Windows 7: Checking for updates fails with 80072efe for "other products"

If I receive updates "For Windows and other products from Microsoft Update", then
checking for updates fails with error code 80072efe. If I receive updates "For Windows only" then it works. I installed Microsoft Security Essentials which enabled the former and caused updating to fail. What's up and how to fix?

It's likely that this problem is caused by residuals from your previous security software - what was it?
Do you have any other security software currently installed?

You can happily reset the updates preference to 'Windows only' in the meantime- it won't affect MSE.

I did not have any previous security software. I reinstalled Windows, applied all updates coming from windowsupdate and then installed MSE.

edit: and I don't have any other security software installed.

Odd -
This error is usually caused by a failure to connect properly to the server - it's a 'Connection Aborted' error, and usually implies that there is a firewall problem, or a simple bad internet connection (I get it fairly frequently, as I use a 3G connection).

I suggest opening an Elevated Command Prompt window, and running the following command
NETSH WINSOCK RESET
- wait for it to complete, and reboot on request.

Thanks for the suggestion. I ended up just reinstalling (again), though. This time updating works as it should, so problem solved.

One way to fix it

Good luck!

Enable Win Internet Explorer. Yes, turning it off or disabling the 'windows component' causes grief!
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