Windows Update - Reset

How to Reset Windows Update in Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8​

   Information

This will show you how to reset Windows Update view update history, and how to reset and re-register Windows Update Components if you are having a problem updating with Windows Update.

OPTION ONE

To Only Reset Windows Update History

   Note

Resetting Windows Update using this option will clear the view update history details list (cache).

This will not actually uninstall any of your currently installed Windows Update. They will just not be listed anymore. Any new Windows Update installed after the reset will show up in the view update history list as normal though.

1. Click/tap on the Download button below to download this file below.
Reset_Windows_Update_History.bat


Download


2. Save the .bat file to your Desktop.

3. Right click or press and hold on the downloaded .bat file, and click/tap on Run as administrator.

4. If prompted by UAC click/tap on Run, then Yes/Continue (if administrator) or type in administrator's password (if standard user).

5. You will now see an elevated command prompt open and run. When it's finished, it will close automatically.

6. If opened, close and reopen Windows Update to verify that it has been reset.




7. Resetting the Windows Update history will also restore the default language packs being listed in Windows Upate again in the Windows 7 Ultimate and Enterprise editions after you check for updates next.

OPTION TWO

To Reset and Re-register Windows Update Components

NOTE: This option is the Windows version of: How do I reset Windows Update components?. It will reset Windows Update Components and re-register the BITS files and the Windows Update files to help fix Windows Update errors. This option will not clear the view update history details list as it does in OPTION ONE above.
1. Click/tap on the Download button below to download this file below.
Reset_Reregister_Windows_Update_Components.bat


Download


2. Save the .bat file to your Desktop.

3. Right click or press and hold on the downloaded .bat file, and click/tap on Run as administrator.

4. If prompted by UAC click on Run, then Yes/Continue (if administrator) or type in administrator's password (if standard user).

5. You will now see an elevated command prompt open and run. When it's finished, it will close automatically.

6. Restart the computer afterwards to apply.

7. If this still does not help, then run the Microsoft Fix it tool here:
How do I reset Windows Update components?

See also: Unable to install updates in Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2

OPTION THREE

To Reset and Re-register Windows Update Components AND Reset Update History in One Easy Click

   Note

This option combines OPTION ONE and OPTION TWO above in one .bat file.

1. Click/tap on the Download button below to download this file below.
Reset_Windows_Update_Full.bat


Download



2. Save the .bat file to your Desktop.

3. Right click or press and hold on the downloaded .bat file, and click/tap on Run as administrator.

4. If prompted by UAC click/tap on Run, then Yes/Continue (if administrator) or type in administrator's password (if standard user).

5. You will now see an elevated command prompt open and run. When it's finished, it will close automatically.

6. Restart the computer afterwards to apply.

7. If this still does not help, then run the Microsoft Fix it tool here:

Download



How do I reset Windows Update components?

See also: Unable to install updates in Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2
That's it,
Shawn

Related Tutorials

---

• Windows Update Error 80246008 in Windows 7 - Fix
• How to Create a "Windows Update" Shortcut in Windows 7
• How to Change the Windows Update Settings in Windows 7
• How to Enable or Disable Windows Updates from Automatically Restarting the Computer
• How to Uninstall a Windows Update in Windows 7
• How to Hide or Restore Hidden Windows Updates in Windows 7 and Windows 8
• How to Create a Installed Windows Updates Shortcut in Windows 7
• How to Create a Windows Update Troubleshoot Shortcut in Windows 7
• How to Enable or Disable Uninstalling Windows Updates in Windows 7
• How to Enable or Disable Access to Windows Updates in Windows 7
• How to View Windows Update History Details in Windows 7 and Windows 8
• How to Reset the Common Log File System (CLFS) Logs
• How to Enable or Disable the Windows Update "Who can install updates" Setting
• How to Download the Standalone MSU Installer File of a Windows Update
• How to Restore Default Services in Windows 7
• How to Trace what Windows Update a Manifest File Originated From
• How to Use DISM to Fix Component Store Corruption in Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012

 

[drifft]

Update error

I tried option two but it did not work. This machine is a windows 7 Ent 64bit and I cannot get my updates, i receiev an 80244022 error. I tried stopping the services and deleting the software distribution fodler in c:\windows\softwaredistribution . with no success. I have also tried this solution How do I reset Windows Update components? with no success. Please help. Thank in advanced.

