Windows 10 version 1809 update fails saying "We couldn't update the system reserved partition"

[SDH]

That partition adjustment utility I use is EaseUS Partition Master.  You can get a free version but as is usually the case there are tricks and traps to try to get you to buy the full edition.  The current one is 12.10.0.0.

When you run the adjust partition part from the left column it opens a window that includes a checkbox for "Optimize for SSD".

[jeffparker]

Many thanks All. This is a great forum! The 1809 update on my Z240 has now disappeared from the update list thankfully, and the Patch Tuesday updates to already installed 1803 were applied this morning.

My Surface Pro updated successfully first time to 1809 and also received the patch updates this morning for that version. It is running ok on this update, without file losses, as far as I can tell.

So, all is good now thanks. Can wait now until the 1809 update is fixed and retry it on my Z240 when it is released.

[erico]

I was perusing the drives for your PC at the HP driver download web document and noticed a firmware update for the 

Firmware Update for Samsung SM951 NVMe - Windows 8.1 and Windows 10

BXW75H0Q Rev.A

Check in the device manager to see which SSD is installed in your PC.  If your SSD matches the hardware requisites for this firmware, this is something you should consider installing. Don't forget to back up your SSD before you install it.

https://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/selfservice/swdetails/hp-z240-small-form-factor-workstation/835...

[WAWood]

@SDH

Sadly, you are correct in the sizing of the System Reserved partition.  When I first tried to upgrade a Win7 PC to Win10, it failed because the Win7 PC had a 100MB System Reserved partition.  After I went in manually and resized it to 350MB, the upgrade then worked.

This was the original version of Win10 and I think the more recent ones can do this resizing -- but I have not tried a reinstall on that PC to check this out.

[JohnEnglish]

What about those of us that woke up to computers unable to boot because the update was automatically installed? I don’t have the keyboard driver so I can’t delete it. 

[jeffparker]

Hi All, thanks again for your assistance with this problem. I had a HP tech remote into my Workstation today and we looked at the problem and tried to fiddle with the partitions, but we were unable to extend the reserved partition. He was against using non-MS tools, so suggested I contact MS with the problem.

I then found this: https://support.microsoft.com/en-au/help/3086249/we-couldn-t-update-system-reserved-partition-error-..., which I followed and the 1809 update then proceeded.

So, it does look  like the 100MB is not big enough, but with these MS instructions was able to free up some space so that the update could proceed.

[jeffparker]

So, the exact same issue now comes up when trying to update to "Feature update to Windows 10, version 1903 amd64 2019-04"!!!

[SDH]

Jeff,

My recollection is that the last time I did a clean install of W10 the "System Reserved" partition was automatically about 500 MB.  That was onto a freshly reformatted SSD.  When a workstation is properly certified as W10 upgraded one can take pretty much any drive and install W10 on it, clean.  This is because the UUID of that workstation has already been registered on the MS W10 certification servers.  So, you can take a freshly reformatted SSD and load W10 clean on it because it looks at the motherboard's UUID and sees it is OK to go.

This contrasts with an upgrade of a prior W10 version to the latest.... that does not re-set the "System Reserved" partition automatically to a larger size.  So, the two solutions are to truly reinstall clean onto a reformatted drive, or to learn how to enlarge the System Reserved partition to somewhere near or at 500 MB.

[jeffparker]

Thanks SDH. That too is what I understand to be the case. Although my gripe is with HP who have configured a reserved partition that is woefully too small for Windows 10 updates. I have raised another ticket with them (thankfully my workstation is still under warranty) and let's see what they say this time. I would rather use a HP sanctioned solution to this, as doing anything else would likely void the warranty.

[SDH]

I'm with you Jeff.   What you see as the size of the System Reserved patition depend on when you first started (or manually changed).  I just updated this box to the latest release build of W10 you showed today, and had updated things on the same box a couple of days ago.  The System Reserved partition on this has been 500 MB for over a year, the update was uneventful, and the "breathing room" of 500 MB seems the right way to go given that is what a clean W10Pro64 will grab automatically.

I found the expansion of that partition to be like a stubbed toe.... a bit painful but survivable.  Reinstalling everything from scratch would have been much more painful.  But, for me, I have been playing this game for years now so what I think is acceptable is skewed.