Windows 7 W7U will not Update

[SpyCatcher]

Two days ago WUS on it's own updated windows update agent 7.6.7600.256, as of then Windows 7 will no longer update, 80244004 is the error message. There is not much data on the net pertaining how to fix, My question has anyone here experienced the same problem? How did you fix?

What I have done to repair: unable to uninstall windows update agent, MS fix it, Clean boot, scan for rootkit, stop /restart WUS.

Thank you for your help,

 

[Matt Dilnot]

Same Error.

I have a new laptop with very little software on it. I have not fiddled with registry or done a cleanup of any sort. The only thing I have on the laptop of interest is ESET antivirus. But I have the same version running on 2 other machines and they are fine.

This laptop is running W7 64 so maybe that is an issue. But I have disabled ESET and it made no difference anyway.

Have checked forums.

About to run Windows Update cleaner/checker or whatever it is called from MS. A very large file download at 340mb.

Found here:
What is the System Update Readiness Tool?


Probably wont work.

Matt

 

[Pauli]

The easiest way might be to try a Restoration point created before the update. That's in Control Panel > System and Security > System Protection > System Restore. After that, Windows will most probably offer the Update again, where you have to decide if you try it, or then you can say no and tell Windows not to remind you of that Update again. Windows Updates have been known to, occasionally, cause more problems than they solve --- although that's quite rare.

Another basic way is to go to Control Panel > Windows Update > Installed Updates and uninstall that update.

I think the first alternative is better, that way you assure that you get your old version back.

 

[Saltgrass]

The error seems to mean you are not connecting to the server. Some Anti-viruses/firewalls can be related to such a situation.

If you are offered, or run the Update Readiness Tool, make sure and check the log afterward.

Are you having problems with any specific type of update?

Since you seem to not yet be running SP1, is this a new install? Have you tried downloading the updates yourself and installing?

There is a WindowsUpdate.log in the Windows folder. If you could copy it to your desktop and then copy the last 5 days or so and paste that into a text file, and attach using the paperclip on advanced replies. Zipping it first would be good.

 

[Matt Dilnot]

The easiest way might be to try a Restoration point created before the update. That's in Control Panel > System and Security > System Protection > System Restore. After that, Windows will most probably offer the Update again, where you have to decide if you try it, or then you can say no and tell Windows not to remind you of that Update again. Windows Updates have been known to, occasionally, cause more problems than they solve --- although that's quite rare.


Another basic way is to go to Control Panel > Windows Update > Installed Updates and uninstall that update.

I think the first alternative is better, that way you assure that you get your old version back.

Unfortunately being a new computer there are few restore points. The last successful Windows update was on the 8th June, on the 9th of June however it says it installed Windows Update Agent 7.6.7600.256. The system restore points are after the last update,not before.

I can't uninstall the Windows Update Agent. I did uninstall the last Windows update file I could successfully but made no difference to the Update check.

I will keep looking....

 

[Matt Dilnot]

The error seems to mean you are not connecting to the server. Some Anti-viruses/firewalls can be related to such a situation.

If you are offered, or run the Update Readiness Tool, make sure and check the log afterward.

Are you having problems with any specific type of update?

Since you seem to not yet be running SP1, is this a new install? Have you tried downloading the updates yourself and installing?

There is a WindowsUpdate.log in the Windows folder. If you could copy it to your desktop and then copy the last 5 days or so and paste that into a text file, and attach using the paperclip on advanced replies. Zipping it first would be good.

Thanks for your thoughts.

I have attached the Log file:

 

[Saltgrass]

Matt, for now I will assume you and SpyCatcher are the same person. If not, perhaps you both have HP computers.

But SpyCatcher is correct in that, for some reason, a non-SP1 version of the Windows Update client was installed. It seems the Hardware Abstraction layer, and possibly the OS version was also switched. I cannot tell what caused the switch, but the log shows as the SelfUpdate handler as not being found and needing to be installed. The funny thing about it is the following is where it went to find one:

Downloading SelfUpdate handler WuSetupHandler.cab from download.windowsupdate.com/ v9/1/windowsupdate/ b/selfupdate/WSUS3/x64/Vista (altered for link)

The update logs I have, do not show this being required, so perhaps all such downloads come from here, but it doesn't look correct.

The need to either skip the install or not seems to reside in a file such as:

C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\SelfUpdate\wuident.cab

But you have an additional one:

C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\SelfUpdate\wsus3setup.cab

Do you know where it came from? If not, I might try renaming it so see if it helps.

You also have some other log entries that I do not, but they may be because of HP. Your log shows you are doing something in the SysWow64 directory, but none of my logs show such a process being called.

Misc = Process: C:\Windows\SysWOW64\DllHost.exe
Misc = Module: C:\Windows\SysWOW64\wuapi.dll

 

[Matt Dilnot]

I am not SpyCatcher, just a coincidence we both have HP. Maybe that is the problem!

Tried renaming wsus3setup.cab. Interestingly when I ran update, it recreated that file. Same error though.

Matt

 

[Saltgrass]

I have never run a Windows update server, that is normally an enterprise type operation. But it would seem your system has it installed. Maybe the Programs and Features panel would let you remove it.

I really do not think this is just an HP situation, otherwise, all the HP computers would be unable to do updates. I checked the WSUS3 site and it seems to be a little old, but I do not know what the latest version is. There are forums on WSUS, so they might be the best place to ask.

Edit: I suppose you could look for a Service that is running for the WSUS. The normal Windows Update service is wuauserv showing in Task Manager. If you have something else, you could try stopping it and setting it to disabled in the Services panel.

 

[Matt Dilnot]

Just as a follow-up to this, after trying all the suggestions mentioned, I left things as they were with the idea that I might just overwrite Windows 7 with Win 8 on its release in October (good pricing). But after about a week or so the update problem fixed itself. Windows was clearly still looking for updates, even though it was coming up with an error. Once some new updates came down and installed the update error no longer occurred.

Thanks again for your help and I hope this helps someone else.

Thanks,


Matt

I have never run a Windows update server, that is normally an enterprise type operation. But it would seem your system has it installed. Maybe the Programs and Features panel would let you remove it.

I really do not think this is just an HP situation, otherwise, all the HP computers would be unable to do updates. I checked the WSUS3 site and it seems to be a little old, but I do not know what the latest version is. There are forums on WSUS, so they might be the best place to ask.

Edit: I suppose you could look for a Service that is running for the WSUS. The normal Windows Update service is wuauserv showing in Task Manager. If you have something else, you could try stopping it and setting it to disabled in the Services panel.