Windows 7: Windows Update Error 80072EE2

Hi all,
I know this question has been posted many times. But all the solutions I find don't work for me.



Well, every time I try to use Windows update, I get the error code 80072EE2. This is also the case with my anti-virus software (Norton 360). I go to update Norton 360 but it stays at 0% and minutes later, it says update failed. When I went to activate my Windows 7 Home Premium, same error code appears. I used the phone option to activate it.

Solutions I have tried without success:

1. Uninstalled Ethernet device driver in Device Manager, rebooted computer, computer automatically installed driver. Retried Windows Update. Same error code.
2. Disabled firewall. Still didn't work.

Help would be much appreciated.

This will resolve your issue if you follow it carefully.

Windows Update error 80072ee2

It's a good idea to add those addresses in question to the trusted zone too, in Internet Explorer.

Tools | Internet Options | Security Tab | Click green check mark for trusted sites | Click sites box

Thank you for your reply.

Unfortunately, this did not fix the problem. I added http://*.update.microsoft.com, https://*.update.microsoft.com and http://download.windowsupdate.com to IE trusted sites list and to my allow list in my firewall.

Any other suggestions?

Nope. That will fix it. Google for more related addresses and similar issue, with your code. You will find a few more. Add the new ones you find.

Off top of my head you could put

microsoft.com
windowsupdate.com
update.microsoft.com


just like that.

I was using Windows Vista Home Premium x86 just the other day. Everything was working fine. As soon as I upgraded to 7, I get all these errors....

I myself have had that error throughout the years on operating system before even XP.

Not 7 problem or cause.

If you upgraded rather than clean install, could be cause.

Completely uninstall rather than just disabling Norton. That may be your fix, since Norton is notorious for this kind of behavior as well. I still think my first suggestion is more accurate, but this simply must be done too if you want to get to the bottom of your errors.

My advice is to always place as much distance as you can between yourself and their software(s).

You could also try putting www. in front of each of them and adding them too.

Thanks heaps for your help. The problem has been fixed. All I did was reinstall Windows 7 using the clean install option.

That always helps, right? Glad to see you're trouble free. Enjoy the OS.