How to fix Windows Update error 0x8007000d

What is Windows Update error 0x8007000d

Errors like 0x8007000d are update-related and can be encountered by users quite often. Unfortunately, this and many more problems have maintained their presence since Windows 7 to the latest versions existing. At this point, the range of reported cases counts a number of cumulative updates that users fail to install – KB3124200, KB4586853, KB4592438 for Windows 10 Version 1511, and 20H2. The error message displayed after coming to failure gives no valuable recommendations on how to repair the updates. It only provides the corresponding error code (0x8007000d) helping users raise awareness and come up with solutions together on forums and troubleshooting resources. If you wonder what are the reasons why such issues occur, then here is a couple of them. Normally, update problems can be triggered by some corruption or absence within the file system. In other cases, successful updating can be prevented by wrong configuration or third-party software that causes a conflict. Whatever the case, it is hard to decide which one of them is actually yours. Thus, it is worth trying all of the methods until you find the one solving the issue. Therefore, makes sure to follow our list of step-by-step instructions that will help you get rid of the 0x8007000d error down below.

Windows Update error 0x8007000d

Windows Update Standalone Installer error 0x8007000d

1. Use Windows Update Troubleshooter

Although this method rarely helps, it is still worth trying the already installed Windows Update Troubleshooter. It is designed to deal with the most common issues related to updates on a basic level. It will scan out your system for potential problems and try to fix them eventually. Learn how to do this via the instructions below:

1. Open Settings and navigate to Update & Security > Troubleshoot.
2. On the right pane, locate Windows Update and click Run the troubleshooter.
3. Finish the process following the on-screen instructions and restart your PC.

2. Check integrity of the system files

More often than not, missing and corrupted files end up being the main culprits of update errors. Even minor files may sometimes be vital for the proper communication of Windows services. If some of these files are falling out of the puzzle, more likely it will be the reason for update problems. Below, we are going to use both SFC (System File Checker) and DISM (Deployment Image Servicing and Management), which will detect and restore absent components, if any. Make sure to use both of the scans as they can have a different impact on the error solution. This is how:

Using SFC

1. Open Command Prompt by typing cmd into the searching box next to the Start Menu button.
2. Right-click on Command Prompt and choose Run as administrator.
3. Once the console is opened, type the sfc /scannow command and click Enter.
4. When the fixing process is done, restart your computer.

Using DISM

1. Open Command Prompt as we did in the previous step.
2. Copy and paste this command DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth.
3. Click Enter and wait until Windows ends the scanning and fixing.
4. Once done, restart your PC and install the update again.

Once you finish both of these scans, try to run the installation of updates again. If this does not shed any progress on the solution, move on to alternative methods below.

3. Specify settings for Optional Content Installation.

In this method we are going to affect some changes in group policy settings. Specifically, to make Windows download repair content and optional features directly from Windows Update. This is how you can perform this simple, yet very effective solution:

1. Press Windows key + R combination and type gpedit.msc.
2. Local Group Policy Editor should be prompted. On the left panel, navigate to Administrative Templates > System.
3. On the right panel, scroll down the list until you find Specify settings for Optional Content Installation.
4. Double click on it, make sure to select Enabled and check the Download repair content and optional features directly from Windows Update instead of Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) option.
5. After performing these steps, click Apply and OK to save the changes.

Finally, attempt to install updates once more. No effect yet? – go down to the remaining solutions below.

4. Clean up unnecessary system files

Deleting redundant system files may help. In other words, some users capitalized on cleaning their disk from recovery copies and cached files stored by a PC. Note that deleting recovery copies means you will be unable to use restore points of previous versions to roll back to, in case you need suddenly them. Despite this, using such a method helped some users get rid of the problem.

1. Open This PC.
2. Right-click on your main disk and choose Properties.
3. Find and click on Disk Cleanup.
4. Then select Clean up system files, check all the boxes, and click OK.
5. Once done, restart your PC and try to install the update again.

5. Run a Clean Bootup

0x8007000d error may also occur because there are incompatibility issues. Antimalware or any other third-party software may conflict with Windows services prompting the error. This is why there is a Clean bootup feature in Windows helping users boot their PC only with in-built apps and services to find out whether some secondary app is being a part of the problem. To launch your system in in Clean bootup mode, follow these steps below:

1. Press Windows key + R combination and paste msconfig.
2. Then in the opened window go to the Services tab located on top.
3. Check the box next to Hide All Microsoft Services and click on the Disable all button.
4. Now choose the General tab and select the Selective startup option. Make sure that the box is checked only next to the Load System Services.
5. Click Apply and OK. Then reboot your PC.

