Windows 7: Windows could not search for new updates, error 80080005

Today a message came up saying that windows could not check automatically for updates and after clicking it to search manually I got the thread title as an error(error 8008005).

(might be related) Some days ago windows tried to install some updates but failed several times. Every time I restarted the PC it said the updates failed to install and then I had to re-download them. I didn't give much attention though, so I'm not sure if they did install after all.

So I can't use windows update to search for new updates at the moment.

error messages ending in 0005 are often 'access denied' errors - try this first.....

Open Windows Update
click on Change Settings
select 'Never check for updates' in the dropdown - click OK
Exit Windows Update
now go back to Windows Update
Click on Change Settings
Select 'Install Updates Automatically'
Click OK
now try manually checking for updates.

Worked. Thank you.

Great! thaks for letting us know.

Not bad Noel considering only having 3 toes. Smile this is a rep.

You've been peeking!

Today i ran into the same problem "Windows could not check for updates automatically" and when i tried to check for the update it gave me an error

Error(s) found:

Code 80080005

i tried what you said earlier Noel but it didn't work for me :[ is there another solution?

Please start a new thread of your own - it avoids confusion for others, and ensures that yoour question gets full attention. Include the following

What was the last successfully installed Update? - and when (from the Updates History)- what was the first recent failure ?
What Anti-Virus and other security software are you running?
Have you had any malware episodes recently?

Hi again.
My problem was fixed as I said, but temporarily after all.

The initial problem to be honest(some months ago) was that there were 3 particular updates, that although they seemed to download and get installed correctly, when I'd run windows update again(after a PC restart), they would still be there, like they were never installed in the first place.
Then came this problem of 'could not search for updates'.
Not sure if they are connected.

And to answer your questions:
*Last successfully installed update: Security Update for Windows 7 (KB2676562)
Security Update for Windows 7 (KB2633171)
Update for Windows 7 (KB2679255)
but not sure if they can classify as 'successful', because as I said I have installed them several times :/
*My antivirus is avast!
*No recent malware episodes -but since this is isn't a recent problem, it's not that helpful i guess

Please start a new thread of your own - that way more people will get sight of your problem, and you'll get a quicker solution.