How to resolve Windows Update Error 8024402F on Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit?

I have been having the same problem with Windows Updates on 2 of my machines at home, both running Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit. One of the 2 machines is a brand new install, the other has run Windows Update in the past, but is also not working now.

When I manually check for updates using the Control Panel, I get error code 8024402F:

I followed the link to "Get help with this error", which brings up several articles in Windows Help and Support, none of which are for this specific error code. From the help and general googling I've tried:

• Checking internet connectivity. Most of the help suggests that this error is caused by a general internet connectivity problem. But if you're reading this, my connection is definitely working fine.
• Disabling antivirus temporarily and trying to run Windows Update. This didn't help (I run AVG free)
• Running Control Panel -> Troubleshooting -> Security Systems -> Fix Problems with Windows Update. This said it detected and resolved problems, but didn't help.

• Update using IE (as I used to in XP). Go to http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/ redirects me to http://test.update.microsoft.com/windowsupdate/v6/vistadefault.aspx for which IE displays a "connection problem" (i.e. site unreachable)

I've had the same problem for 24 hours now, so surely the Windows Update servers haven't been down this whole time? A quick check on twitter shows no worldwide outcry about Windows Update being unavailable, so is it just me? I'm based in the UK, but I notice that the http://test.update.microsoft.com/windowsupdate/v6/vistadefault.aspx URL is also unavailable using ''wget'' from my webserver in Chicago.

day@ord1:~$ wget http://test.update.microsoft.com/windowsupdate/v6/vistadefault.aspx
--2011-03-17 00:01:27--  http://test.update.microsoft.com/windowsupdate/v6/vistadefault.aspx
Resolving test.update.microsoft.com... failed: Name or service not known.
wget: unable to resolve host address `test.update.microsoft.com'
day@ord1:~$ host test.update.microsoft.com
Host test.update.microsoft.com not found: 3(NXDOMAIN)

Edit: Output of ''ipconfig /all'':

Windows IP Configuration

   Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : Office
   Primary Dns Suffix  . . . . . . . : 
   Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
   IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
   WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
   DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : home

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . : home
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) 82566DC Gigabit Network Connection
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-1C-C0-71-89-46
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
   Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::a17f:ec64:9b37:92b9%11(Preferred) 
   IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.100.102(Preferred) 
   Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
   Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : 17 March 2011 00:25:47
   Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : 18 March 2011 00:25:48
   Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.100.1
   DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.100.1
   DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 234888384
   DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-15-10-68-D4-00-1C-C0-71-89-46
   DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.100.1
   NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

Tunnel adapter isatap.home:

   Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . : home
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 9:

   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . : 
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
   IPv6 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 2001:0:5ef5:79fd:2098:13b8:a9ec:3703(Preferred) 
   Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::2098:13b8:a9ec:3703%13(Preferred) 
   Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : ::
   NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Disabled

Edit 2: Suggestions from Microsoft Support:

Configure the connection to obtain an IP address automatically

1. Click "Start", input "NCPA.CPL" (without quotation marks) to Start Search bar and press "Enter".
2. Right-click the network connection and click "Properties". If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.
3. Click to highlight "Internet Protocol Version 6 (TCP/IPv6)" and click "Properties".
4. Check "Obtain an IP address automatically" and "Obtain DNS server address automatically".
5. Click "OK".
6. Click to highlight "Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4)" and click "Properties".
7. Check "Obtain an IP address automatically" and "Obtain DNS server address automatically".
8. Click "OK".
9. Reboot the computer.

I tried that and IPv4 and v6 were both already set to these settings, rebooted anyway, error still there. I then sent my System Information and WindowsUpdate.log file to Microsoft, sorry but I'm not posting their contents here.

Will keep you posted on progress.

Solution 1:

Solved.

I haven't heard back from Microsoft Support since sending them my log files, but I got some time to take a look myself. Here's a relevant snippet:

+++++++++++  PT: Synchronizing server updates  +++++++++++
  + ServiceId = {9482F4B4-E343-43B6-B170-9A65BC822C77}, Server URL = https://www.update.microsoft.com/v6/ClientWebService/client.asmx
Timeout for accelerated install is already set
WARNING: Cached cookie has expired or new PID is available
WARNING: PTWarn: Anonymous plug-in skipped for WU
Triggering accelerated install by calling UpdateNow
No installable updates are available
WARNING: Send failed with hr = 80072efe.
WARNING: SendRequest failed with hr = 80072efe. Proxy List used: <(null)> Bypass List used : <(null)> Auth Schemes used : <>
WARNING: WinHttp: SendRequestUsingProxy failed for <http://download.windowsupdate.com/msdownload/update/common/2009/06/2803268_2cf7737e73bd31ae709b14a95c8d2ecb7eccfbf3.cab>. error 0x80072efe
WARNING: WinHttp: SendRequestToServerForFileInformation MakeRequest failed. error 0x80072efe
WARNING: WinHttp: SendRequestToServerForFileInformation failed with 0x80072efe
WARNING: WinHttp: ShouldFileBeDownloaded failed with 0x80072efe

Note the failure to download http://download.windowsupdate.com/msdownload/update/common/2009/06/2803268_2cf7737e73bd31ae709b14a95c8d2ecb7eccfbf3.cab.

I tried to download this CAB file from a browser, which didn't work. I then tried wget (in cygwin) which didn't work and reported "Connection reset by peer". I also had the same problem downloading the CAB file from Linux machines on my home network, so it was not an issue with the Windows machines themselves.

To cut a long story short, I finally tracked down the problem to my router, which is running DD-WRT.

Apparently I must have enabled the "Filter ActiveX" option about a month ago and forgotten that I'd done so.

Given the security problems with ActiveX, this sounds like a sensible option to activate, but upon reading the help... not so much!

Filter ActiveX Blocks HTTP requests containing a URL ending in ".ocx" or ".cab".

Yes... that would certainly cause problems! Unticking this and applying the settings to the router has cured the problem on both of my Windows machines, as you'd expect.

Thanks everyone for your help & suggestions, hope this is of use to someone else.

Solution 2:

Go to Internet Explorer, Tools, Internet Options, Connections, Local Area Network (LAN).

Settings: If it's set to "automatically detect settings" switch it to "Proxy server" (my Windows 7 machine says port 80).

Then try Windows Update, it should work now.

If your machine is set to "proxy server", switch to "automatically detect settings" and try again.

Solution 3:

I managed to solve this problem by switching from "Obtain DNS server address automatically" to "Use the following DNS server addresses" and entering "8.8.8.8" and "8.8.4.4". These are public DNS servers from Google: https://developers.google.com/speed/public-dns/docs/using

Solution 4:

Sounds like a corrupted update repository. Try this:

Start-->Services.msc

Stop the "Background Intelligent Transfer" and "Windows Update" services.

Start-->Cmd ('as administrator')

rd %systemroot%\softwaredistribution /s

Go back to services and start Windows Update service.

Try updates again.