Windows Update botched again shortly after fresh install

[Ichinisan]

I hate Windows.

Cliffs: Fresh Windows install. Barely used anything except Google Chrome. Windows Update botched itself...again!

I can't tell you how many times I've had experiences like this. This problem has happened to me on multiple systems, and it's not just a Windows 8 thing. It's simply not acceptable.

I made a fresh install of Windows 8 Pro + Media Center. Activated it. Installed NVIDIA drivers and Google Chrome, then did practically nothing. I think I didn't even get a chance to install platform drivers. Mostly, I just accessed the system remotely from work to test connectivity to specific web pages. I occasionally allowed it to install some updates.

Today, I needed to install my old CanoScan LiDE25 scanner to scan my driver's license. I had previously used the same scanner on the same machine with the previous Win8 installation (before I changed hard drives). I tried to install using the latest Win7 64-bit driver from the manufacturer's web site...but it wouldn't work. The first self-extracting EXE created another self-extracting EXE, and that one just runs for half a second and disappears. I can't find extracted driver files anywhere. I renamed the second EXE to change the extension from "exe" to "zip" and then extracted the contents. From Device Manager, I tried to update the driver again and pointed it to the extracted files, but it still wouldn't install. I don't remember doing anything fancy to get the driver working with my previous Windows install, so I checked to see if it could get a driver through Windows update. I noticed that Windows Update had been broken since 7/14. The same update (KB2785094) just keeps saying "Failed" over and over and over. As usual, error code "80073712" is only described as "a problem." Could it be any more vague than that? I click "get help with this error" and it opens Windows Help, but all I have is another link that says "Get help for Windows Update error 0x80073712 or 80073712." Seriously? Why not skip that screen entirely and take me to the next one?

It takes me to a help file with three "Methods" to repair. I already tried methods 1 and 2 (run Windows Update troubleshooter, run a couple of commands from an elevated command prompt). They didn't work. Method 3 says to restore or refresh my PC.

WHY DOES THIS HAPPEN TO A BRAND NEW INSTALL? Why does Windows simply break itself for no reason?

The previous installation lasted a couple days before Windows trashed itself (that's another story). Now I don't trust this installation and I'm probably going to end up reinstalling again. Reinstalling so frequently will probably wear-out my SSD before I ever have a chance to actually use it!

I shut down the system and started again. Now the scanner is miraculously installed in the Device Manager! I installed Irfanview, registered it, and made my scans. Windows Update still doesn't work.

 

[Dahak]

usually there is 2 things I try to do if it fails in windows update, the first thing I try is let the background download and install.

if that does not work, you can try the manual download, for this case KB2785094

also you could take a look at the windowsupdate.log usually located in c: \windows folder

 

[compman25]

On new installs with lots of updates always do them in groups of 10, that way if one does fail you can isolate it and skip it in the next group of 10 until you get thru them all.

 

[Mem]

I have a similar issue on my mums Win7 PC,been trying to get it fixed for over a month now,Windows updates just keep failing with error code,something Microsoft should really address on any version of Windows.

 

[Ichinisan]

usually there is 2 things I try to do if it fails in windows update, the first thing I try is let the background download and install.

if that does not work, you can try the manual download, for this case KB2785094

also you could take a look at the windowsupdate.log usually located in c: \windows folder

Here's what happens when I run the downloaded file:

[Window Title]
Windows Update Standalone Installer

[Main Instruction]
Windows Update Standalone Installer

[Content]
The update is not applicable to your computer.


[OK]

The filename (Windows8-RT-KB2785094-x86.msu) says "x86" -- does that mean Windows Update is downloading the wrong file for a 64-bit installation?

[edit]

Downloading the x64 version now... (Windows8-RT-KB2785094-x64.msu)​

[/edit]

[edit2]

The x64 version doesn't work either:

[Window Title]
Windows Update Standalone Installer

[Main Instruction]
Windows Update Standalone Installer

[Content]
Update for Windows (KB2785094) is already installed on this computer.


