Windows Update error 80072EFD

Just a couple of things to suggest. I once saw someone that was having problems updating and showing a failure to connect type message. It turned out, the ADSL connection would allow XP updates, but not Windows 7. When he went out on his front porch and connected to his neighbors broadband, the updates started immediately. So, have you tried connecting from another location?

Secondly, if you could look in the Windows folder for the WindowsUpdate.log. Copy it to your desktop, then copy the last 4-7 days of entries and paste in a .txt file. Zip it and attach using the paperclip on the advanced replies. Maybe someone will see something.

@Saltgrass
When I come to think about, it started to occur around when I used my Android device for sharing internet. Our ISP was down at the moment for upgrades. Will try connecting to another internet source. The only problem would be that it's a little more difficult with a desktop computer but I'll give it a go.

For the log file, I attached it.

@gregrocker
Hey, I do know what I am doing when I am fixing/tweaking computers. I've been around helping people with their computer problems since Windows 98 was out. So don't naturally assume that I am fully unaware about anything related to Windows. And yes I have noticed that 7 needs to be handled with more delicate than the predecessors.

To the part about disabling System Restore. Why would I keep it enabled? I previously said that I'd rather reformat and get a clean system than using a restore. Disabling it also frees up precious harddrive space and system resources.

Seeing as the other computers which are maintained by me are tweaked in the exact same way as the computer with the Windows Update error I sincerely disbelief that me disabling critical services would be the problem here. Every other PC is working exceptionally.

I am truly sorry if I have been rude in some way. I just find it irritative when people make assumptions based on nothing. You are probably better than me at handling computers anyway but hey, that dosen't mean that us mortals are totally brainless.


As for my error, I think that Saltgrass is onto something here. The difference in internet connections is the only thing different from my other systems. I was using USB-shared internet connection from the 3G on my smartphone where the other systems were connecting to it wirelessly. Could this somehow have tampered the connection settings for Windows Update?

What that I said implied that you had been rude, or was rude on my part in any way? If you don't like the advice then the solution is not to take offense but consider it in the balance of all other advice.

My advice is based on what works best in countless thousands of cases which have earned us the reputation as the top tech forum on the web, possibly ever. Take it or leave it.

No, I apologized if I was rude in my previous post. Ofcourse I'll have it in consideration, I just think reinstalling is a little harsh. I'd rather find the root of the problem and fix it.

There is nothing that can be done compared to the importance of first getting a perfect Clean Reinstall OEM following the steps in tutorial to install and maintain it, and nothing else.

There has never been a complaint from a user who did this, while we deal every day with problems resulting from tweaking and modifying the first perfect Windows OS.

.. I perform these kinds of step EVERY time I reinstall a computer. The problem here is not the actual Windows configuration. As I said before I have the exact same configuration on ALL my computers which are working perfectly since the date they were installed. This problem is unique for me, and it is only occuring on this system.

Yes ofcourse a reinstall would fix the issue. But I'd rather avoid that seeing it's alot of work just to get the clean boot I used to have. Why are you going on about reinstall being the only solution? I only see that as a last resort.

Now, back to the problem. I do remember that Windows Update started to fail around the time I was using the internet sharing I wrote about before.

Are you willing to reset Internet Explorer settings back to default?

Yes ofcourse, already tried it though.

I have been going through your update log and the following is pretty much through all of it:

WinHttp: SendRequestUsingProxy failed for <http://download.windowsupdate.com/v9/1/windowsupdate/redir/muv4wuredir.cab>. error 0x80072efd
WARNING: WinHttp: SendRequestToServerForFileInformation MakeRequest failed. error 0x80072efd
WARNING: WinHttp: SendRequestToServerForFileInformation failed with 0x80072efd
WARNING: WinHttp: ShouldFileBeDownloaded failed with 0x80072efd
WARNING: DownloadFileInternal failed for http://download.windowsupdate.com/v9...v4wuredir.cab: error 0x80072efd

But you said you went through my earlier link, which shows how to reset the proxy server. So I assume it is not that. If you don't remember, it was the netsh winhttp show proxy command and probably shows no proxy server

The muv4wuredir.cab you go to in the quote is different from mine, but we are in different parts of the world, so yours may be correct.

Are you running a proxy server, or have you checked lately? Maybe the phone install did something. Does the phone have 3 or 4 G and can you get a network connection through it for testing?

If you go into Services.msc, can you start the WinHTTP service? Is it already running (doesn't need to be) and how is it set to start?

I am still looking at some other things, like the version of WindowsUpdate you have, but again, ours may be different. But I am pretty much guessing at possibilities.