The Windows Update.exe file is not a Windows system file. There is no information about the author of the file. The process starts when Windows starts (see Registry key: User Shell Folders). Windows Update.exe is able to monitor applications, record keyboard. If a 'non-Microsoft'.exe file is located in the C:Windows or C:WindowsSystem32 folder, then there is a high risk for a virus, spyware, trojan or worm infection! Check it out! Click to Run a Free Scan for update.exe related errors.
If you are unable to download any exe file in Windows 10 or even on Windows 7/8/8.1, there may be a problem in your Internet Options or Windows Registry needs to be configured correctly.
This error usually occurs when you have disabled downloading of executable files in Internet Options. This can be done manually by any user or it can also be altered automatically through some software. While there can be many other possibilities, these two are the most popular ones. We will talk about fixing unable to download any exe file in Windows 10 using both methods one by one. Let’s start with fixing Internet Options.
You may also like to read about our 3 must have tools to fix most Windows problems without getting help from a techie.
Quick Summary
Fixing unable to download any exe file using Internet Options
May be your Internet Options are not set properly that’s why .exe file downloading is creating an issue. Apply below steps to set Internet Options orderly.
- Type Internet Options in the Start Menu and open the first result you get.
- Go to Security tab, in Internet Options window, and select Custom Level.
- A new window will open. Here find Downloads, expand it further and enable File Download and Font Download.
- Scroll below and look for another option with name Launching applications and unsafe files, select the Prompt option for it.
- Press Apply and OK. Close all open windows.
Fixing exe files not opening using Windows Registry
Zupdate Exe
- Open Registry Editor window by typing regedit.exe in Run dialog/. And go to the following entry.
“HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionPloiciesAttachments”. - Here you have to create a new 32-bit DWORD value with name ScanWithAntivirus and set its value to 1, this value will off or disable the scan.
So now any file you will download, antivirus software will not scan it, and your download will not suffer anymore.
Adding a Registry for EXE file extension
- Download the following Registry key:
Reset Exe in Windows Registry - Now go to file where you save it, double-click on it to add this registry into Windows Registry.
- A confirmatory window will open to ask you for changes you are going to made in Registry Editor. Press Yes, and here you are done.
After applying the fixes, hopefully your issue of unable to downloading or save any exe file will be resolved. But be sure of what you are downloading, and always download from official websites to avoid viruses with downloads, as you may suffer any issue if the virus comes along with your download files.
The size of the folder where windows update files are stored is becoming a concern about users. The largest consumer of disc space on Windows Clients are all the outdated and redundant files installed in the Component Store are stored in the WinSxS directory. If you are wondering if it is safe to delete windows update cache files or clean up windows updates that you do not need any more on your computer, our first suggestion is: Delete windows update files should be used ONLY as a last resort for the reason that it is not generally recommended to manually modify any contents on the C:Windows drive. In conclusion, please use this fix at your own risk only after you have gone through all other options to get the Windows Updates to apply successfully. If your Windows Update is not working properly or not working at all or if you find that the size of this folder has really grown large, then you can consider deleting the Software Distribution folder in Windows 10/8/7.
Where is the location for windows 7 and windows 10 update files? Their location in windows 7 and windows 10 can be found on the following path: C:WindowsSoftwareDistributionDownload
Delete windows update files
So how do we cleanup clean windows update and delete or reset Windows Update files and history? We are presenting today the manually method and the automatic one:
Delete windows update files manually (Windows 7 / 10)
- Stop the Windows update service before we can clear the update cache. To do that, search for “Services” in the Start menu and open it. If you are using your system as a standard user, then open it as an administrator using the right-click menu.Run as administrator Windows Services
- Once the Services window has been opened, find the service “Windows Update,” right-click on it and then select the option “Stop.” This action stops the Windows update serviceStop Windows Update Service
- After stopping the service, press “Win + R,” enter the below path and press the Enter button. This is the folder where Windows stores all the files related to Windows updates.C:WindowsSoftwareDistributionOpen SoftwareDistribution Folder
- Once you are in this folder, open the “Download” folder, select all the files in it and just press the Delete key on your keyboard to delete all the files. You might be prompted for administrator permissions; simply click on the “Continue” button to complete the procedure.
