Fix “Windows Anytime Upgrade was not successful” Error
There’s a very specific reason for this problem
One of my clients ran into a problem when they were trying to upgrade from Windows 7 Home Premium to Professional using the Windows Anytime Upgrade tool. Instead of it working like normal, they ended up getting the following message:
The only sorry solution it gives you is to try the upgrade again, which doesn’t work. Clicking on theGo online to resolve this issue linkdoesn’t seem to take you anywhere helpful either. After doing some research, I figured out what the problem was and was finally able to get the client’s PC upgraded. Basically, it stemmed from the fact that Windows Update had downloaded Service Pack 1 onto the computer, but it was not installed by the client. Because of that, Windows Anytime Upgrade thinks that this is some sort of partial installation and blocks the upgrade.
In this article, I’ll walk you through the possible solutions. If you are still having trouble or get this error, post a comment here and I’ll try to help.
Method 1 – Microsoft Fixit
You may be able to spare yourself from having to anything by downloading and running the Microsoft Fixit solution for this particular problem. You can download it here directly from Microsoft:
If that doesn’t fix the issue, then keep reading.
Method 2 – Uninstall Windows 7 SP1
The next thing you can try to do is uninstall SP1 and then try to run the Anytime Upgrade. To do this, you need to run the command prompt as an Administrator. Click onStart, type inCMDand then right-click oncmd.exeand chooseRun as Administrator.
At the command prompt, type in the following command:
That command is for Windows 7 32-bit. If you are running Windows 7 64-bit, then you need to type in this command:
Go ahead and exit the command prompt and then restart the computer. Now try to perform a Windows Anytime Upgrade and see what happens.
Method 3 – Uninstall SP1 Beta
If you installed the beta version of Windows 7 SP 1, then you have to uninstall that. Again, it’s two different commands, one for 32-bit and one for 64-bit. You just have to open an elevated command prompt like I showed in Method 2. Then run the following command for 32-bit:
And run this one for 64-bit:
If you’re still having issues with Windows Anytime Upgrade failing or giving error message, post a comment here and I’ll try to help. Enjoy!
Founder of Help Desk Geek and managing editor. He began blogging in 2007 and quit his job in 2010 to blog full-time. He has over 15 years of industry experience in IT and holds several technical certifications.Read Aseem’s Full Bio
Leave a Reply
Your email address will not be published.Required fields are marked*
Comment*
Name*
Email*
Website
Welcome to Help Desk Geek- a blog full of tech tips from trusted tech experts. We have thousands of articles and guides to help you troubleshoot any issue. Our articles have been read over 150 million times since we launched in 2008.
HomeAbout UsEditorial StandardsContact UsTerms of Use
Copyright © 2008-2024 Help Desk Geek.com, LLC All Rights Reserved
