Update KB5068164 fails to install

JoMcKen-9333 80 Reputation points
2026-01-16T10:52:55.63+00:00

I’ve had update KB5068164 (2025-10 security update for WinRE) available since last October, but it always failed to install with an "internal error” message, so I gave up. But now I’m tired of ignoring it, so I’d like to get it installed once and for all.

I found this thread with what appears to be the same issue and tried following the LLM-generated instructions therein, but the update still failed to install. Rather than tinkering blindly, I reverted the steps.

I suspect the issue may be related to the fact that I had to manually create (and then update) my recovery partition after reimaging my system drive with Acronis last summer. However, given that the instructions in that thread were specific to my setup at the time, I’m not comfortable trying to guess at which commands to run and in which order to run them (since most of these commands are gobbledygook to me anyway), so I’d much prefer of someone could assist me presently.

As previously, below is some info that was requested in another thread with a similar issue, in case it helps.

https://learn-attachment.microsoft.com/api/attachments/c9c6feea-038e-4479-b93b-d1f1d3e50898?platform=QnA

Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.19045.6809]
(c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\Windows\system32>reagentc /info
Windows Recovery Environment (Windows RE) and system reset configuration
Information:
    Windows RE status:         Enabled
    Windows RE location:       \\?\GLOBALROOT\device\harddisk2\partition5\Recovery\WindowsRE
    Boot Configuration Data (BCD) identifier: ac6d8543-f2bf-11f0-bd8a-401c83cf49bd
    Recovery image location:
    Recovery image index:      0
    Custom image location:
    Custom image index:        0

REAGENTC.EXE: Operation Successful.


C:\Windows\system32>dir c:\windows\system32\recovery /a
 Volume in drive C is System (HD1)
 Volume Serial Number is FA7B-E6ED

 Directory of c:\windows\system32\recovery

01/16/2026  04:42    <DIR>          .
01/16/2026  04:42    <DIR>          ..
01/16/2026  04:50             1,139 ReAgent.xml
12/03/2023  21:36       466,404,365 winre.wim.old
               2 File(s)    466,405,504 bytes
               2 Dir(s)  254,898,348,032 bytes free

“winre.wim.old” was created on August 27, 2025 (despite the modification date reading 2023), during the troubleshooting detailed in my previous thread, linked above.

Any help would be appreciated.

Windows for home | Windows 10 | Windows update
Answer accepted by question author
Ramesh 183.6K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
2026-01-17T06:45:52.71+00:00

Run:

diskpart

select disk 2

select part 5

del part override

exit

reagentc /disable

xcopy /h C:\Recovery\WindowsRE\winre.wim C:\Windows\System32\Recovery\

Create a new Recovery partition in the 1 GB unallocated space. Format it as NTFS and assign the drive letter S:

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  1. Ramesh 183.6K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2026-01-17T03:46:46.7566667+00:00

    It's added:

    Package Identity : Package_for_SafeOSDU~31bf3856ad364e35~amd64~~19041.6807.1.8
State : Installed
Release Type : Update
Install Time : 1/17/2026 03:35

    Let's commit the changes now:

    Dism /Unmount-Image /MountDir:"c:\mount\winre" /Commit 

Dism /Get-ImageInfo /ImageFile:c:\winre\winre.wim /index:1

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  2. Ramesh 183.6K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2026-01-17T03:29:42.8466667+00:00

    Run:

    Dism /Mount-Wim /WimFile:C:\WinRE\winre.wim /index:1 /MountDir:C:\Mount\WinRE

Dism /Add-Package /Image:C:\Mount\WinRE /PackagePath:"C:\WinRE\KB5073933.cab"

Dism /image:C:\Mount\WinRE /cleanup-image /StartComponentCleanup /ResetBase

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  3. Ramesh 183.6K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2026-01-17T03:12:11.53+00:00

    Run:

    md  C:\WinRE

md c:\mount\winre

reagentc /disable

dir c:\windows\system32\recovery /a

attrib -s -h -r C:\Windows\System32\Recovery\Winre.wim

copy C:\Windows\System32\Recovery\Winre.wim C:\WinRE\

ren C:\Windows\System32\Recovery\Winre.wim Winre.wim.original

    Post the output.

    Download this CAB file.

    windows10.0-kb5073933-x64_c3c0f57f3d716ecbc314bd66413d72ff3659e9ea.cab

    Save it to a folder in the C drive -- e.g., C:\WinRE

    Rename the CAB file to KB5073933.cab.

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  4. Ramesh 183.6K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2026-01-16T11:25:03.35+00:00

    Hi Joe,

    Post the output of the following command:

    Dism /Get-ImageInfo /ImageFile:\\?\GLOBALROOT\device\harddisk2\partition5\Recovery\WindowsRE\winre.wim /index:1

    If you can't upload the WinREAgent log here, upload it to GoFile.io and post the link here.

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