How To Fix 'We could not complete the installation because an update service was shutting down'

Windows users may encounter the 'We could not complete the installation because an update service was shutting down' error while trying to update their Windows OS to a new version. The underlying reasons could vary but there are a couple of solutions that might help. 

Try the Windows Update Troubleshooter

When dealing with errors that emerge during the update process, it is always a good idea to give the built-in Windows Update Troubleshooter a chance.

1. Type settings into the search field on the taskbar and open the top result.
2. Locate the 'Update & Security' tab and open it.
3. Now, in the left pane, select 'Troubleshoot.'
4. Scroll down and click on 'Additional troubleshooters.'
5. Find 'Windows Update,' launch it, and follow the on-screen instructions.

Reset the Windows Update Components Manually  

1. Open a Run dialog box by pressing the Windows key + R on your keyboard.
2. Type cmd and press Ctrl+Shift+Enter to open an elevated Command Prompt window.
3. Now, to stop Windows Update and other related services from running type the following commands and press Enter after each one:

net stop bits

net stop wuauserv

net stop appidsvc

net stop cryptsvc

4. Type Del "%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Application Data\Microsoft\Network\Downloader\qmgr*.dat" and press Enter to remove all of the qmgr*.dat files on your system.
5. Type the following commands to rename the SoftwareDistribution and catroot2 folder:

Ren %systemroot%\SoftwareDistribution SoftwareDistribution.bak

Ren %systemroot%\system32\catroot2 catroot2.bak

6. Now, we will have to reset the BITS (Background Intelligent Transfer Services) service and the Windows Update service to theirdefault security descriptor. To do this, type the following commands and press Enter after each one:

sc.exe sdset bits D:(A;;CCLCSWRPWPDTLOCRRC;;;SY)(A;;CCDCLCSWRPWPDTLOCRSDRCWDWO;;;BA)(A;;CCLCSWLOCRRC;;;AU)(A;;CCLCSWRPWPDTLOCRRC;;;PU)

sc.exe sdset wuauserv D:(A;;CCLCSWRPWPDTLOCRRC;;;SY)(A;;CCDCLCSWRPWPDTLOCRSDRCWDWO;;;BA)(A;;CCLCSWLOCRRC;;;AU)(A;;CCLCSWRPWPDTLOCRRC;;;PU)

7. Type cd /d %windir%\system32 and press Enter to move to the System32 directory.
8. To register the BITS files and the DLL files related to the Windows Update again, input each command individually and execute it by pressing Enter:

regsvr32.exe atl.dll

regsvr32.exe urlmon.dll

regsvr32.exe mshtml.dll

regsvr32.exe shdocvw.dll

regsvr32.exe browseui.dll

regsvr32.exe jscript.dll

regsvr32.exe vbscript.dll

regsvr32.exe scrrun.dll

regsvr32.exe msxml.dll

regsvr32.exe msxml3.dll

regsvr32.exe msxml6.dll

regsvr32.exe actxprxy.dll

regsvr32.exe softpub.dll

regsvr32.exe wintrust.dll

regsvr32.exe dssenh.dll

regsvr32.exe rsaenh.dll

regsvr32.exe gpkcsp.dll

regsvr32.exe sccbase.dll

regsvr32.exe slbcsp.dll

regsvr32.exe cryptdlg.dll

regsvr32.exe oleaut32.dll

regsvr32.exe ole32.dll

regsvr32.exe shell32.dll

regsvr32.exe initpki.dll

regsvr32.exe wuapi.dll

regsvr32.exe wuaueng.dll

regsvr32.exe wuaueng1.dll

regsvr32.exe wucltui.dll

regsvr32.exe wups.dll

regsvr32.exe wups2.dll

regsvr32.exe wuweb.dll

regsvr32.exe qmgr.dll

regsvr32.exe qmgrprxy.dll

regsvr32.exe wucltux.dll

regsvr32.exe muweb.dll

regsvr32.exe wuwebv.dll

9. Now, we need to reset the network configuration. We can do it by entering and executing the following commands:

netsh winsock reset

netsh winsock reset proxy

10. The final step is to restart the services that we stopped earlier. Simply enter and execute these commands:

net start bits

net start wuauserv

net start appidsvc

net start cryptsvc

11. Restart the system and check if the 'We could not complete the installation because an update service was shutting down' error has been resolved.