If you turn off your computer during an update, the update usually resumes or starts from scratch on the next boot.
Interrupting the update process may sometimescorrupt files, leave software partially installed, or causeunpredictable system behavior. At a minimum, this willslow down your computer, but it could also result indata loss,security vulnerabilities, or anunbootable machine.
If you accidentally turn off your Windows computer during an update, the operating system often has built-in repair tools that attempt to fix the problem upon reboot.
However, in some cases, you may need toboot into Safe Modeto address issues manually or, as a last resort,reinstall Windows.
How Windows Handles Download and Installation of Updates
Since Windows Vista, the update process utilizes the Component-Based Servicing (CBS) architecture that significantly minimizes the risks of a failed update.
If you want to learn how it works, I recommend checking the article on Understanding Component-Based Servicing onMicrosoft’s TechCommunity platform.
Here, we only need to note some of the key points on how Windows handles update download and installation, such as,
So, ideally, a failed update should not cause any substantial harm to your system. However, sometimes, your system may fail to revert all the changes. In these cases, your system files may become corrupted.
What Happens When You Turn Off the Computer During Update
The different phases of the update process perform different operations. So turning off the computer affects them differently. Let’s discuss.
While Downloading Updates
During the downloading phase, the update client downloads the update components from the server.
When you manually turn off your computer at this time, your system will either keep the incomplete update files or discard them. So, on the next boot,the download progress will continue from the previous start or start afresh.
If the power cuts off abruptly, the downloaded data may get corrupted. However, your system will usuallydetect the incomplete data and start downloading the updated files from scratch.
