Reset Windows update - how it works

Can your operating system no longer be updated? It often helps to reset Windows Update. Microsoft offers automatic diagnostic tools for this, but you can also perform the process manually. Find out what to do here.

Reset Windows Update automatically

Microsoft provides automatic diagnostic and repair tools for resetting Windows Update for Windows. Depending on the version of Windows installed, you will have to use different tools. After downloading, follow the on-screen instructions.

• Windows 10
• Windows 7, 8 and 8.1
• Windows XP and Windows Vista

Reset Windows Update manually

If you were unable to fix the problem using the linked tools, you can carry out the repair manually. To do this, follow these instructions:

1. Open the command prompt as administrator. In Windows 10, right-click on the Windows icon at the bottom left and select "Command Prompt (Administrator)" in the context menu.

2. Enter the following commands in sequence and confirm them with the Enter key. This stops the Windows Update service, the cryptography service, and the BITS service.

• net stop bits
• net stop wuauserv
• net stop appidsvc
• net stop cryptsvc

3. Next, enter this command in the command prompt. This will delete the qmgr * .dat file from your hard drive.

• Del "% ALLUSERSPROFILE% \ application data \ Microsoft \ Network \ Downloader \ qmgr * .dat"

4. At the command prompt, type:

• cd / d% windir% \ system32

5. You now have to register some DLL files belonging to Windows Update. To do this, enter the following commands one after the other in the command prompt and confirm them with the Enter key:

• regsvr32.exe atl.dll
• regsvr32.exe urlmon.dll
• regsvr32.exe mshtml.dll
• regsvr32.exe shdocvw.dll
• regsvr32.exe browseui.dll
• regsvr32.exe jscript.dll
• regsvr32.exe vbscript.dll
• regsvr32.exe scrrun.dll
• regsvr32.exe msxml.dll
• regsvr32.exe msxml3.dll
• regsvr32.exe msxml6.dll
• regsvr32.exe actxprxy.dll
• regsvr32.exe softpub.dll
• regsvr32.exe wintrust.dll
• regsvr32.exe dssenh.dll
• regsvr32.exe rsaenh.dll
• regsvr32.exe gpkcsp.dll
• regsvr32.exe sccbase.dll
• regsvr32.exe slbcsp.dll
• regsvr32.exe cryptdlg.dll
• regsvr32.exe oleaut32.dll
• regsvr32.exe ole32.dll
• regsvr32.exe shell32.dll
• regsvr32.exe initpki.dll
• regsvr32.exe wuapi.dll
• regsvr32.exe wuaueng.dll
• regsvr32.exe wuaueng1.dll
• regsvr32.exe wucltui.dll
• regsvr32.exe wups.dll
• regsvr32.exe wups2.dll
• regsvr32.exe wuweb.dll
• regsvr32.exe qmgr.dll
• regsvr32.exe qmgrprxy.dll
• regsvr32.exe wucltux.dll
• regsvr32.exe muweb.dll
• regsvr32.exe wuwebv.dll

6. Now enter this command to reset Winsock:

• netsh winsock reset

7. Now type the following command in the command prompt:

• netsh winhttp reset proxy
• If you are using Windows XP, enter this command instead: proxycfg.exe -d

8. Now you have to restart the services stopped in step 2. This is done by the following commands in the command prompt:

• net start bits
• net start wuauserv
• net start appidsvc
• net start cryptsvc

9. If you are using Windows Vista, you must now enter this command in the command prompt to reset the BITS queue:

• bitsadmin.exe / reset / allusers

10. Install the latest version of Windows Update Agent. You can download the right version for your operating system directly from Microsoft.

11. Restart your computer to complete the Windows Update reset.

Reset Windows Update manually - Aggressive method

If the problem cannot be solved manually, you can also do the following between steps 3 and 4: Rename the two folders "SoftwareDistribution" and "catroot2" so that they are created again. To do this, enter these commands in the command prompt:

• Ren% systemroot% \ SoftwareDistribution SoftwareDistribution.bak
• Ren% systemroot% \ system32 \ catroot2 catroot2.bak

In addition, enter these two commands in the command prompt to completely reset the Windows Update service and the BITS service:

• sc.exe sdset bits D: (A ;; CCLCSWRPWPDTLOCRRC ;;; SY) (A ;; CCDCLCSWRPWPDTLOCRSDRCWDWO ;;; BA) (A ;; CCLCSWLOCRRC ;;; AU) (A ;; CCLCSWRPWCDT; PU)
• sc.exe sdset wuauserv D: (A ;; CCLCSWRPWPDTLOCRRC ;;; SY) (A ;; CCDCLCSWRPWPDTLOCRSDRCWDWO ;;; BA) (A ;; CCLCSWLOCRRC ;;; AU) (A ;; CCLCSWOCRPWPD;

You can find out what else you can do if Windows Update fails in our next practical tip.

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