Windows 10 Modern Setup Host Has Stopped Working

Walter Isaacson
Walter Isaacson Last Updated: May 19, 2022

Software: Windows 10 | Last modified on 2018-06-18

When attempting to install the Windows 10 upgrade, the upgrade is interrupted at 35% with the error message: 'Modern Setup Host has stopped working.'

[Solution 1] Run wuauclt.exe


  1. Open the File Explorer.
  2. Open C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download.
  3. Delete all contents in the folder.
  4. Open the Command Prompt (Admin) or PowerShell (Admin).
  5. Execute wuauclt.exe /updatenow

[Solution 2] Execute setupprep.exe


  1. Download the Media Creation Tool from https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10.
  2. Open the program and choose to update this pc now.
  3. Let the program download the required files and verify the downloaded files.
  4. Once the download is finished, cancel the installation process and close the Media Creation Tool.
  5. Open Run and execute C:\$Windows.~WS\Sources\Windows\sources\setupprep.exe
  6. Let the upgrade process run and the upgrade should be able to finish.

Walter Isaacson
Written by

Walter Isaacson

Walter Isaacson, a professor of history at Tulane, has been CEO of the Aspen Institute, chair of CNN, and editor of Time. He is the author of 'Leonardo da Vinci; The Innovators; Steve Jobs; Einstein: His Life and Universe; Benjamin Franklin: An American Life; and Kissinger: A Biography, and the coauthor of The Wise Men: Six Friends and the World They Made. Visit him at Isaacson.Tulane.edu and on Twitter at @WalterIsaacson


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