Here's how to fix failing Windows 10 Insider updates, if you tweaked your registry

Back in October of last year we reported on how you can trick Windows 10 into - at the very least, show you super secret builds that ultimately failed to download. This in itself caused a few problems for Insiders attempting to upgrade to official builds. Two weeks later, we posted details on how to revert the registry tweak.

@DarkHelmet46 We"re working on this, best thread to track is here: https://t.co/6XGaDOwnqL

— Gabriel Aul (@GabeAul) June 4, 2015

Gabe Aul has again chimed in on the issue, since it still appears to be very much a problem for some Insiders. Aul stated on a Microsoft Support site page that the upgrade fail, or "Error 0x80246017" happens "because the client is asking WU for a build that it doesn"t have permission to get. In many cases this was because people at one point tried to tweak their registry to get internal builds," he also posted the steps to take in order to correct the issue:

  1. Open the registry editor and navigate to the following path: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsSelfHost\Applicability
  2. Locate BranchName and make sure it shows: FBL_IMPRESSIVE. If it doesn"t, change it.
  3. Locate ThresholdRiskLevel and change it to: low
  4. Find ThresholdInternal and delete it
  5. Find ThresholdOptedIn and delete it

If you have followed the steps correctly, your Applicability key should look like the image on the right. Afterwards you"ll need to go to Settings > Windows Update > Advanced and re-select the Fast ring; then check again for updates.

Aul also said that this should fix the problems people are having with the error message, and that Microsoft is "working on a solution that will hopefully solve for everyone affected and will have more info soon."

The last Windows 10 ISOs to be released by Microsoft were of build 10074, so jumping to build 10130 with a clean install is not a possibility yet. However, the build is looking like a good candidate for the Slow ring, which typically also gets ISO download links.

Via Gabe Aul & Microsoft Support

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