Windows Update keeps giving me download errors

Topic

New Reply

I tried tuning off my firewall; Update wouldn’t run when I started in Safe Mode.

Is there a known issue, and how can I fix this?

Chuck Billow

Reply | Quote

Replies

What error message?

When WU gets in a snit sometimes the best way to fix it is to do a repair install over the top.

Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher

1 user thanked author for this post.

CWBillow

Reply | Quote

OK, Thanks Susan,

Chuck Billow

Reply | Quote

Have you tried running the Windows Update troubleshooter?

--Joe

Reply | Quote

Where is that, Joe? — I found it…

Ran it but it found no errors….So I ran Update again, and it shows 3 available updates, but keeps giving me download errors.

I am obviously connected to the internet, so I don’t know why…

 

Chuck Billow

Reply | Quote

OK, if I run the Windows 10 setup within Windows, the only option I am offered is to replace everything.  “Keep personal files” and “Keep personal files and apps” are both greyed out.

Chuck Billow

Reply | Quote

Repair Install Windows 10 with an In-place Upgrade | Tutorials (tenforums.com)

How are you attempting the repair install?  Check that post.

Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher

Reply | Quote

Do the download errors show any error codes? If so, do the error codes appear in the following MS support article?

Get help with Windows upgrade and installation errors

Do you have adequate free hard disk space so the Windows Update Event Tracing logs can be written (as .etl files) to the C:\Windows\logs\WindowsUpdate folder?

See Get-WindowsUpdateLog for more information.

If you enter Get-WindowsUpdateLog in an elevated PowerShell console, does it generate a WindowsUpdate.log on your desktop? If so, how big is the log file (to see whether it can be zipped and attached to a reply post)?

Hope this helps…

1 user thanked author for this post.

windbg

Reply | Quote

Rick, I don’t see the error code on the link:  0x80070643

Chuck Billow

Reply | Quote

CWBillow wrote:

I don’t see the error code on the link: 0x80070643

That apparently points at possible issues with a .NET framework installation. Try following the advice below from @oldguy.

Reply | Quote

Maybe try installing the right patch from here and reboot..

https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/en-us/vulnerability/ADV990001

Apparently it can also hint at a corrupt .NET framework so maybe you had an update for that fail a while back and that needs to be installed again?

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/insider/forum/all/windows-update-error-0x80070643/3bad0495-dabb-4e3f-91a7-aaf992ef537a?auth=1

That said DISM should be able to set that straight though if an old update keeps trying to install and fails you might need to use the /revertpendingactions switch there to roll a jammed update back before Windows update can go forward again..

I seem to remember a post on .net problems here a while back, time to rummage.

 

Reply | Quote

Sorry I had to be elsewhere, I didn’t realise that article I looked at was so old – but that’s not to say it’s not a pointer to the issue.

If you haven’t installed .NET by yourself, DISM should be able to sort any issues out, and if you have updated manually re-running the installer in repair mode should fix the framework.. Here’s how to use DISM to fix Windows files:

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/troubleshoot/windows-server/deployment/fix-windows-update-errors

Probably best to be off line and stop the Windows update service initially (having taken notes..), as sometimes the process can get excessively long winded, fetching most of the files in the package one at a time to get the latest version, and trying the alternative repair method could be more controlled and quicker- though the files flagged in the DISM logs (windows\logs\DISM\dism.log) can still be a good way of confirming the nature and presence of a problem.

I had an “insolvable” problem with broken .NET back at Windows XP, and to fix it I used mofcomp.exe to basically run through all the MOF files under the %windir%\Microsoft.net folder (from what I can recall – was a long time ago!) in date order, rebuilding each part of the framework, which was brutal but functional (though the security patches needed to be reapplied). I suspect a software engineer programmatically modified the framework leaving security aspects set such that the software damaged access to a newer version component for non administrators when the framework was upgraded.

Unfortunately those MOF files are no longer there on Windows 10 – they’re mixed in the Windows files (\WINDOWS\system32\wbem) , but there are a lot for critical functions there, and mofcomp seems somewhat more specific and powerful in its action than it was. Seems likely the reason for the location is Microsoft.net is the Windows component, not an installed update, on my machine.

Thus I’m steering away from that repair route with some haste…I’ve left the comment in as  I’ve bothered to note it, just in case someone has figured out the process and written a script to repair .NET safely that they can add to this post.. so to repeat, for now I can only suggest if DISM fails, downloading the current version might give you the repair option, or you could go for higher version and hope no programs are impacted.

Probably time to back up anything critical, and get the media for your favourite build ready to go if you haven’t already, before you do anything to your system.

 

Reply | Quote

I had this issue on Monday and tried several approaches to sorting it, including most of what is mentioned here without any success. On Tuesday, I went into the installed apps list and did a Modify/Repair on the three .NET Framework entries listed. That solved it. The updates with download errors weren’t shown during the next manual update.

PS: Didn’t get this figured out until after the November updates were released, but no issues updating either.

Reply | Quote