Windows 10
How to fix missing ‘Reserve Windows 10’ icon on taskbar to reserve free copy Reuters/Bobby Yip

Several Windows users are reportedly facing issues with the missing Windows 10 update icon on their taskbar, which is eventually preventing them from installing the free Windows upgrade on their desktop computers.

If you are among the affected users and cannot reserve the Windows 10 update for some reason, then there could be an issue with the Windows update build number KB3035583 that was released back in April.

Here is the Microsoft recommended checklist, if you have already installed the latest OS updates for Windows 7, 8 or 8.1 on your PC and still cannot find the 'Reserve Windows 10' icon:

  • Your device isn't up-to-date with at least Windows 7 SP1 or Windows 8.1 Update
  • Windows Update is turned off or is not set to received updates automatically
  • You've blocked or uninstalled the necessary Windows Update functionality
  • Your device is not running genuine Windows
  • Your device is running Windows 7 Enterprise, Windows 8/8.1 Enterprise, or Windows RT/RT 8.1, which are excluded from this reservation offer
  • Your device is managed as part of a school or business network (Check with your IT administrator.)
  • PCs that we determine cannot run Windows 10 will not see the Get Windows 10 app before July 29th. After July 29th, we'll enable the icon in the system tray. This is to help ensure that you can easily check your PC's compatibility if you choose

The first three conditions in the above checklist for installing Windows 10 can be fulfilled by simply running Windows Update and installing any available updates for your PC.

The rest of the conditions in the checklist are the necessary system requirements for installing Windows 10.

Once you have ensured that you have completed the checklist, here are a few troubleshooting steps to fix the issue:

Registry-Fix method

  1. Open Notepad
  2. Copy the following text and paste it into Notepad:
  3. REG QUERY "HKLMSOFTWAREMicrosoftWindows NTCurrentVersionAppCompatFlagsUpgradeExperienceIndicators" /v UpgEx | findstr UpgEx if "%errorlevel%" == "0" GOTO RunGWX reg add "HKLMSOFTWAREMicrosoftWindows NTCurrentVersionAppCompatFlagsAppraiser" /v UtcOnetimeSend /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f schtasks /run /TN "MicrosoftWindowsApplication ExperienceMicrosoft Compatibility Appraiser" :CompatCheckRunning schtasks /query /TN "MicrosoftWindowsApplication ExperienceMicrosoft Compatibility Appraiser" schtasks /query /TN "MicrosoftWindowsApplication ExperienceMicrosoft Compatibility Appraiser" | findstr Ready if NOT "%errorlevel%" == "0" ping localhost >nul &goto :CompatCheckRunning :RunGWX schtasks /run /TN "MicrosoftWindowsSetupgwxrefreshgwxconfig"
  4. Click File, and then Save As
  5. In the File name box, change the file name to ReserveWin10.cmd
  6. Then click the drop-down next to Save as type, and select All files (*.*)
  7. Select the folder you would like to save the file to. For this example, let's choose to save the file to the C:/Temp folder. Then click Save.
  8. Open an elevated command prompt. (From the Start screen or Start menu, typeCommand Prompt in the search box, and then in the list of results, right-click Command Prompt, and select Run as administrator.)
  9. Finally, run the file from the location you saved to in Step 6. In this example, you would type the following in the Command Prompt window and hit Enter: C:/Temp/ReserveWin10.cmd

The Microsoft Compatibility Appraiser can take 10 – 30 minutes to run, during which the script will continuously provide status reports that it is running. Please be patient.

If the script is failing in an infinite loop, then you do not have the necessary prerequisite Windows Updates. Besides requiring Windows 7 SP1 or Windows 8.1 Update, you must also have installed:

For Windows 7 SP1:

  • KB3035583
  • KB2952664

For Windows 8.1 Update:

  • KB3035583
  • KB2976978

You can manually check if you have these updates within your elevated command prompt by typing the command:

dism /online /get-packages | findstr 3035583

(Replace the KB number with whichever update you are looking for.) If you have the update installed, this command will show the package identity. For example, Windows 8.1 users should see this:

**C:>dism /online /get-packages | findstr 3035583

Package Identity: Package_for_KB3035583~31bf3856ad364e35~amd64~~6.3.1.29**

If the issue is still unresolved, you can try the script file method with a tool that can be downloaded via dropbox:

Script method

Instructions to run the tool:

  1. Go to https://www.dropbox.com/s/0u0au9xgy6ss18p/win10fix_full.zip?dl=0 and download the file.
  2. Copy the win10fix_full.bat file to anywhere else like the Desktop.
  3. Right click the file and click Run as administrator.
  4. Follow the screen instruction until to come to the main menu screen.
  5. On main menu screen do step 1 first and check if you go the updates installed and then press any key it will take you back to main menu.
  6. Now do step 2 which only takes like 1 second and should have the icon in the taskbar.

Note: This tool is not officially from Microsoft is not sanctioned by them but it has been reviewed by Microsoft community moderator and confirmed it is not malicious, and certainly makes it easier to get the process done.

Alternatively, you can download the official Windows 10 clean installation ISO files directly from the Microsoft website.

Download Windows 10 32-bit version

Download Windows 10 64-bit version

[Source: Microsoft Support forums]

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