Windows 10 Professional has for months failed to upgrade successfully from version 1909 to version 20H2, despite numerous attempts. The update always fails with error message 0xc0000005. If I check "update history", I find the error message "Failed to install on [date] - 0x80242016. I have tried all the following steps, based on various suggestions I have found online and elsewhere:
1. Removed an obsolete program (Expert PDF 9) that has caused problems in the past.
2. Emptied the Windows Update cache (since the update had been downloaded several times) in case there was a corrupt file there.
3. Run the System File Checker and "RestoreHealth" commands (and I've just run them again as requested). They reported "Windows Resource Protection did not find any integrity violations" and "The operation was completed successfully".
4. Run the Windows Update Troubleshooter. Can't identify the problem.
5. Ran a virus check using my anti-virus software (Eset). No viruses were found.
6. Tried downloading the update manually.
7. Manually installed Servicing Stack Update KB5003710, which had not been installed automatically.
8. Checked that all drivers are up to date.
9. Physically disconnected the HiPoint internal card reader after a suggestion that card readers were prone to troubles. (NB There is certainly a problem here in that if I insert an SD card, it reads it, but if I then "safely remove" the SD card and then re-insert it, it fails to detect the card until I reboot. However, disconnection didn't solve the update problem.)
10. Performed a "clean boot" and tried installing the update yet again.
11. Tried instalilng the update with AntiVirus disabled.
12. Run the tweaking.com Windows repair program.
None of these has solved the problem.
