windows update, updated all my drivers, etc. Then the Windows 11 2022H1 updated showed up. Installed it, udpated all drivers again. Then the Windows 11 2022H2 udpate showed up, installed it, and I get that lame First_Boot phase error. No, I haven't opened a support ticket with Dell, since I don't necessarily feel like re-running every step I've taken which adds up to about 30 hours+ of time. I did post on the Dell forum where I uploaded various log files, but the reviewer said there was nothing useful in the logs, and suggested I open a ticket with Microsoft. Well, I decided to post here instead, since I found this unique fix. I was wondering if others have succesfully used this method, or perhaps there's something new I'm missing. Your help is appreciated.

That's the exact error message I was getting when I had the problem and it points to driver issue. But this fix that I applied fixed my problem and the updates are working fine. I take it that you followed the instructions and were able to get into the registry with elevated privileges to access the SECURITY and make the changes as outlined. If this didn't work then could be that your problem is something else.

Wolverine2590 · Jan 14, 2023

Yes - I was able to access:
Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SECURITY\Policy\Secrets\NL$KM\OldVal
and
Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SECURITY\Policy\Secrets\NL$KM\CurrVal

I noticed that you have CurVal listed, when mine is "Currval".

I deleted the default value in each and rebooted. I noticed after I rebooted, there was a default value again in CurrVal. So should I delete the default value, not reboot and try the update?

I checked the crash dump directories - the module which the error occurred was c:\windows\system32\drivers\ndis.sys. Bugcheck code:

0x15E(0x25, 0x26, 0xFFFF988D7007EE68, 0x0)

slcidea · Jan 14, 2023

Wolverine2590 said:
Yes - I was able to access:
Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SECURITY\Policy\Secrets\NL$KM\OldVal
and
Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SECURITY\Policy\Secrets\NL$KM\CurrVal

I noticed that you have CurVal listed, when mine is "Currval".

I deleted the default value in each and rebooted. I noticed after I rebooted, there was a default value again in CurrVal. So should I delete the default value, not reboot and try the update?

I checked the crash dump directories - the module which the error occurred was c:\windows\system32\drivers\ndis.sys. Bugcheck code:

0x15E(0x25, 0x26, 0xFFFF988D7007EE68, 0x0)

Sorry, that's just a typo with a missing "r". After the registry change you have to reboot before attempting the update. Just make sure you follow the instructions exactly as shown. Doesn't hurt to give it another try.

Wolverine2590 · Jan 16, 2023

I did, thanks. Same problem. I also decided to install it from scratch using a bootable USB drive. Same error. I used Macrium to restore the C partition and ran a boot repair and I'm back to where I was. Thanks, anyway. I'll post again if/when I ever figure this out.

slcidea · Jan 16, 2023

Wolverine2590 said:
I did, thanks. Same problem. I also decided to install it from scratch using a bootable USB drive. Same error. I used Macrium to restore the C partition and ran a boot repair and I'm back to where I was. Thanks, anyway. I'll post again if/when I ever figure this out.

Sounds like your issue is unrelated to this fix and could be a driver issue given the code 0xC1900101 - 0x30017.