Windows Installation Hangs Fix (Working Guide 2026)

I tried installing a Windows update (KB5147886) on a Windows 11 machine. The setup went fine until 87% – then everything stopped. No disk activity, no error, just a frozen progress bar. After rebooting twice and waiting over an hour, the same hang repeated. The CBS.log pointed to a component mismatch inside WinSxS, specifically a corrupted pending.xml that blocked the installer from applying packages. This is a classic Windows installation hangs issue on both Windows 10 and 11.

What actually fixed the hanging installation

Instead of running DISM or SFC first, I deleted the pending.xml file manually. That alone got the setup moving again. Here’s exactly what worked (tested on a clean install that stuck at 87%):

• Open Command Prompt as administrator.
• Stop the Windows Update service: net stop wuauserv
• Navigate to C:\Windows\WinSxS and take ownership of pending.xml:
  takeown /f C:\Windows\WinSxS\pending.xml && icacls C:\Windows\WinSxS\pending.xml /grant administrators:F
• Delete the file: del C:\Windows\WinSxS\pending.xml
• Run DISM repair: DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth
• Restart the update service: net start wuauserv
• Retry the installation – the progress jumped past 87% and completed.

In some cases, deleting pending.xml alone isn’t enough – the CBS component might still be inconsistent. If that happens, run sfc /scannow after DISM. But for me, the removal of pending.xml solved the windows installation hangs problem immediately. I’ve seen this fix work on Windows 10 setup hanging at 87% as well as Windows 11 installs freezing during update application. The key signal is the absence of disk activity and a stalled percentage. Why does this happen? Windows Setup writes a pending.xml file to track changes during the installation phase. If that file becomes corrupted or locked, the installer cannot proceed – hence the freeze at 87%.

If you are still searching for a fix windows installation freeze issue, this method is the most direct. Avoid repeatedly restarting the computer without addressing pending.xml – it will just hang again. Also, don’t skip the DISM step after deletion; that ensures the component store is consistent. After following the steps above, the installation completed without any further hang. The same solution applies to windows 10 setup hanging solved scenarios. This approach doesn’t require a repair install or media re-creation, which saves a lot of time.

For those dealing with windows install not progressing solution, remember to check CBS.log for transaction errors (search for “pending.xml” or “failed to apply”). The 87% stall is a strong indicator of this exact issue. After applying the fix, the update will finalize and the system will boot normally. I’ve validated this on both Windows 10 22H2 and Windows 11 23H2 with KB5147886. No more hanging.