Windows Update Doesn't Work even with the SOLUTION

We are not in the days of Windows 98.

If you backup your registry to the desktop, make registry adjustments and then your system does not boot how are you going to restore the registry from your desktop to get your system running again?  If you can describe how to do that I might change my copy/paste instruction ideas to include that method.

My experience has been that some folks are just really afraid of entering regedit.exe in the Run box...  They are more receptive to command line of even a supplied import file (which I could also create) - anything to keep from entering regedit.exe into the run box!

It doesn't matter how you decide to remove the AU key from the registry - that is the only thing that will make the informative messages about  "...managed by your system administrator" go away.

I don't know of any problems since September 11 but steps 1-12 are a pretty reliable way to sort of "reset" an afflicted WU when other methods fail.

I think you can skip step 11.

I am of course familiar with System restore but I always save a copy of the registry and place it on the desktop as a a backup. If sometimes occurs that the the restore points fail and then windows is forced to attempt repairs .  You state that one has to initiate a repair with the backup registry. At least back in the days of Windows 98 Windows would search for a good copy if the registry was bad and utilized that registry boot , Is this no longer the case?

I actually think it is safer to edit the registry with regedit than use the command line. On slip of the hand with and incomplete command  and you could end up trying to delete a higher level key. I am going to try editing the registry to solve the problem rather than the command line.

I am also having problems with being offered updates since September 11, 2016 Will steps 1-12 solve that problem?

Things were sure different in the XP days when I would suggest making a Restore Point and using a third party program like ERUNT to backup the registry.

Then if the XP system did not boot and there was no Windows installation CD or no CD/DVD drive I already have instructions on how to make a bootable Recovery Console CD/USB or using something like a Hiren's Boot CD/USB to fix the system and restore the registry backup - easy peasy as they say and I've used those instructions perhaps thousands of times in those days.

Those instruction would work for 100% of the systems 100% of the time under the worst possible conditions.

Things are different in Windows 7.

So...  awaiting your instructions on how to restore a registry backup on a Windows 7 system that will not boot with no media or other bootable device available.

Some people are squeamish - you aren't and I aren't either so good for us.  I still usually make a System Restore point if I am not 100% sure what is going to happen with my experiments of recreating failure cases that come up in the MS Answers community.

I try to remember "What are you going to do if the system doesn't boot when you get through with these changes"...  How are you going to fix it?

Lots of folks will tell you to backup the registry before making changes and that is a good idea but what they don't tell you is how to restore the registry if the system will not boot after making the changes.

If you give instructions on backing up the registry and during the edit something goes wrong and the system no longer boots you  are then going to have to come up with instructions on how to restore the registry on a system that will not boot.

On the other hand almost everybody is familiar with the concept of System Restore so if one makes a mistake editing the registry and the system does not boot I would much rather help somebody with performing a System Restore than helping them restore the registry on a non bootable system.

If you care to take a shot at writing some instructions that anyone in the community at any skill level can follow to restore the registry from a registry backup on a system that will not boot I would like to see them. 

As you are writing your instructions make sure you keep in mind that not everybody has a genuine bootable Windows installation CD/DVD, no Recovery Diskm  and some systems do not even have a CD/DVD drive at all so your instructions have to work for everybody at every skill level in all those possible real world scenarios - under the worst possible conditions.

Then I would consider breaking my system on purpose with a bad registry edit (so it won't boot) and following your instructions to restore the registry backup on my non bootable system pretending I don't have an installation CD/DVD or a CD/DVD drive that works and see what happens.  Then when I run into a problem I'm going to ask you to help me figure out what to do next.

If you accidentally leave out System\AU that is what I would call a self inflicted wound - you did not follow the directions.  Sometimes known as cockpit error.

I don't know what would happen but why don't try it on your system and see for yourself?  That is the best way to learn how to fix things.  Make your registry backup, delete the key without the System\AU and see what happens.

Then if your system won't boot of is horribly afflicted you can follow the registry restore procedure you came up with and see how that works.  Describe how you are going to undo or fix the problem from a registry backup.

Then after a couple days of back and forth trying things and if you get the system to work again repeat the "accident" except this time use System Restore to undo the damage and see which method you would prefer to use if you were trying to help somebody that had the problem.

Your steps 1-12 will not fix the "...by your system administrator" kinds of messages - that is for a different problem and you don't need step 11.  Those instructions look like they are from a batch file so you don't need a pause.

If nobody can tell you how the policy got applied to the system (and most folks are not going to have any idea what you are talking about) there is only one way to fix the policy problem 100% of the time on any system and that is to remove the policy from the registry.

I not exactly squeamish about editing a registry. I did this without reservation with my Windows 98 computer, backing up the registry first of course, a warning which I think should be given with every  registry edit solution. When Windows XP came out the backup of he Registry was set by default only to back up a certain key  not the entire registry which made me cautious.

I just have two questions before I try this

if one were to

1.)reg  delete  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate\AU

accidentally leaving out "WindowsUpdate\AU" in the sybtaxwhat would happen?

2.) Would this method supply the same result freeing Windows update from the some setting are controlled by system administrator .

1. net stop wuauserv
2. net stop cryptSvc
3. net stop bits
4. net stop msiserver
5. ren C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution SoftwareDistribution.old
6. ren C:\Windows\System32\catroot2 catroot2.old
7. net start wuauserv
8. net start cryptSvc
9. net start bits
10. net start msiserver
11. pause
12. Exit