Whether you are upgrading to Windows 10 from Windows 9 using Get Windows 10 upgrade assistant or waiting for a feature update, if it fails, then here is how to upgrade Windows 10 using ISO manually. I had the experience when I wanted to upgrade my 6-year-old Dell. Even though Windows 10 setup file was downloaded on the PC, the upgrade is still waiting for something. When I checked the Upgrade log, I found it failed for some reasons.
How to manually upgrade Windows 10 using ISO when auto-upgrade fails
While I did get the error, the good thing is the PC was checked for its compatibility. It gave me a clear idea that I can go ahead with the manual upgrade. So here are the steps:
- First, make sure you have enough space in C drive or the drive where Windows 10 will be upgraded/installed.
- Next, we need to download the Windows 10 ISO without media creation tool. Since most of you will do it from Windows PC, try using agent switchers which lets you download the Windows 10 ISO for your PC.
- Once the download is complete, you will be able to extract using extractors like WINRAR.
- Do that, and all you need is to run a SETUP.EXE file on your PC. When prompted, choose upgrade instead of a fresh install.
- You will have the option to Keep your Files and Apps or just Files or Do a fresh install.
Video Demo:
If you want to clean install, you can choose to create a bootable USB drive. Then you can boot using that USB driver, and start the Windows 10 setup.
If you are new to Windows 10, make sure to connect your Microsoft account with the copy of Windows. It will make sure you will not have any issue of Windows activation the next time you need to clean install. Lastly, always take a backup of files and folders.
