Win8.1 “Couldn’t complete updates; undoing changes” error code 8007045B

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We are not surprised when the system takes a little time to shut down because it’s loading updates, and then a little time to apply them on start-up.

Recently, the process has been that the updates are proceeding on start-up, but then stops with the subject phrase. I Googled “w8.1 couldn’t complete updates…”, and followed the advice about getting into the update history app. While that’s cool that it give a link to display the details (including the error code 8007045B), doing anything with that info (Copying the error code for example to paste in the browser) is impossible, and you have to find the way back in over and over. It would seem much better if that was made part of the desktop program in the control panel – that tells you it failed, but nothing else. Screenshot everything.

Anyway, much of the stuff I’ve seen about the dreaded 8007045B has been on forums, but blessed little on a Microsoft support webpage. perhaps someone on the Lounge forum has seen, and maybe surmounted, this nasty bit of business. Some updates (eg: manual) have worked fine. When I get a failure, a whole batch of different updates are failed.

Can anyone provide some input?

Thanks,

Steve

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Have you tried running System File Checker?
1. Right click on the Command Prompt icon and select Run as Administrator.
2. Type: sfc /scannow

cheers, Paul

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Try running the windows update troubleshooter. It will download and run the windows update fixit. Usually solves the problem. It will download and run WindowsUpdateDiagnostic.diagcab.

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If the sfc /scannow reports problems then run –

dism /online /cleanup-image /startcomponentstore

dism /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth

and then run sfc /scannow again to see if the problem has been sorted and then try the updates again if okay.

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Thanks for the input. Have been doing yard work and haven’t had time or energy to pursue. But here’s a progress report:

jwoods: The time on my system agrees with my smart phone, my atomic clock and the clock that updates with our local electric supplier (BGE).

Paul T: I ran sfc /scannow. It told me that it had a repair going on, and needed a restart. I restarted, which took a while, so I couldn’t watch for the “Unable to complete…” message. When I checked back later, it had completed. I looked at the update history, but haven’t done a comparison to see if it redid the patches successfully. I will report back later.

Those were the suggestions I had. Now to the next three:

Caveman – Thanks and I’ll try that.

Drew – Thanks and I’ll try that. “Won’t go in”? Do they try remote? I’m not comfortable with that.

Sudo – Did the fact that I had that initial response mentioned above mean I should proceed to your followup commands?

Thanks again, friends.

Steve

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As you didn’t see what sfc /scannow found you could run it again or run those dism commands first, but I think you should at least run the sfc again to see what it reports.

The /restorehealth command can resolve update problems in Win 8.1.

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Thanks, Drew. I may just dial them up. But I ran sfc again, and it wanted a restart again, so after the restart (which took a while), I ran it yet again, and it returned:

40650-sfc-result

I opened CBS.log, but haven’t made heads or tails out of it. Is there a link that tells what to look for? I saw a line mentioning AMD, but I have an Intel system. The CLI session said that the log would tell me which dll file I need to reinstall manually, but I don’t see one in plain English. (CBS_log.txt attached.)

I have to do more research, I guess. I may try some of the other suggested answers as well.

Thanks,

Steve

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SFCFix might help: http://www.sysnative.com/forums/windows-update/4736-windows-update-forum-posting-instructions-post35484.html#post35484

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Can you also check to see if KB3022345 has been installed ?

If it is, that could be responsible for the irreparable files and you may have to go back two restore points before the WUs as I did for the sfc /scannow to repair them.

Running the /restorehealth command to see what it reports will also help and if that comes up clean, then run the sfc /scannow again.

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Sudo,

Sorry for the delay – life intrudes. KB3022345 has been installed (May 14). I think I will call MS like Drew suggested. I can’t keep fiddling with this with the W10 upgrade coming soon.

Thanks, all!

Steve

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Sudo,

Sorry for the delay – life intrudes. KB3022345 has been installed (May 14). I think I will call MS like Drew suggested. I can’t keep fiddling with this with the W10 upgrade coming soon.

Thanks, all!

Steve

Hope you get a better tech than I did – mine was absolute rubbish

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Mine was freebie time but of the 4½hrs – about 4¼hrs of that were wasted by the tech using the wrong approach to my problem which still didn’t address why it was happening, which is why I phoned in the first place.

I had already achieved the same solution he finally decided upon before I phoned up, but it was only a work around and didn’t answer why.

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FYI:

One can always ask for a Manager/Supervisor OR to have it escalated & a higher level engineer to call you back.

That was the higher level engineer.

I’d phoned the previous day and after spending about an hour or so with that guy hooked up to my machine, he said he was unable to fix it and arranged for a call back at a given time the next day.

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Well, I got a nice young lady named Antonette, who had me do some command line things to verify that some services were active. Then she had me give her one of the error codes from one of the many failed updates. We tried picking two out of thirty-something updates to try (small batches) – but my system responded by trying to do thirty-something of them. Failed.

She then started a remote session, looked around the windows update section, fired up the command line and ran some routines. (Sorry, I didn’t note what they were.) The second one took a very long time to complete, after which we tried doing just the security updates. That took a long while, ending in a Fail. She said she needed to escalate to the next level of support, and tried to get someone then and there, but no one was immediately available. We arranged that I would get a call back by the next level of support this morning between 9 and 11.

I happen to have the time to let this play out. I work in field service for a larger software/hardware manufacturer, and invoke support often. One has to give one’s self up to the process, do what they tell you to do, no matter how weird it might seem, because if you don’t they come back with, “well why did you call us if you aren’t going to follow directions?”

I am waiting anxiously for the call….

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Here it is, folks:

Rod called maybe ten minutes after my last post. He said that he wanted to do a reinstall of 8.1 without affecting my personal programs or files. He took control and downloaded an iso (Windows.iso – 3.28GB), and cranked it up. He said he’d call me back periodically to check on the progress once it got rolling. Eventually, Windows got to the question branch whether I wanted to use the Express setup options or customized. This was probably over an hour later. I waited for my call back, and waited, then waited some more. I would have customized it, because I don’t want to tell Microsoft all the things they want to track, but I didn’t know if it would screw up some procedure he wanted to follow.

I called the Washington number they called from, and gave the lady my ticket number. She wanted to schedule a call back since no one was immediately available. I explained that I was already on an escalated call-back, and was dead in the water until I got Rod or another level2 on the phone. She hesitated, so I asked for a manager. If they aren’t going to cooperate, they aren’t going to cooperate. She said she’d have the management call me back as soon as possible.

Fifteen minutes later Rod called me to say first that I should select Express, and after I clicked it, he said it didn’t matter. the system continued its setup, and he said he was completely sure that I should not have further problems. He did say there might be a few programs that could be affected.

So it chugged along and restarted, and came up to a light-blue screen of undeath, saying there was a problem, that it would collect data which I could examine by searching under “Driver_Power_State_Failure”. After the system finished booting, I shut it completely down, pulled AC for 30 seconds, andbrought it back up. It hasn’t complained since about that.

The next weird thing was when MS took over my desktop, the wallpaper went to black, and after the reload it stayed that way. Had to reset back to a windows standard theme, and the to my milky-way theme.

The MS guy disabled my AVG Antivirus program, and it wouldn’t turn on again. I Googled it, and was told to download and repair reinstall it.

Finally, I had to reinstall my Cisco AnyConnect VPN program.

I haven’t found any other anomalies as of this time. I’m thinking I got off lucky.

Thanks, Drew for the phone number and advice. Thanks Sudo for the management call tip. Being in the field myself, I usually don’t get to play that card, and cringe if it’s used on me. But I understand its value.

And to all the other Lounge Lizards, stay excellent!

Steve

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