 

[Brink]

Hello Drifft, and welcome to Seven Forums.

For that specific Windows Update error 80244022, you might see if this below may be able to help.

Windows Update error 80244022

Hope this helps,
Shawn

 

[jthelw]

Many thanks, Shawn!

I'm a new user, and your fix has helped greatly

 

[Brink]

You're most welcome jthelw, and welcome to Seven Forums.

 

[Pleymo]

Brink you are awesome, you just fixed my windows update/windows firewall/security center/security essantials problems cause of a malware disabled all of those services.

Big thanks from France

 

[Brink]

You're most welcome Pleymo, and welcome to Seven Forums. I'm glad that it was able to help.

 

[Crazyedd]

I followed steps 1 and 3 (I skipped 2 because it's included in step 3) and I still can't update windows

I've followed quite a few steps online and none have worked, this is quite frustrating because I'm pretty sure there are some very important updates that I'm missing right now.

I'd very much appreciate some help in this matter because I don't really know much about fixing these kinds of issues (the most I can do to improve my pc's performance is cleaning the fan)

 

[Brink]

Hello Ed, and welcome to Seven Forums.

Please go ahead and post back with all details about your Windows Update issue along with any error messages you may be getting.

 

[Crazyedd]

I get the 'Windows Update cannot currently check for updates because blah blah blah', basically the typical response that people have been getting.

That's basically it.

However, when I try and 'start' the Windows Update Service in the 'Services' area, I can't actually find it, which is odd.
Not sure if that helps.

I'm not really getting any error message apart from that one, so I feel like I have little to work with, which makes this kind of awkward.

 

[Brink]

Sorry Ed, but we need to know what the full exact error message is so we may be able to have a chance to determine what may be wrong.

 

[Crazyedd]

Oh, sorry. I saw it posted alot so I thought it was the only error message people received.

The message basically said: 'Windows Update cannot currently check for updates, because the service is not running. You may need to restart your computer.'

But the problem, as I stated in my post, is that I can't find the 'Windows Update Service' option in the 'Services' area.

 

[Brink]

No problem. If you like, go ahead and download and merge the .reg file for the listed Windows Update option in the tutorial below. It will restore the "Windows Update" service along with it's default settings. Hopefully all will be good again after the restart.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/236709-services-restore-default-services-windows-7-a.html

 

[Crazyedd]

Thanks, that got rid of the error message that I stated in my post, but now I'm getting error code 80246008.
Windows Update managed to find updates (14) that it could perform, but as soon as I clicked on 'Download Updates', that error popped up.

I'll look online for some way to fix this, but I figure I should post here in case you've encountered this error code before.

 

[Golden]

Thanks, that got rid of the error message that I stated in my post, but now I'm getting error code 80246008.

Hi,

Try this please:
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/113399-windows-update-error-80246008-windows-7-fix.html

Regards,
Golden

 

[Crazyedd]

I think it's fixed now.

It was the BITS service that was just non-existent on my pc, so I followed Brink's link, which contained the windows update reset, and found the BITS reset aswell.

The updates are currently downloading, so it's just a matter of waiting. But I'm guessing this is fixed now.


Thanks for all your help guys, I don't think I could have done it without you

 

[Golden]

Yep, that tutorial above ^ has the BITS download and fix.

 

[richardoakley]

A big thank you

Many thanks for your tutorial it resolved my problems

Richard

 

[Brink]

You're most welcome Richard, and welcome to Seven Forums. I'm glad that it was able to help.

 

[kyramas]

Thanks !

 

[Brink]

You're most welcome Kyramas, and welcome to Seven Forums.