Windows Update unavailable: Nothing but a blank page!
As I have no own Internet, I normally use public WiFi to connect to the Internet and this, using my old HP ProBook. Thus, my now 1 year old Dell G3 doesn't often have access to the Internet and Windows doesn't find the time to update automatically. All 8 or 14 days, I do a manual search for updates and so I wanted to do today. Impossible: The Windows Update page was unavailable. In fact, it normally opened, but the page was empty, not only the buttons and links missing, but really nothing there; nothing, but a blank page!
This article is not an answer to why this happened, nor gives it a solution, that always solves the problem. It's more to tell mainstream computer users not to panic in such situations and to try simple actions, before searching Google and trying to follow the advise of IT professionals, who describe a whole set of system checking utilities, that you should run. Of course, if you don't get rid of the problem, you'll have to do so. But, in this context, I dissuade from downloading some software, that is said to find and fix all your problems automatically. There are applications, that do a really great job, that's true, but such system programs are often used to infect computers with malware, or, even if they only do, what they tell to be intended for, they may mess up your system.
The simplest action to take (and you should just try it; it takes less than half a minute and you can't do anything wrong when doing it) is to reboot your computer. Oh yes, that sometimes changes all and solves a problem, that at first sight seems to indicate, that there is a serious issue. After restarting Windows, the Update page was back and I could do my manual update as usual. I guess that this does not help in all cases, where the Windows Update page becomes unavailable, but, in my case it did, and, maybe, in yours, too. Without having to think of which of the advise, given by the experts, you should try and in what order...
As I said above, I have no idea, what the reason of the blank Windows Update page actually is. It was the first time, that I wanted to update my Windows 10 Home, after having done the Feature Update to Windows 21H1. Maybe, there is a relationship...
This "stupid" little action of restarting Windows may be all to do, to restore a system, that knows several not directly connected issues. The same day, where I got the blank Windows Update page, Dell Support Assistant did not succeed to start, displaying an "unexpected error" message. After having restarted Windows because of the Update page problem ... Support Assistant started up normally!
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