This is one of the most common errors in Windows 10

Oct 29, 2018 10:18 GMT  ·  By

Windows 10 users certainly know that updating the operating system is no easy business, and sometimes errors show up without any clear reason.

For instance, a common error that many Windows 10 devices hit these days is 0x800F0923, which shows up in Windows Update when trying to update the operating system.

Basically, the problem occurs in two different cases: either when trying to install cumulative updates for Windows 10 or when trying to deploy another OS feature updates, like the recently-released Windows 10 version 1809 (October 2018 Update).

At first glance, the error doesn’t say too much about what’s wrong with the system, but on the other hand, a quick search on Google actually returns quite a lot of pages where users have been complaining about this issue.

Potential fix for error 0x800F0923

In most of the cases, what triggers error 0x800F0923 is a driver issue. The error is experienced when the Windows 10 system that’s trying to be updated runs drivers that are listed as incompatible with the version that users are about to install, so in order to ensure stability, the operating system automatically blocks the deployment.

There’s no easy way to fix this problem, and everything must be performed manually. Updating drivers is the only choice, and in order to do this, you need press Windows key + X and go to Device Manager.

In this screen, you need to update drivers manually, and I’d recommend starting with graphics and audio drivers. If you’ve recently installed a new piece of hardware in your system, begin with that one first. As an alternative, you can also try disconnecting it to see if the error persists.

There are lots of systems out there running older drivers, so installing the latest versions is always the right way to go, especially if hitting this error.

Updating drivers could help resolve the issue

A second culprit for error 0x800F0923 could be software also deemed incompatible with the update you’re trying to install.

The same workaround applies here too, and your only option is to manually uninstall programs one by one. Once again, if you’ve recently installed new software, you should begin by removing this too, and then continue with apps that haven’t been updated in a long time.

The older the software is, the bigger the chances to be incompatible with new updates and Windows 10 versions, so try to keep apps always up-to-date.

Microsoft first acknowledged Windows error 0x800F0923 back in 2014 when it was hitting Windows 8.1, and that point, Microsoft recommended users to check drivers too. The error can be encountered on Windows 10 too, and the cause appears to be the same.

Other things to try

There are two extra tricks that you should try if your computer can’t install updates and the process fails with error 0x800F0923.

First of all, make sure that there’s enough space on your drives, included on the System Reserved partition. To check out the space available here, press Windows key + X and go to Disk Management. Delete temporary files and other data that you don’t need if you’re running out of space.

On Windows 10, you can run a disk cleanup task to remove temporary files, and you can do this from the Settings app with the built-in app at System > Storage > Free up space now.

Freeing up space is one potential way to address it

Second of all, make sure you are running the latest version of the antivirus or security product defending on your system. Antivirus apps tend to block updates occasionally, and installing the most recent release helps deal with such compatibility issues.

If nothing works, Microsoft recommends getting in touch with support services, and this is exactly what you should do if installing updates isn’t possible after applying all these workarounds.

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The error may be encountered on both Windows 8.1 and Windows 10
Updating drivers could help resolve the issueFreeing up space is one potential way to address it
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