Windows 8.1 & Windows 10 Update Error 0xC1900101-0x40017 Solved

I’ve had some difficulties when it comes to upgrading my Samsung Windows Tablet. Last year when Windows 8.1 Preview was released, I kept running into 0xC1900101 errors and this post walks through those fixes. Now with Windows 10 Technical Preview, I was able to upgrade from 8.1 to the first release of Windows 10, but all upgrades after that failed with Windows 10 update error 0xC1900101-0x40017. After much struggle, I have finally managed to upgrade to build 9841 (the most recent as of this article).

Some background, I tried doing the in-place upgrade through PC Settings Updates and that always failed. It looked like it would complete, but then spend half a day at a startup screen with a spinning circle and finally fail with 0xC1900101-0x40017. Then I tried downloading the ISO for the latest version and copied it onto a USB and booted to it, which gave me the same result.

Step 1) System File Checker

From the start menu, type cmd, then right-click on it and choose Run As Administrator.

In the command window, type sfc /SCANNOW, press enter and let that run. It could take 10-30 minutes. For me, it gave me an error saying it found corrupt files but they couldn’t be fixed.

If you get errors about corrupt files, move to step 1a or try saving this file to your desktop and run it as administrator. Once completed, you’ll have a sfcdetails.txt file on your desktop with details of the corrupt files.

Step 1a) DISM Command

If you get the error above when trying to run SFC, then in the same command window, try running:
DISM /online /cleanup-image /checkhealth
then
DISM /online /cleanup-image /scanhealth
then
DISM /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth

Step 2) Windows Updates

In PC Settings, go under Updates and install all available updates to your system.

Step 3) Updates In Windows Store

Go into the Windows Store, open the Charms Bar, and go into App Updates. Click the Check For Updates button and install all available updates.

Step 4) Run Disk Cleanup

In the Start Menu, type in Disk Cleanup and select “Free up disk space by deleting unnecessary files”.

Click the button to clean up System Files.

Check all of the boxes and run the cleanup utility.

Step 5) Uninstall Antivirus Apps

If you have any other antivirus programs installed besides the built-in Microsoft one, uninstall them now. Avast and some others have been known to cause issues with the updates.

Step 6) Delete Temp Files

You can run the Disk Cleanup utility again or use a program like CCleaner.

Step 7) Delete Prefetch Files

Browse to the folder C:WindowsPrefetch. You’ll have to give yourself permissions to access it. Once you have it open, select all of the files and delete them all.

Step 8) Reboot & Try Updating Again

After you’ve completed the steps above, reboot your computer one last time then try your upgrade again.

Step 9) Try Booting To A Clean Boot State

– Swipe in from the right edge of the screen, and then tap Search. Or, if you are using a mouse, point to the lower-right corner of the screen, and then click Search.
– Type msconfig in the search box, and then tap or click msconfig.
– On the Services tab of the System Configuration dialog box, tap or click to select the Hide all Microsoft services check box, and then tap or click Disable all.
– On the Startup tab of the System Configuration dialog box, tap or click Open Task Manager.
– On the Startup tab in Task Manager, for each startup item, select the item and then click Disable.
– Close Task Manager.
– On the Startup tab of the System Configuration dialog box, tap or click OK, and then restart the computer.

Reminder – Possible Other Issues

– If you have Steel series software installed uninstall it. (There are lot of reported cases with this software. You will have to wait till they come up with an update.)
– Remove security software if possible. (Security software can create lot of issues, so removing it is one less reason for windows to crash. I won’t worry about Microsoft Security Essentials and Windows Defender since it is from Microsoft, but at times they can also create problems.)

For me, I ran the update from an ISO on a USB stick. When prompted, I chose to do a clean install and not save any of my data since I have everything backed up to the cloud.