[OK]

[/edit2]

On new installs with lots of updates always do them in groups of 10, that way if one does fail you can isolate it and skip it in the next group of 10 until you get thru them all.

There's only 1 that's doing this. It's the only one that shows. It will not install. It appears to be blocking all other updates from even downloading.

 

[Ichinisan]

After the revelation that the update is supposedly "already installed," I uninstalled it and restarted. Ran Windows Update again. Still fails to install. Fails instantly.

 

[Mushkins]

First, that scanner driver has nothing to do with windows update. Poorly made peripheral driver installers have existed since peripherals have existed, that's not really windows fault. It's up to the manufacturer of the device to develop and distribute those drivers, and most of the time they suck at it. It actually looks like according to the Canon website that device has no Windows 8 drivers for 32 or 64 bit, and is not supported on the OS at all, i'm not surprised you had driver issues.

A quick google search is littered with posts about this specific update failing for people. It seems to be mostly related to altering the System Tools/Administrative Tools folders in the Start Menu folder, something in that update is referencing them or trying to alter them and it's failing because it cant find them. You can try an sfc /scannow to restore them if there's something wrong with them and then rerun the update.

Did you install Start8 or Classic Shell or any other "bring back the start menu" addons? While considerably useful, they are totally unsupported and can easily cause windows update issues exactly like this, especially if the updates specifically reference start menu items.

 

[RampantAndroid]

I have a similar issue on my mums Win7 PC,been trying to get it fixed for over a month now,Windows updates just keep failing with error code,something Microsoft should really address on any version of Windows.

What error do you get?

 

[Mem]

What error do you get?

Windows update error code 8024402f . Tried the Windows update troublshooter fix it program so far with no luck.

 

[Ichinisan]

First, that scanner driver has nothing to do with windows update. Poorly made peripheral driver installers have existed since peripherals have existed, that's not really windows fault. It's up to the manufacturer of the device to develop and distribute those drivers, and most of the time they suck at it. It actually looks like according to the Canon website that device has no Windows 8 drivers for 32 or 64 bit, and is not supported on the OS at all, i'm not surprised you had driver issues.

Well, I was detailing what led to me going into Windows Update (trying to install a scanner that worked fine in Win8 previously). Besides, there is a failure in the OS if the drivers are there for it to find / use, but it doesn't find them until the system restarts and I never see any sort of "new hardware detected / installed" message. Driver installation has always been a weak point in Windows.

A quick google search is littered with posts about this specific update failing for people. It seems to be mostly related to altering the System Tools/Administrative Tools folders in the Start Menu folder, something in that update is referencing them or trying to alter them and it's failing because it cant find them. You can try an sfc /scannow to restore them if there's something wrong with them and then rerun the update.

I'll do that. Of course, I'm really irritated that a fresh Windows install has botched itself for no good reason...and this has happened to me numerous times before. It's getting close to a breaking point where I will abandon Windows and try to re-learn all my productivity shortcuts on an Apple system.

Did you install Start8 or Classic Shell or any other "bring back the start menu" addons? While considerably useful, they are totally unsupported and can easily cause windows update issues exactly like this, especially if the updates specifically reference start menu items.

Nope. I keep my installations as "stock" as possible. The only reason I have Win8 at all is so I can follow along with strangers I talk to on the phone.

 

[Ichinisan]

After the revelation that the update is supposedly "already installed," I uninstalled it and restarted. Ran Windows Update again. Still fails to install. Fails instantly.

After this, I installed the x64 version after that reboot and it claims to have installed, but Windows Update still lists that one and still keeps failing to install it.

 

[Ichinisan]

A quick google search is littered with posts about this specific update failing for people. It seems to be mostly related to altering the System Tools/Administrative Tools folders in the Start Menu folder, something in that update is referencing them or trying to alter them and it's failing because it cant find them. You can try an sfc /scannow to restore them if there's something wrong with them and then rerun the update.

I'll do that.

