How can I find out what went wrong with a failed Windows update?

Question

This has happened multiple times now - when I shut off my Aspire 7741G-6426 laptop (running Windows 7 and 8.1) at night, it does Updates and then shuts down.

When I fire it up the next morning, I get this msg:

We couldn't complete the updates. Undoing changes. Don't turn off your computer

Why do the updates keep failing, and why doesn't Windows stop trying to apply the updates in the first place after several failed attempts?

Or are these all different instances of updates? Last night/this morning was the most recent.

So, how can I find out what went wrong with a failed Windows update?

UPDATE

The comment reminded me that I wrote an event log viewer a long time ago. Looking at events within the last day, it gives me:

Type: Warning
Source: Microsoft-Windows-ApplicationExperienceInfrastructure
Time Generated: 03/20/2015 04:35:50
Message: The application (Microsoft SQL Server (2008 and 2008 R2), from vendor Microsoft) has the following problem: Microsoft SQL Server (2008 and 2008 R2) is not supported on this version of Windows. For more information, contact Microsoft.
Machine Name: AcerAndroid
User Name: NT AUTHORITY\NETWORK SERVICE

Type: Warning
Source: Wlclntfy
Time Generated: 03/20/2015 04:36:46
Message: The winlogon notification subscriber <TrustedInstaller> is taking long time to handle the notification event (CreateSession).
Machine Name: AcerAndroid

Type: Warning
Source: Wlclntfy
Time Generated: 03/20/2015 04:38:46
Message: The winlogon notification subscriber <TrustedInstaller> took 180 second(s) to handle the notification event (CreateSession).
Machine Name: AcerAndroid

Type: Warning
Source: Wlclntfy
Time Generated: 03/20/2015 04:38:57
Message: The winlogon notification subscriber <TrustedInstaller> failed a critical notification event.
Machine Name: AcerAndroid

Type: Warning
Source: Microsoft-Windows-ApplicationExperienceInfrastructure
Time Generated: 03/20/2015 04:40:22
Message: The application (Microsoft SQL Server (2008 and 2008 R2), from vendor Microsoft) has the following problem: Microsoft SQL Server (2008 and 2008 R2) is not supported on this version of Windows. For more information, contact Microsoft.
Machine Name: AcerAndroid
User Name: NT AUTHORITY\NETWORK SERVICE

Type: Warning
Source: Wlclntfy
Time Generated: 03/20/2015 04:41:21
Message: The winlogon notification subscriber <TrustedInstaller> is taking long time to handle the notification event (CreateSession).
Machine Name: AcerAndroid

Type: Warning
Source: Wlclntfy
Time Generated: 03/20/2015 04:43:06
Message: The winlogon notification subscriber <TrustedInstaller> took 165 second(s) to handle the notification event (CreateSession).
Machine Name: AcerAndroid

Type: Warning
Source: Microsoft-Windows-ApplicationExperienceInfrastructure
Time Generated: 03/20/2015 04:44:37
Message: The application (ATI Catalyst Control Center *, from vendor ATI Technologies Inc) has the following problem: To function properly, ATI Catalyst Control Center * must be reinstalled after you upgrade Windows.
Machine Name: AcerAndroid
User Name: ACERANDROID\Clay

UPDATE 2

I tried John Ball's suggestion, and got to the "Windows Update History" screen in Windows 8.1, but it was blank. When I went back to Windows 7 mode via Windows key+D, I saw this:

UPDATE 3

The Wolverine's link seemed to have worked. This is what I saw after I ran it:

UPDATE 4

Well, that didn't work, after all: I had the same old problem this morning and starting up my laptop. The link to the zipped contents of C:\Windows\Logs\CBS is https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=C150662F95F0ACCE%2120553

Answer 1

You have a couple of options for viewing what went wrong or finding out why your updates are failing. You can try using the update troubleshooting tool provided by Microsoft, or you can try the following if you're on Windows 8.

• Swipe from the right side of your screen left or move your mouse to the bottom right of your screen and then up to bring up the task bar. On the task bar, click settings.
• Click 'Change PC Settings'
• Click 'Update and Recovery'
• Click 'View Your Update History'

That will let you view the error code for why your update failed, which you can then research for how to fix.

Another possible avenue of finding out what is going wrong with your updates is using the %windir%\windowsupdate.log file referenced in this Microsoft KB. This log file contains a plethora of information about updates that are happening through Windows Update on your computer, so you'll likely be able to find information about what's going wrong, including exit codes and whatnot.

Answer 2

Type "windows update" into the start menu search box. When the Windows Update window appears click on "View update history". You can then click on any failed updates and then you should see a link "Get help with this error".

Answer 3

According to the log files, installing an updated driver fails because of a configuration error:

2015-03-22 07:07:49, Info                  CBS            STAGE index: 0, phase: 1, result 1009, inf: wdma_bt.inf
2015-03-22 07:07:49, Info                  CBS    Doqe: Recording result: 0x800703f1, for Inf: wdma_bt.inf
2015-03-22 07:07:49, Info                  CBS    DriverUpdateStageUpdates failed [HRESULT = 0x800703f1 - ERROR_BADDB]
2015-03-22 07:07:49, Error                 CBS    Doqe: Failed staging driver updates [HRESULT = 0x800703f1 - ERROR_BADDB]

C:\Users\André>err 0x800703f1
# as an HRESULT: Severity: FAILURE (1), FACILITY_WIN32 (0x7), Code 0x3f1
# for hex 0x3f1 / decimal 1009
  ERROR_BADDB                                                    winerror.h
# The configuration registry database is corrupt.
# 1 matches found for "0x800703f1"

This seams to be hard to debug. Try to do an Inplace- Upgrade to repair Windows:

• Insert a Windows DVD or mount a Windows ISO, while running Windows.
• run setup.exe and select Upgrade.