After you upgrade to Windows 10 or install a Windows 10 Feature update, you’ll be able to go back to your previous version of Windows within a limited time of 10 days. This can be done by opening Settings → Update & Security → Recovery → Go back to the previous version of Windows 10. Show
(If you have upgraded from Windows 7, you’ll see Go back to Windows 7 instead.) Rolling back to the previous version using this method keeps your personal files, but it’ll remove your customizations, apps, and drivers installed after the upgrade. By default, you have ten days, before which you can roll back to the previous version of Windows. Uninstalling the current version and going back to the previous version of Windows also frees up gigabytes of data on your hard disk, as the After the 10-day window, the previous Windows installation files under the In Windows 10 versions before the Anniversary Update (v1607), the rollback timeframe was 30 days. Since the Anniversary Update, Microsoft has reduced the uninstall window to 10 days. As per Microsoft, it was a data-driven decision (based on telemetry) to change the rollback timeframe from 30 to just 10 days. Quoting the source:
Evaluating an Operating System may need more time for end-users, and a 10-day window is insufficient
for most people. The good news is that you can increase the Go back to the previous version of Windows to a maximum of This article tells you how to extend the 10-day rollback window on your Windows 10 computer. Using the DISM utility, you can do the following:
(Reference: DISM Operating System uninstall Command-Line Options.) Find the rollback timeframe (number of days)To determine the uninstall window timeframe (days) of your existing Windows installation, run this command from admin Command Prompt: DISM /Online /Get-OSUninstallWindow You’ll see the following output: Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool Version: 10.0.19041.572 Image Version: 10.0.19042.661 Uninstall Window : 10 The operation completed successfully. Increase the rollback timeframe (number of days)Run this command to set the number of days after an upgrade that an uninstall can be initiated. Syntax: DISM /Online /Set-OSUninstallWindow /Value:<days> The value (i.e.,
number of days) must be in the range of Example: DISM /Online /Set-OSUninstallWindow /Value:30 You should see the message “The operation completed successfully” in the output. The above command-line sets the rollback window to 30 days. Windows won’t erase the Set the Rollback timeframe via the RegistryYou can set the rollback window timeframe by editing the registry, as well.
After the registry modification, it’s better that you restart Windows, though the DISM Get-OSUninstallWindow command would reflect the registry change even if you don’t reboot. Additional TipThere are two more DISM
switches namely, The Registry values:
Error: 1168 – Element not foundIn some cases, the error 1168 (‘element not found’) may occur when running the DISM Get-OSUninstallWindow or Set-OSUninstallWindow command. Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool Version: 10.0.19041.572 Image Version: Error: 1168 Element not found. The DISM log file can be found at C:\WINDOWS\Logs\DISM\dism.log The DISM.log file would show the following entries: Error pGetUninstallInterfaceCommon: Failed loading the setupplatform, hr = 0x80070490 [gle=0x00000003] Error DISM DISM SetupPlatform Provider: PID=3944 TID=9192 Failed getting UninstallInterface Online. - CSetupPlatformManager::GetUninstallWindow(hr:0x80070490) Error DISM DISM SetupPlatform Provider: PID=3944 TID=9192 Failed to get the uninstall window. - CSetupPlatformManager::ProcessCmdLine_GetUninstallWindow(hr:0x80070490) Error DISM DISM SetupPlatform Provider: PID=3944 TID=9192 Failed while processing command get-osuninstallwindow. - CSetupPlatformManager::ExecuteCmdLine(hr:0x80070490) Error It’s also possible that you’ve manually cleared the “Previous Windows installation(s)” files using Disk Cleanup or Storage settings to recover the disk space. The DISM DISM C:\windows.old\$WINDOWS.~BT\Sources\api-ms-win-core-kernel32-legacy-l1-1-0.dll C:\windows.old\$WINDOWS.~BT\Sources\fltLib.dll C:\windows.old\$WINDOWS.~BT\Sources\mpr.dll C:\windows.old\$WINDOWS.~BT\Sources\setupplatform.dll C:\windows.old\$WINDOWS.~BT\Sources\sspicli.dll C:\windows.old\$WINDOWS.~BT\Sources\unbcl.dll C:\windows.old\$WINDOWS.~BT\Sources\virtdisk.dll C:\windows.old\$WINDOWS.~BT\Sources\winhttp.dll C:\windows.old\$WINDOWS.~BT\Sources\wtsapi32.dll If Error: 1168 Element not found. The DISM log file can be found at C:\WINDOWS\Logs\DISM\dism.log Error: 126 The specified module could not be found. The DISM log file can be found at C:\WINDOWS\Logs\DISM\dism.log Error 3: The system cannot find the path specified Closing wordsIt’s unclear whether the uninstall window you set using DISM or the registry will the preserved or not if you install an update (Feature Update) in the future. Of course, the ultimate trick of renaming One small request: If you liked this post, please share this?One "tiny" share from you would seriously help a lot with the growth of this blog. Some great suggestions:
What is the maximum number of days you can defer feature updates?You can defer feature updates for up to 365 days.
How many days that Windows Update for business can defer updates?A Windows Update for Business administrator can defer or pause updates. You can defer feature updates for up to 365 days and defer quality updates for up to 30 days.
What to do if Update is taking too long?Restart your computer using either the reset button or by powering it off and then back on with the power button. Windows will start normally and finish installing the updates. If the Windows update installation is truly frozen, you have no other choice but to hard-reboot.
What are feature updates in Intune?With Feature updates for Windows 10 and later in Intune, you can select the Windows feature update version that you want devices to remain at, like Windows 10 version 1909 or a version of Windows 11. Intune supports setting a feature level to any version that remains in support at the time you create the policy.
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