Here's what I got...

Microsoft Windows [Version 6.2.9200]
(c) 2012 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\Windows\system32>sfc /scannow

Beginning system scan. This process will take some time.

Beginning verification phase of system scan.
Verification 100% complete.

Windows Resource Protection did not find any integrity violations.

C:\Windows\system32>

 

[Mushkins]

• 2788350
• 2790920
• 2792009

These updates are included in update 2785094 when you install it by using Windows Update.

Are any of these three updates installed? It could be that the system thinks the erroring update *is* installed because its actually a rolled-up update of these three, but isn't properly detecting that they're the same thing. If so, uninstall all of them, restart, give it another shot.

Also please disable any AV if you haven't already, and check the detection logs for Windows Defender. I did see a few people complaining that their AV was flagging this update as a false positive.

Error code 80073712 indicates that the Windows component store is corrupt. Your SFC /scannow came back clean (its not perfect), so it could be a bogus error code. It could also be that your Windows 8 install media has a problem, or your hard drive has a problem. I've run into numerous occasions where multiple reinstalls of windows on the same system were unstable in varying ways with a known good image and it turned out the HDD was on its way out and not properly handling bad sectors. Might want to work that angle too in case you need to update the firmware on your SSD to fix known instabilities.

This update rollup includes the following performance and reliability improvements:

• Resolves an issue that could cause low-quality playback when you stream videos from Windows Media Center to Xbox consoles.
• Improves Bluetooth audio playback quality.
• Resolves an issue in which you may be unable to install a Windows Store app update when the app is installed to multiple accounts on the same computer.

If none of that is important to you, you can always just hit "ignore this update" to skip it forever as a last resort.

Also please check the windows Error Log and the Windows Update log file, which both give a whole lot more information than just a sketchy error code. The log file is gonna be enormous, scroll down to the bottom and do a reverse search for the update number. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/902093 for instructions.

 

[Ichinisan]

WindowsUpdate.log
ReportingEvents.log

 

[VirtualLarry]

or your hard drive has a problem. I've run into numerous occasions where multiple reinstalls of windows on the same system were unstable in varying ways with a known good image and it turned out the HDD was on its way out and not properly handling bad sectors. Might want to work that angle too in case you need to update the firmware on your SSD to fix known instabilities.

That's my best guess - SSD troubles. Is it a SandForce controller?

 

[Ichinisan]

I also have an SSD. It's an OCZ Vertex Plus 120GB. I believe there were problems with its controller, but I heard they were resolved with the latest firmware. I updated the firmware before I installed it.

 

[xpclient]

Did you install Start8 or Classic Shell or any other "bring back the start menu" addons? While considerably useful, they are totally unsupported and can easily cause windows update issues exactly like this, especially if the updates specifically reference start menu items.

Just to clarify something....installing Classic Shell doesn't make anything unsupported. It's not a hack or anything, it uses proper documented programming interfaces. I can speak for Classic Shell as I was part of its team. It does hook into Explorer.exe but that's about it. It is just a regular program like Winamp or Firefox or Skype. It does not modify any Windows settings behind the scenes nor modify files. It does not do anything dangerous that should affect the operation of other Windows components and the APIs it uses are documented. Do you blame Firefox or Skype or any regular program for destroying your system without any conclusive evidence that it did so? This is only spreading FUD. I can assure you that it doesn't affect Windows Update or cause anything to fail.

 

[Ichinisan]

I don't run antivirus (not even Microsoft Security Essentials). I'm careful what I download / execute and I use Google Chrome as my browser. I keep minimal plugins / add-ons and install the latest Windows / Chrome updates obsessively. I even disabled Chrome's built-in Flash and PDF plugins (I do run ABP, though).

This has always been what works for me and I just don't get malware. I wouldn't recommend it for other people, even most so-called "computer nerds" (I clean their computers all the time).

The main reason I do this is because I don't want to wonder whether-or-not a particular problem is actually caused by the antivirus software. Also, it saves resources.

