Windows Update has been known to create tons of problems which could be because of system compatibility issues or hardware issues. In this post, we are sharing the list of known Windows Update Error Codes along with mitigations offered by Microsoft itself.
List of Windows Update Error Codes
The following table provides information about common errors you might run into with Windows Update, as well as steps to help you mitigate them. While the list is exhaustive, Windows Update shows a lot of errors than this. We have linked error codes to our detailed posts which you can follow to get step by step guide to fix the update error.
| Error Code | Description | Mitigation |
|---|---|---|
| 0x8024402F
WU_E_PT_ECP_SUCCEEDED_WITH_ERRORS |
External cab file processing completed with some errors | One of the reasons we see this issue is due to the design of software called Lightspeed Rocket for Web filtering.
The IP addresses of the computers you want to get updates successfully on should be added to the exceptions list of Lightspeed |
| 0x80242006
WU_E_UH_INVALIDMETADATA |
A handler operation could not be completed because the update contains invalid metadata. | Rename Software Redistribution Folder and attempt to download the updates again:
Rename the following folders to *.BAK: %systemroot%\system32\catroot2 To do this, type the following commands at a command prompt. Press ENTER after you type each command. – Ren %systemroot%\SoftwareDistribution\DataStore *.bak |
| 0x80070BC9
ERROR_FAIL_REBOOT_REQUIRED |
The requested operation failed. A system reboot is required to roll back changes made. | Ensure that we do not have any policies that control the start behavior for the Windows Module Installer. This service should not be hardened to any start value and should be managed by the OS. |
| 0x80200053
BG_E_VALIDATION_FAILED |
NA | Ensure that there are no Firewalls that filter downloads. The Firewall filtering may lead to invalid responses being received by the Windows Update Client.
If the issue still persists, run the WU Reset |
| 0x80072EE2
WININET_E_TIMEOUT |
The operation timed out | This error message can be caused if the computer isn’t connected to the Internet. To fix this issue, following these steps: make sure these URLs are not blocked:
http://.update.microsoft.com Additionally, you can take a network trace and see what is timing out. Refer to Firewall Troubleshooting scenario |
| 0x80072EFD 0x80072EFE 0x80D02002TIME_OUT_ERRORS |
The operation timed out | Make sure there are no firewall rules or proxy to block Microsoft download URLs.
Take a network monitor trace to understand better. <Refer to Firewall Troubleshooting scenario> |
| 0X8007000D
ERROR_INVALID_DATA |
Indicates invalid data downloaded or corruption occurred. | Attempt to re-download the update and initiate installation. |
| 0x8024A10A
USO_E_SERVICE_SHUTTING_DOWN |
This indicates that the WU Service is shutting down. | This may happen due to a very long period of time of inactivity, a system hangs leading to the service being idle and leading to the shutdown of the service.
Ensure that the system remains active and the connections remain established to complete the upgrade. |
| 0x80240020
WU_E_NO_INTERACTIVE_USER |
The operation did not complete because there is no logged-on interactive user. | Please login to the system to initiate the installation and allow the system to be rebooted. |
| 0x80242014
WU_E_UH_POSTREBOOTSTILLPENDING |
The post-reboot operation for the update is still in progress. | Some Windows Updates require the system to be restarted. Reboot the system to complete the installation of the Updates. |
| 0x80246017
WU_E_DM_UNAUTHORIZED_LOCAL_USER |
The download failed because the local user was denied authorization to download the content. | Ensure that the user attempting to download and install updates has been provided with sufficient privileges to install updates (Local Administrator). |
| 0x8024000B
WU_E_CALL_CANCELLED |
The operation was canceled. | This indicates that the operation was canceled by the user/service. You may also encounter this error when we are unable to filter the results.
Run the Decline Superseded PowerShell script to allow the filtering process to complete. |
| 0x8024000E
WU_E_XML_INVALID |
Windows Update Agent found invalid information in the update’s XML data. | Certain drivers contain additional metadata information in the update.xml, which could lead Orchestrator to understand it as invalid data.
Ensure that you have the latest Windows Update Agent installed on the machine. |
| 0x8024D009
WU_E_SETUP_SKIP_UPDATE |
An update to the Windows Update Agent was skipped due to a directive in the wuident.cab file. | You may encounter this error when WSUS is not sending the Self-update to the clients.
Review KB920659 for instructions to resolve the issue. |
| 0x80244007
WU_E_PT_SOAPCLIENT_SOAPFAULT |
SOAP client failed because there was a SOAP fault for reasons of WU_E_PT_SOAP_* error codes. | This issue occurs because Windows cannot renew the cookies for Windows Update.
Review KB2883975 for instructions to resolve the issue. |
As a rule of thumb, always make sure to run the Windows Update troubleshooter before getting into detailed troubleshooting. Sometimes the error is only minor, and you should be able to resolve it through a button click.
I hope the post was able to offer a great clarity on types of Windows Update Error, and help you mitigate them.
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