Solved Unable to install Security updates - error codes 0x8000400, 0x8024402C

[philipgr]

Good evening

Since the beginning of January 2017 The monthly security updates refuse to install. I get error codes 0x8000400 and 0x8024402C. The updates get to between 93 and 98 percent then fail and a rollback occurs. When I eventually get back into Windows the update manager tells me that I have an update to install which is always the one that fails. I have only managed on two occassions to get the update to install.

I have downloaded and run the Hotfix file (Windows6.1-KB947821-v34-x64) numerous times. I have downloaded and run the Windows Diagnostic Update Troubleshooter tool numerous times. It alsways finds and fixes the same errors but it does not fix this error - 0x8024402C. I have run the 'sfc /scannow' command which does not find any errors. I also tried running the wu170509 troubleshhoter program but it will not run.

I have done a search on the internet and followed the advice in these links (there are other links that I have tried). The first one took me over two hours to do. Sadly none of them have resolved this issue.
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/971058/how-do-i-reset-windows-update-components
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/2509997/you-can-t-install-updates-on-a-windows-based-computer
Microsoft Update Catalog

All my other updates install. I have followed your procedure for update bugs. The CBS zip file is 48MB in size. I have uploaded the file and some other files to my DropBox folder. This is the link to it:
Dropbox - Windows 7 Update

I have seen that there are a number of tools available for solving 0x8000400. All of them find a ton of stuff to fix including the registry. I do not like tools that modify the registry willynilly. I also do not want to purchase a whole load of tools and then find that they do not fix my issue.

All the Microsoft people on the Microsoft forum say this issue is due to malware and viruses. Well I have a good anti-virus program which updates automatically and does scans automatically. todate it has found no malware or viruses.

I am rather concerned about this issue and I am hoping someone may be able to assist me to resolve it.

I am running Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit. I ran dxdiag and I have uploaed the result file to DropBox.

Regards
Philip

 

[philipgr]

Good afternoon

I have managed to resolve my issue after I found a post on another forum dealing with the same issue just caused by a different error (0x80004005). A few days after posting my post I decided to download and run CCleaner. I created a restore point before doing so. Afterwards when I ran the Update diagnostic tool I had a different error code 0x80070005. I tried reinstalling the update which failed with error code 0x80070002. Reran the diagnostic tool and got the same error code. A page on the Microsoft Support site said I needed to download and install subinacl.msi which I did. The page also said that I needed to copy a script on the page and save it as reset.cmd and run it. It did so after which I tried to install my security update which failed again with error cdoe 0x80004005.

The other forum post had some suggestions that this failure to install the security updates was due to a non Microsoft bootloader/manager like Grub2. There were a number of suggestions on how to get the Windows boot files reinstalled - using the Windows install CD/DVD, modifying the boot order in the Linux boot file (which is not advisable for novice users). I do dual boot. I have Windows installed on one hard drive and my Linux distros on another.

On my PC pressing F12 (other PCs it might be F8) brought up my book menu. I selected the Windows drive and found that instead of booting into Windows the Grub boot menu displayed. This meant that the Windows boot files had been overwritten. This happened a year agbo when while I was doing an Ubuntu distro upgrade I had a power failue. When the power came back on my PC would not boot so I used a Linux tool called boot-repair to fix it. The default is to install the grub menu into all the boot sectors (I have three hard drives so it put it in all of them). For me because I have Windows and Linux on separate hard drives it was a simple problem to fix. I booted into Zorin and went into 'Computer' to get the hard drive letters. I could also get them by running gparted. My data drive is sda, Windows is sdb and Linux sdc.

I ran boot-repair which is a Debian and Debian based distro boot repair tool. I set it to reinstall Grub2 on sdc only. I selected the advanced options and ticked the MBR repair box afterwhich I selected sdb and the generic boot option I ran it. Thereafter I rebooted, pressed F12. This time I booted into Windows. I did the reinstall and it was successfull. Afterwards I did an optional .net security install and booted via the Grub2 bootloader with no issues. I will see what happens when the June security update is released.

This leads me to a conclusion that since December last year for some unknown reason the MS Security Updates will only install if the update finds the Windows boot files in the MBR. This is unacceptable and should not happen. This causes a huge problem for folks who have two or more operating systems installed on the same hard drive. Every month they will have to restore the Windows boot files, install the security update and then reinstall the Grub2 bootloader.

Microsoft needs to urgently fix this issue especially as there are nasty ransomware viruses out there in the wild.

Regards
Philip