Windows update failure

[fishiehowlett]

Hello,

Can anyone please help me with this error code 80040154? Windows updater can not search for updates due to this "unknown" error code. I have been all over the web trying to find a solution that works and so far nothing has. I am running Service pack 2 and the Windows updater worked fine until the end of June. I have no idea what caused this or even what it means.

Thanks

[Deadeye81]

Hello fishie, and welcome to the Lounge!

Have you attempted a System Restore to a time just before the problem started?

If you have Windows Defender running, try disabling it to see if Windows Update will function properly.

Also, check this thread on resetting Windows Update.

And check this out: MS KB article : Unable to install Windows Updates in Vista, Windows 7, etc.

Here is yet another link to check out.

And here is another Lounge thread to look at.

[jwitalka]

Is the BITS service started?
Try running SFC /scannow from an elavated CMD prompt.
See How to troubleshoot Windows Update.

If you could not resolve your problem , you might want to contact free Microsoft support. For information about how to do this, visit the following Microsoft Web site:
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkID=21608

[fishiehowlett]

Thank you both for the suggestions.

I had a look at all the links and tried everything except actually contacting Microsoft support. I ended up getting problems with the restore points on my system, some other error codes popping up in strange places and nothing I did fixed 80040154. In the end I decided to reinstall the OS from my recovery disks and after many hours of fun my system is fresh and new again. Interestingly I had to use the recovery disks as I could not restore the pre installed software ie Vista from my hard drive. Glad I bothered to make them.

[Medico]

Now that you have your OS working properly check out Imaging. You can read about Imaging in many threads in the Security and Backups forum. very enlightening. I recreate a system Image when I make changes to my system, i.e. updates, installed apps, uninstalled apps, etc. This way my Image is up to date so if something unexpected happens, whether in my OS or somewhere else, I can restore from my Image in about 10 minutes and be back where I was. Obviously, the older the Image, the more updates that will need to be reapplied. Check it out.

[bobprimak]

If any problems occur with Microsoft Updates in the future, try going through your browser (preferably Internet Explorer) to the Microsoft Updates web site, and do the process online from there. What this can do for you is to check whether there is an issue with your updating software, and if needed, the MS Updates software is downloaded and installed. This usually solves the problem right there. Then the process lets you go through a Custom update, which is the one Automatic Updates would have done on your computer if no errors had occurred. After that, it's just a matter of selecting the updates (usually all of them) and clicking on the Install Updates button.

After one manual run,your automatic updates should return to normal operations when new updates are available.

I usually set Windows Updates to notify me of updates, and then I decide when to let them be applied.

I agree that it is also a good practice to make an Image Backup of your system before any expected Microsoft Updates arrive.