From 4abd26159120bd994c465145d0eb868b709ef382 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Harini Malothu <hmalothu@microsoft.com>
Date: Thu, 15 Jan 2026 15:45:17 +0530
Subject: [PATCH 1/3] Fix rnw-dependencies.ps1 Node.js installation failures

---
 vnext/Scripts/rnw-dependencies.ps1 | 16 +++++++++++++++-
 1 file changed, 15 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/vnext/Scripts/rnw-dependencies.ps1 b/vnext/Scripts/rnw-dependencies.ps1
index 7d401ba3b67..147527b9376 100644
--- a/vnext/Scripts/rnw-dependencies.ps1
+++ b/vnext/Scripts/rnw-dependencies.ps1
@@ -469,7 +469,7 @@ $requirements = @(
         Name = 'Node.js (LTS, >= 22.0)';
         Tags = @('appDev');
         Valid = { CheckNode; }
-        Install = { WinGetInstall OpenJS.NodeJS.LTS "22.14.0" };
+        Install = { WinGetInstall OpenJS.NodeJS.LTS };
         HasVerboseOutput = $true;
     },
     @{
@@ -600,6 +600,9 @@ function WinGetInstall {
         Write-Verbose "Executing `winget install `"$wingetPackage`"";
         & winget install "$wingetPackage" --accept-source-agreements --accept-package-agreements
     }
+    
+    # Refresh PATH environment variable to pick up newly installed tools
+    $env:Path = [System.Environment]::GetEnvironmentVariable("Path","Machine") + ";" + [System.Environment]::GetEnvironmentVariable("Path","User")
  }
 
 function IsElevated {
@@ -685,6 +688,17 @@ foreach ($req in $filteredRequirements)
                     $LASTEXITCODE = 0;
                     $outputFromInstall = Invoke-Command $req.Install -ErrorAction Stop;
 
+                    # Re-validate after install attempt - winget may return non-zero for "already installed"
+                    $validAfterInstall = $false;
+                    try {
+                        $validAfterInstall = Invoke-Command $req.Valid;
+                    } catch { }
+                    
+                    if ($validAfterInstall) {
+                        $Installed++;
+                        continue; # go to the next item
+                    }
+                    
                     if ($LASTEXITCODE -ne 0) {
                         throw "Last exit code was non-zero: $LASTEXITCODE - $outputFromInstall";
                     }

From fd95a2f8f6ebf3a390b10b484c591239e05ccbb3 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Harini Malothu <hmalothu@microsoft.com>
Date: Thu, 15 Jan 2026 15:54:42 +0530
Subject: [PATCH 2/3] Change files

---
 ...ative-windows-3211d67c-3146-40b2-8d6b-5c2ef4008bd7.json | 7 +++++++
 1 file changed, 7 insertions(+)
 create mode 100644 change/react-native-windows-3211d67c-3146-40b2-8d6b-5c2ef4008bd7.json

diff --git a/change/react-native-windows-3211d67c-3146-40b2-8d6b-5c2ef4008bd7.json b/change/react-native-windows-3211d67c-3146-40b2-8d6b-5c2ef4008bd7.json
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..20e8bcf603f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/change/react-native-windows-3211d67c-3146-40b2-8d6b-5c2ef4008bd7.json
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+{
+  "type": "none",
+  "comment": "Fix rnw-dependencies.ps1 Node.js installation failures",
+  "packageName": "react-native-windows",
+  "email": "hmalothu@microsoft.com",
+  "dependentChangeType": "none"
+}

From 64424d72413a488157cc5acdf670375f780dcfec Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Harini Malothu <hmalothu@microsoft.com>
Date: Mon, 19 Jan 2026 13:59:18 +0530
Subject: [PATCH 3/3]  Fix node.js version

---
 vnext/Scripts/rnw-dependencies.ps1 | 2 +-
 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/vnext/Scripts/rnw-dependencies.ps1 b/vnext/Scripts/rnw-dependencies.ps1
index 147527b9376..1adefd0123e 100644
--- a/vnext/Scripts/rnw-dependencies.ps1
+++ b/vnext/Scripts/rnw-dependencies.ps1
@@ -469,7 +469,7 @@ $requirements = @(
         Name = 'Node.js (LTS, >= 22.0)';
         Tags = @('appDev');
         Valid = { CheckNode; }
-        Install = { WinGetInstall OpenJS.NodeJS.LTS };
+        Install = { WinGetInstall OpenJS.NodeJS.LTS  "22.22.0"};
         HasVerboseOutput = $true;
     },
     @{