Now you can try to update your system whilst being in Clean Boot mode. No matter whether you managed or failed to install problematic updates, you should turn Windows back to Normal Startup settings. To do this, simply redo all the steps you implemented above by enabling the disabled services and changing your startup option from Selective to Normal.

6. Reset Windows Update components

The penultimate measure on our list goes by resetting Windows Update settings. Statistically, this method has proven itself to be very effective when combating many update problems. The whole procedure involves restarting BITS, Cryptographic, MSI Installer, and Windows Update services as well as renaming some update folders (SoftwareDistribution and Catroot2). These folders contain temporary files necessary for implementing Windows Updates. Based on this, we will force Windows to delete corrupted elements and create update-related components from scratch. Below, we will show you two ways of performing this method. The first requires typing and executing each console command in a manual sequence. The other is done using a so-called batch script written in Notepad and saved as WUReset.bat. There is no real difference in which one you choose. Although the entire procedure may seem advanced and complicated, it will not take too much time and knowledge. Just follow the sequence listed below:

Using manual steps

1. Open Command Prompt by typing cmd into the searching box next to the Start Menu button.
2. Right-click on Command Prompt and choose Run as administrator.
3. Copy-paste this list of commands one by one clicking Enter after each. (This action will disable services responsible for Windows Updates)

net stop wuauserv
net stop cryptSvc
net stop bits
net stop msiserver

4. Then, we have to rename the above-mentioned folders. Simply paste these commands by clicking Enter after each.

ren C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution SoftwareDistribution.old
ren C:\Windows\System32\catroot2 Catroot2.old

5. Finally, all left to do is to turn the disabled services back. So apply these commands likewise we did previously.

net start wuauserv
net start cryptSvc
net start bits
net start msiserver

6. Now we are all done with it. Go to the Windows Update center and try to perform the installation again.

Using the Batch Script

This is an alternative method to the above. A batch script is used to execute the same range of commands to reset all Windows Update components, Cryptographic services, and folders like SoftwareDistribution. It is not that hard as you could imagine, but rather easier than the previous one. All you need is a Windows Notepad and a bit of copy-paste magic. Batch scripts hold an upper hand over manual typing as they allow you to execute all the necessary commands at once. If you ever stumble into similar issues in the future, you can execute the already-created .bat file and reset update components:

1. Open a new Notepad file. For this, right-click on any free area over your desktop, choose New and Text document.
2. Then paste this list of commands into your notepad:

@ECHO OFF
echo Simple Script to Reset / Clear Windows Update
echo.
PAUSE
echo.
attrib -h -r -s %windir%system32catroot2
attrib -h -r -s %windir%system32catroot2*.*
net stop wuauserv
net stop CryptSvc
net stop BITS
ren %windir%system32catroot2 catroot2.old
ren %windir%SoftwareDistribution sold.old
ren "%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Application Data\Microsoft\Network\Downloader" downloader.old
net Start BITS
net start CryptSvc
net start wuauserv
echo.
echo Task completed successfully...
echo.
PAUSE

3. Once pasting is done, click File > Save as and name it WUReset.bat. Make sure to set Encoding to ANSI and save the file to any location you want.
4. Finally, you can right-click on the file, select Run as administrator and enjoy automatic reset of Windows Updates.

7. Download problematic updates via Update Assistant

Windows 10 Update Assistant, as it is officially called, is a special utility designed to help people get the latest updates available for their system. It works great as a workaround for many problems faced by users whilst updating. It is totally free and does not take too much time to download. Just follow these steps:

1. First, visit the official Update Assistant page and tap on the Update now button.
2. Then, open the downloaded file and click Update now again.
3. Windows will check if your PC is compatible within a couple of seconds. After this, click Next and wait until Windows updates your PC.
4. At the end, click Restart now to let Windows complete the installation of updates.

This is it. After performing these steps, your PC should be up-to-date and face no issues as previously.

Summary

Despite the above-mentioned solutions are very effective, they do not exclude the possibility of meeting similar problems again in the future. If something similar related to updates will happen again, save this list of solutions to perform them again. They should be able to handle other errors as well.