 

[Ichinisan]

If my SSD is causing it, shouldn't there be a corrupted file or something? sfc /scannow said everything was clean.

How should I check my SSD to find out if it's really causing this?

 

[Albatross]

http://support.microsoft.com/mats/windows_update/

 

[Mushkins]

Just to clarify something....installing Classic Shell doesn't make anything unsupported. It's not a hack or anything, it uses proper documented programming interfaces. I can speak for Classic Shell as I was part of its team. It does hook into Explorer.exe but that's about it. It is just a regular program like Winamp or Firefox or Skype. It does not modify any Windows settings behind the scenes nor modify files. It does not do anything dangerous that should affect the operation of other Windows components and the APIs it uses are documented. Do you blame Firefox or Skype or any regular program for destroying your system without any conclusive evidence that it did so? This is only spreading FUD. I can assure you that it doesn't affect Windows Update or cause anything to fail.

Installing Classic Shell is unsupported by Microsoft. I'm not saying it voids your warranty and kills your babies, just that Microsoft is under no obligation to play nice with it, can totally break it via windows update, and yes, it *can* interfere with Windows Update like any other software can if the updates interact with things that software may change, modify, or access. I've lost count of how many times ive seen the root cause of a FUBARed windows install or serious conflict end up being a basic right-click context menu addition, despite being a valid way to modify explorers default behavior. Windows 8 is Microsofts product, Classic Shell is not.

Is Classic Shell intentionally malicious? Of course not, but if a users issue has been reported to be caused by even altering the default windows start menu contents and they might have a program that intentionally handles the start menu in a completely different way, it's a good question to ask from a troubleshooting perspective.

Back on topic: Try logging in as the local Administrator account and running the update there. Its disabled by default in Win8, here's the instructions to enable it if you need them: http://www.eightforums.com/tutorial...rator-account-enable-disable-windows-8-a.html

 

[BigToque]

Try running:

"Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth" from the command prompt

 

[xpclient]

Installing Classic Shell is unsupported by Microsoft. I'm not saying it voids your warranty and kills your babies, just that Microsoft is under no obligation to play nice with it, can totally break it via windows update, and yes, it *can* interfere with Windows Update like any other software can if the updates interact with things that software may change, modify, or access. I've lost count of how many times ive seen the root cause of a FUBARed windows install or serious conflict end up being a basic right-click context menu addition, despite being a valid way to modify explorers default behavior. Windows 8 is Microsofts product, Classic Shell is not.

Is Classic Shell intentionally malicious? Of course not, but if a users issue has been reported to be caused by even altering the default windows start menu contents and they might have a program that intentionally handles the start menu in a completely different way, it's a good question to ask from a troubleshooting perspective.

Back on topic: Try logging in as the local Administrator account and running the update there. Its disabled by default in Win8, here's the instructions to enable it if you need them: http://www.eightforums.com/tutorial...rator-account-enable-disable-windows-8-a.html

That again is an inaccurate way to put it. Microsoft is under no obligation to provide support for Classic Shell related issues, but that does not make the Windows installation unsupported. They are still under obligation to provide support for Windows 8 even if Classic Shell is installed. Classic Shell is just like a regular app, it does not depend on any Microsoft code, it is 100% its own code. Microsoft can't totally break it via Windows Update, stop spreading FUD. Do you go around saying installing Visual Studio or Microsoft Office or Steam or Firefox or Google Chrome makes Windows unsupported and that they can break it via Windows Update? Windows updates can break only if for those applications which modify system files or system settings or which use undocumented hacks/methods to incorrectly modify the system.. Classic Shell does not touch system files or system registry settings.

 

[Ichinisan]

Try running:

"Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth" from the command prompt

That was done ("Method 2" above). It did not work.

 

[Ketchup]

I couldn't help but notice the failures started rolling in after that "Camera Codec Pack" updates were installed. Was that an optional update? I would try removing those, and trying the update again. But you may be at the point where a fresh install is necessary.