Windows Update Troubleshooting Process

Use these instructions to troubleshoot Windows Update (WU) issues HRESULT Exception.

Given an example WU log, follow these steps to diagnose the issue:

1. Filter the log for “FAILED” (case-sensitive) and pipe/redirect those lines to a separate file. This could be done in PowerShell as in this example:

   Select-String -Path "*.log" -Pattern "FAILED" -CaseSensitive > failures.txt

   One other tool that can also be used for viewing Windows Update logs and filtering them is CMTrace, which is part of the Microsoft System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager:
   https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/mem/configmgr/core/support/cmtrace

   Under the Tool menu, you will find a filtering option.
   Note: To get CMTrace, you will need to have the Configuration Manager Client.

2. Results look something like this:
   

   

3. First focus on the most frequently occurring error codes between the brackets then the least frequent. Also notice that all the error codes are in the same column so it’s easy to identify which ones occur more frequently.

   In this case, the 2 most frequently occurring errors are 8024000C and 80246013.

4. Perform a Google search on the error codes and prioritize solution with Microsoft website recommendations first, then preview others high on the hit list. You can also reference Microsoft’s Error Code list here for a general description of the error: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/938205/windows-update-error-code-list

   In this case by performing a simple Google search, we find that these are the most likely issues based on the search results:

   8024000C: WUA corruption or issues with the system

   https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows8_1-update/getting-error-code-8024000c-when-trying-to-install/3ca8e3d3-57df-46a6-ae8d-8e34ba7a4c72

   80246013: Issue with Background Intelligent Transfer Service and corrupt data as well as permissions issue, which doesn’t allow the update to install itself.

   https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows8_1-update/getting-an-error-code-80246013-failed-to-complete/0d18f6b3-4878-4631-80e1-aed9cb1ec717

5. It is also often recommended to run the Windows Update Troubleshooter: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4027322/windows-update-troubleshooter

   This tool can often diagnose the issue and sometimes even resolve the issue(s).

   Here’s an example of the Windows Update Troubleshooter finding and fixing 3 issues on a Windows 8.1 system:

Other Helpful References

• How to read the WindowsUpdate.log file: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/902093/how-to-read-the-windowsupdate-log-file

• How to view the WindowsUpdate.log on Windows 10: https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/charlesa_us/2015/08/06/windows-10-windowsupdate-log-and-how-to-view-it-with-powershell-or-tracefmt-exe/

• Understanding the WindowsUpdate.log file for Advanced Users: https://support.microsoft.com/en-ca/help/4035760/understanding-the-windowsupdate-log-file-for-advanced-users

• Troubleshoot problems with the Windows Update Client: https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg153542.aspx

• Microsoft TechNet script for Resetting Windows Update Agent: https://gallery.technet.microsoft.com/scriptcenter/Reset-Windows-Update-Agent-d824badc

The interface looks like this when you run it (choose option 2 to reset WU components):