Windows Updates are essential to push security patches and new features to Windows. However, users sometimes encounter an error on their system while trying to update Windows. One such case is with the Windows Update Error 0x8024002d. If you encounter this error on your system, please read this article for the resolutions.
0x8024002D
WU_E_SOURCE_ABSENT
A full-file update could not be installed because it required the source.
The Windows Update error 0x8024002d occurs while trying to update Windows or Microsoft Office products. This error can be caused by inconsistent services, corrupt files associated with Windows Updates, or problematic system files.
Fix Windows Update Error 0x8024002d
To solve this Error 0x8024002D, please try the following solutions sequentially:
- Check Services associated with Windows Updates
- Run the Windows Update troubleshooter
- Re-register the concerned Wups2.dll file
- Flush the contents of the SoftwareDistributionand catroot2 folders
- Reset the Windows Update components on your system
- Download and install Windows Updates manually
1] Check Services associated with Windows Updates
If the services associated with Windows Updates are stopped, you might encounter an error in the discussion. In this case, you can resolve the problem by starting the services. If the services are already started, you can restart them.
Open Windows Services Manager and check the Windows Update related Services like Windows Update, Windows Update Medic, Update Orchestrator Services, etc are not disabled.
The default configuration on a standalone Windows 11/10 PC is as follows:
- Windows Update Service – Manual (Triggered)
- Windows Update Medic Services – Manual
- Cryptographic Services – Automatic
- Background Intelligent Transfer Service – Manual
- DCOM Server Process Launcher – Automatic
- RPC Endpoint Mapper – Automatic
- Windows Installer – Manual
This will ensure that the required Services are available.
Apart from the direct service, you should find the dependencies of the Windows Update service and ensure that they are running.
Reboot your system and try updating Windows once again.
2] Run the Windows Update troubleshooter
The Windows Update troubleshooter is an excellent tool to check for problems while updating Windows. You can run it as follows.
- Right-click on the Start button and select Settings from the menu.
- In the Settings menu, go to System > Troubleshoot > Other troubleshooters.
- Corresponding to the Windows Update troubleshooter, select Run.
- Reboot your system once the troubleshooter has completed its job and try updating Windows once again.
3] Re-register the concerned Wups2.dll file
You may try to re-register the concerned DLL file. To do so, open an elevated command prompt and type the following commands one after the other and hit Enter.
Type the following to stop the Windows Update services:
net stop bits
net stop wuauserv
Type the following to re-register the concerned DLL file
regsvr32 %windir%\system32\wups2.dll
Finally, restart the Windows Update services.
net start wuauserv
net start bits
I hope this helps resolve your issue.
4] Flush the contents of the SoftwareDistributionand catroot2 folders
You need to delete the contents of the Software Distribution folder & reset the Reset the Catroot folder.
The SoftwareDistribution folder in Windows operating system is a folder located in the Windows directory and used to temporarily store files that may be required to install Windows Update on your computer. It is thus required by Windows Update and maintained by WUAgent. If its contents get corrupted, Windows Update may fail.
Catroot and catroot2 are Windows operating system folders required for the Windows Update process. When you run Windows Update, the catroot2 folder stores the signatures of the Windows Update package and helps in its installation.
5] Reset the Windows Update components on your system
If all the solutions mentioned above fail on your system, you can consider resetting the Windows Update components. Doing so will fix the Windows Update error 0x8024002d. This procedure will reset all the settings associated with Windows Updates to default values and you can install updates from scratch.
6] Download and install Windows Updates manually
Downloading and installing Windows Updates manually should be the last option. The procedure is as follows:
- Go to the Microsoft Update Catalog website.
- Search for the latest month in yyyy-mm format.
- Download the latest update from the search results and install it on your computer.
More suggestions here: Windows Update fails to install or will not download
Why are Windows Updates necessary?
Windows Updates push new features to Windows systems, especially through feature updates. However, this isn’t the only reason Windows updates are necessary. Windows Updates are also needed to update drivers, push security updates, and fixes to existing problems with the Windows operating system. While you can pause updates for a while, they cannot be deferred permanently.
