Unable to download updates 8024402C

From comments on other forums this problem affects a number of users and the workaround that seems to work is to change the get DNS server definition from automatic to manual, but the question is why?
I first took my notebook with W7 starter on holiday where it worked perfectly downloading updates without changing anything. This suggested the problem is not on my PC, but external.
Back home I had to change the DNS settings to manual using 4.2.2.2 for DNS server, after which the downloads worked fine (I have another PC at home that runs XP without any such problems). This hints at a problem with the DNS server or the update server that the DNS points to, but another user found the DNS server used when in automatic mode, changed to manual, defined the same DNS server and that worked. This suggests the problem isn't external either.
Anyone got any thoughts on this?

Started there, it's no help. It doesn't go near changing the get DNS server from auto to manual, which is all the fix needed to make the downloads work.
This rules out firewall blocking, service clashes etc & the other suggestions.

Not quite. DNS & DHCP are separate services which just happen to appear on the same configuration screen.

But if you're asking, if when I use the address determined by "get DNS server address automatically" as the address to use under "use the following DNS server address"; does it fail in 'automatic' and work under 'manual', then the answer is yes.

(but note that I'm using the real address used when determined automatically, not the one shown by nslookup or ipconfig. There is a difference.)

I think I may have found an answer, it certainly fits all the behaviours, including why the automatic settings work untouched when in the US, but it's a bit complex.

I did a bit more digging & found this article which describes the difference in get DNS behaviour between XP & Vista/Windows7.
DNS Client Name Resolution behavior in Windows Vista vs. Windows XP - Microsoft Enterprise Networking Team - Site Home - TechNet Blogs
It reminded me of something I came across several years ago but my memory is old and about Cisco router behaviour, not Netcomm NB5 which I'm using, but router behaviour is constrained by IEEE standards so I expect the behaviours to be broadly similar.
With the automatic setting the PC uses a DNS address of the default router (assuming you're using NAT'd private = 192.168.1.1). which advertises itself as providing a DNS service, though what it really does is to forward requests to a real DNS server (provided by the ISP and configured into the router when initially configured. Mine is 203.12.160.35 = dns1.tpg.com.au).
A DNS request goes to the router (192.168.1.1) which recognises it as such and in addition to changing the source address to a 'public' one (eg 10.20.21.123) also changes the data inside the packet to reflect the 'public' rather than the 'private' address. This means that the DNS server receives the request as if it came from the public address & it's associated domain.
With the manual setting the DNS, which specifies the external public address (203.12.160.35), the request packet is treated a normal data packet and passed through the router without the data being changed, so the DNS server now receives the request as coming from the private address & it's domain.
Looking at the XP vs Vista/W7 comparison this shows the different behaviour and reply that is returned. In Vista/W& this could be a straight timeout with no server info and hence the problem, whereas with XP the search is wider.
Changing the registry from the default Vista/W7 setting to the XP default, as described in the article, should fix the problem, but at the moment I have no outstanding downloads to test.

Hi gents not sure if you will see this?

I am doing so research on this issue as currently I can not access window updates from my PC. Also I used to be able to use Remote Desktop to access my works PC from my Home PC and this has stopped working.

The issue seems to revolve around my access to the WWW. I lost this access to my router and the WWW on Saturday and after much experimentation I managed to get access (via my router) only after un-installing the drivers for the network card. The Other PC (XP based) is working fine and the router appears to be fine. I can even use remote desktop to access my Works PC so this shows the router is fine?

The issue seems to have stemmed from Un-installing Avira and replacing it with Norton 2010. I am stumped as to what else I can try to get my access to Update sorted and working. I have tried the suggestions in terms of

1. Removing Norton and turning off firewall.
2. Detect Lan Setting Automatically.
3. Resetting the Proxy with the Command Prompt.
4. Looking at using defined IP address in the TCP/IP4 settings.

I have used the Norton Un-install program to try and tidy up any hanging issues.

I have used avira un-install stand alone tidy up for any hanging issues.

I just do not know what to look at next. I feel it has to be in the area of IP and router config but I can access WWW fine but something is just stopping me from hitting the Update site and gives the "WindowsUpdate_8024402C" "WindowsUpdate_dt000" error.

Any help or pointers to other sites that might give me other things to try would be great.

I have even tried the Windows Live 1 care scanner but I can not download that so something seems to be stopping me from grabbing that and running it on my X64 Windows 7 system.

Just seen this thread How do I reset Windows Update components?

Not sure if that is worth doing in relation to Windows 7? I will dig around further...

The last thoughts for the night.... I think the culprit is something to do with Avira and Norton naffing up the system and I just need some way to reset and clear out any changes made by these two packages.

I have also noticed that I now have issues with Windows Live Mail when I open a mail and do a reply the WLM freezes and takes a several minutes before it allows me to type anything. This could I guess by a security issue if Windows 7 is trying to access a feature that is no longer there (Avira??) Re e-mail checking?

I have re-installed Norton 2010 to see if that would fix it and has made no difference. I have turned off their firewall to see if I can get access to update and again no joy. I am wondering if Avira has left something broken but after running their specific un-install routine I would have hoped that fixed it...

Ohh the joys of computers....