Some time ago, Microsoft did away with automatic updates and in the process gave more control to users, who now have the ability to pause updates or even turn them off completely. This decision was taken to avoid compatibility problems like those that have arisen with the 2004 version of Windows 10, which surprisingly not all users have received yet despite being released at the end of last May. Therefore, in this article we will show you what your options are to update the system to the latest version of features available, in this case known as 20H2, released on October 20, 2020.
Note: Note: a requirement to qualify for the October 2020 update is that you already have the previous version (2004) installed. If you are not sure if this is the case, see here how to know which version of Windows you have.
Among the changes provided by Windows 10 May 2020 Update are the correction of many known bugs, the renewal of some interface features and improvements to accessibility features. Another popular feature is the ability to install and uninstall applications such as Notepad, Paint, and WordPad at will, which had been impossible until now.
A new feature that we find particularly useful is the automatic restart of previously opened applications upon rebooting the computer, allowing users to continue working where they left off. The internal search performance in the operating system has also been improved and the possibility of reinstalling it from the cloud has been added, without the need to use a USB or a disk.
The improvements don’t stop here either, to discover the complete list, click here.
Click the Start button (the Windows logo), and then click the cogwheel icon. In the new window that opens, go to Update and Security. In the left column, select Windows Update, and then click Check for updates. Once the search is complete, two things may happen:
If you are impatient to have the new update, there are other methods to force the update ( be sure to make a backup beforehand to avoid unnecessary risks). The easiest one is to access the Microsoft download portal, click on Update Now and follow the instructions on the installation wizard.
This method is similar to the previous one, so you will have to go to the Windows 10 download page again. Then click Download now and open the file MediaCreationTool2004.exe when the download is finished.
On the first screen click OK and on the second screen check the box Update this computer now and click Next. Follow the process and restart your computer when prompted.
If you’re greeted by the message "This computer cannot be upgraded to Windows 10" after trying the above procedures, we advise you to give up for now and try again at a later date. Hopefully, Microsoft will have already fixed the issues that made this upgrade incompatible with your computer.
As a last resort, you can rerun the media creation tool and choose the Create installation media (USB flash drive, DVD or ISO file) option for another PC. Follow the instructions to create a bootable USB or burn the Windows 10 2004 ISO image to a DVD and use that external drive to perform a clean OS installation. For more details, see "Using the installation media you created” in this article. We do not recommend that you do this unless you’re well acquainted with the process and even then, we cannot guarantee that it will work as Windows may have blocked this upgrade path for your PC.
Want to check if the upgrade was successful and you're running the latest version of Windows? Click here to find out which version of Windows you're using.
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