Microsoft has released 2 major security loophole fixes in past 2 months. This leads us to believe that the security risk in our daily computing life is increasing every day. To ensure that our computer remains safe from these unwanted threats, all of us want to keep our computer updated with latest updates from Microsoft. Unfortunately, windows updates are not 100% successful everytime on all the machines in the world. This is one of the most common error that is thrown to users who attempt to run Windows update manually or get this message after they restart the computer post automatic updates has finished installing the updates. To resolve this issue, follow the steps below:

1. Browse to Windows Folder. This is usually c:\Windows
2. Double click on the winsxs folder
3. Locate the file pending.xml and rename it to pending.old
4. Restart the computer and try installing the updates again

In most cases, during the rename process, you may get “Access Denied” message. If this happens, follow the steps below:

1. Right Click on pending.xml
2. On the pop up menu, click on Properties
3. On the Properties window, click on Security tab
4. On the Security tab, click on Advanced and then click on Owner tab
5. In the Name list, click on “Administrator” or click on the “Administrators Group” and then click on OK.
6. Click on “Add”
7. On the “Enter the object names to select (examples) list”, type Everyone
8. Click on OK
9. In the “Group or Username list”, click on “Full Control”
10. Click on OK

After the above steps, you will be able to rename the file “pending.xml”

I hope this will allow you to resolve this issue, if it ever occurs on your computer. Keep your computer updated & safe.