Win 7 Windows Update 80246002 Unable to run updates

Wake up, Microsoft, you screwed up BIG time!

Same deal with me too. I did a fresh install of Windows 7 Home Premium on a machine I'm supposed to be fixing. After the first round of updates, I can no longer even check for updates, getting error 80246002 every time. I did a complete second reinstall with a different disc, installed the same bunch of updates, and got the same result.

Running down the list of possible causes and solutions here and elsewhere:

Troubleshooter? I ran it and it let me do a second batch of updates. Then on the next boot I'm back to error 80246002 and the troubleshooter doesn't fix it anymore.

Fixit? I ran it and got no effect at all.

DNS or other ISP issues? I'm on Comcast in Boston. I tried changing my DNS servers, and even connecting to my phone's wifi tethering, and get the exact same error every time.

3rd party software or antivirus? I haven't installed any yet. Everything present on this machine came out of the Windows install disc or Windows Update.

Install updates manually? I can't even successfully check for updates. I suppose I could make a spreadsheet of all KB numbers I've installed and check the Windows Update Catalog site periodically. But that's WAY too much work, and this is a client's computer.

Wait for MS to fix it and push out a fix? Again, if it won't even *check* for updates, it's never going to get the fix.

EDIT: I hadn't tried stopping wuauserv and clearing out C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download because it's supposed to be one of the things the troubleshooter does. I don't know what went wrong with the troubleshooter, but doing this manually fixed the problem.

The solution is then:

1. Open an Administrator Command Prompt (Start, type in cmd, right-click, run as administrator)
2. net stop wuauserv
3. del /s /q %SystemRoot%\SoftwareDistribution\Download\*.*
4. net start wuauserv
5. Retry Windows Update

Given that 80246002 means there is an invalid file hash, and that clearing out downloaded updates fixes the issue, this raises a major question: Why can't it automatically delete and re-download a file if its hash indicates that it's corrupted?

Hi riomonga,

I'm a 73 year "young" man with this problem. I am not tech-savy like you and others that I have communicated with. Thank you for your interest and input.

Please advise what I should do to have this problem solved. Thanks again.

earleb

Greetings All -

Have read through this and many other threads about this issue, this thread being the most recent. I've tried the various fixes offered here and elsewhere without success, including changing DNS servers, stopping Windows Update service, deleting the Download folder, restarting, etc., etc., without success. Since this happening on both my machines, I can't see that it's a local issue, specific to one machine going South.

I'm glad that some of these suggestions have worked for some people, but I do hope MS jumps on this ASAP and provides a comprehensive, system wide solution. Until then, no updates for me. :(

Change your DNS servers to 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4 and it will fix the problem. A reboot may be needed.

I must say the support here is totally useless. Microsoft knows this issue and knows the temporary fix as well.

Though I was initially skeptical, this did actually fix the problem for me as well.

Worked for me too can now see updates when I check for them.

In my personal experience, I have been using Google's public DNS service on a couple of machines for several months and I experienced the 80246002 error this morning on a Windows 7 laptop using Google's public DNS and was subsequently able to resolve it.

unfortunately, you don't give any details about how you resolved the problem..

i am thinking that the problem is due to the recent update for "windows update agent".. see this post, by "jranger2112":

jranger2112 replied on

I am just adding this this thread, since Microsoft seems to have totally messed up wua .. current

Windows Update Agent 7.6.7600.320 is broken, this needs to be fixed now, lot of people are going to be hanging out in the wind on this one

of note, this is from a fresh install, only sp1 is installed on win7x64 .. this patches installed without permission on my end

windows update agent 7.6.7600.320

definition update for windows defender

update for windows kb958488

kb2685811

kb2505454

this is as far as the update process got after sp1 was installed, since I see wua767600.320 is not showing up in Microsoft search for this update...

this is the log entry that is causing the issue directly, not sure if there is anything upstream that is messing things up

-08-28 03:40:45:108  336 bb8 Misc WARNING: Digital Signatures on file C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\SelfUpdate\wsus3setup.cab are not trusted: Error 0x80070002

2014-08-28 03:40:45:170  336 bb8 Setup WARNING: SelfUpdate check failed to download package information, error = 0x80246002

2014-08-28 03:40:45:170  336 bb8 Setup FATAL: SelfUpdate check failed, err = 0x80246002

2014-08-28 03:40:45:170  336 bb8 Agent   * WARNING: Skipping scan, self-update check returned 0x80246002

2014-08-28 03:40:45:170  336 bb8 Agent   * WARNING: Exit code = 0x80246002

--end

i don't know if it a windows 7 thing..a windows 8 thing.. it seems there is an issue with a "certficate"..

i have not seen the same update for "windows update agent" on my computer.. (also, i am running windows xp and the issue might not affect windows xp.. maybe windows xp doesn't check for certificates the same way that windows 7 does)..

i could try testing things, going to "windows update", but there is no need for me to go there, and i could just wind up with problems, if the update for "windows update agent" is installed..

after all of the people who are experiencing problems with "windows updater", i hope someone at MS is aware of the problem and is trying to figure out how to straighten things out..

it is interesting that using google's DNS-servers seems to be a workaround for the problem.. i don't know why that would make a difference but apparently it does..