- Open the Services window again and start the “Windows Update service again by right-clicking on it and then select the option “Start.”
Delete windows update files automatically (Windows 7 / 10)
If you want to skip all the manually steps mentioned you can simply create a .bat or .cmd script to automatically delete windows update files. Open e new text file, copy the following commands and paste. After that, save the text file as .bat or .cmd. Do not forget to run the script as administrator:
net stop wuauserv
rmdir %windir%softwaredistribution /s /q
regsvr32 /s wuaueng.dll
regsvr32 /s wuaueng1.dll
regsvr32 /s atl.dll
regsvr32 /s wups.dll
regsvr32 /s wups2.dll
regsvr32 /s wuweb.dll
regsvr32 /s wucltui.dll
net start wuauserv
A friend of mine is a cop and he always said to avoid putting those license plate covers on. Especially when you're driving from state-to-state, it's hard to know what the different laws are.Also, those things just shout out that 'I'm trying to evade speed cameras' so if you are pulled over for something minor and they see the 'speed evaders' on your plates, they're less likely to let you go w/ just a warning.Definitely. Virginia front license plate exemption. Most states have a law that prevents anything that 'obstructs' the plates, so just be careful. And the reason is those speed cameras will often catch a glare off the plastic on the clear license plate covers, and therefore law enforcement does not like them.
Windows Update Cleanup
Windows Update Cleanup Process Manually (Windows 7 / 10)
- Click on Start – Go To My Computer – Select System C – Right click and then select Disk CleanupRun Disk Cleanup
- Disk Cleanup scans and calculates how much space you will be able to free on that driveDisk Cleanup Running
- After that, you need to select Windows Update Cleanup and press OK
- If nothing is found for Windows Update Cleanup to perform, it will not show up as an option. After performing that, you may not be able to uninstall any of the updates currently applied. However, if you need to rollback to a previous version, you can still manually apply the previous version of the update. If you highlight Windows Update Cleanup, you’re presented with the following detailsWindows Alert about Windows Updates
When you click ok, Disk Cleanup runs and cleans up the unnecessary files on your machine. You can see it running the Windows Update Cleanup as part of this belowThe process will start so you need to wait. Prison architect no download. If you check into the Task Manager – Processes you will find: cleanmgr.exe started. After the whole process is finished you need to restart your PC. You will be not prompted to reboot. However, when you next reboot, you’ll see Windows configuring Windows updates on shutdown and Cleaning up on startup. It might take a while so don’t panic! The larger the cleanup, the longer it will take.Configuring Windows Updates- Click on Start – Go To My Computer – Select System C – Right click and then select Disk Cleanup
Windows Update Cleanup Automatically (Windows 7 / 10)
With this method you will be able to automate the whole process mentioned above, for example when you have let’s say 100-200 users.If you want to apply the whole process automatically for all your PC in your domain you need to use PsTools: PsExec.exe. Below you can find all the steps:- Copy the Clean-up .bat script mentioned above in every PC in your domain using SCCM. You can copy it into D drive.
@echo onecho Config cleanmgr flag 5100.%SystemRoot%System32reg.exe add “HKLMSOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerVolumeCachesUpdate Cleanup” /v StateFlags0011 /t REG_DWORD /d 0x2 /f > d:log1.txt%systemroot%System32cleanmgr.exe /sagerun:11 > d:log2.txt- Open CMD as Administrator and run:
PsExec.exe @cleanup_list.txt >>cleanup_list_log.txt -c D:PSToolsCleanUp_Update_V1.3.batcleanup_list.txt: List with all PC in you domain.cleanup_list_log.txt: The log created after the runD:PSToolsCleanUp_Update.bat Clean-up script copied before on all PC