How to fix Windows Update error 0x80070490 in Windows 10

What is Windows Update error 0x80070490

Error 0x80070490 is a problem stating a failure when trying to update your system. Being unable to keep your PC up-to-date due to such issues turns out to be quite spread around Windows users. Usually, these errors occur as a result of conflicts created by third-party software, lack of important elements, malware, and other things wrecking configuration settings. To solve this, we recommend you to follow the step-by-step guide presented below. A number of tested and efficient methods will help you say goodbye to this problem eventually.

1. Create a new local account

Number one on the list is creating a new Windows account. Sometimes it may work out, so make sure you give it a try using the steps below:

1. Right-click on the Start Menu button and choose Settings. You can also do Windows key + I combination.
2. Go to Accounts > Family & Other users.
3. On the right pane, scroll down to the Other users section and click Add someone else to this PC.
4. Now choose I don’t have this person’s sign-in information below.
5. Select Add a user without a Microsoft account at the bottom.
6. Then enter the username and password for the new user and click Next.
7. Now, you can switch to a new account by clicking on the user icon in Start Menu.

Note that new accounts do not contain data you used previously, so make sure you move your files over to it. After this, you can delete your original account and try to see if the issue is fixed. If not, move on to the next steps outlined below.

2. Use Windows Update Troubleshooter

When it comes to update-related issues, a great tool helping in most of the cases is Windows Troubleshooter that is in-built to your system. In order to launch, here are the simple steps to do it.

1. Open settings as we did above 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.

3. Run an System File Checker (SFC) scan

Another big reason for the appearance of such issues is about corrupted or missing files. We will have to use System File Checker (SFC), which is a feature coming pre-installed on your PC that is capable of detecting and restoring some absent components. Here is how:

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.

After you finish this step, try to install the update again. If the error still reminds about itself, continue reading this guide to try other options below.

4. Run DISM

Deployment Image Servicing and Management (DISM) is similar to running an SFC scan. However, it may look deeper and find corrupted data that SFC could miss. Therefore, let’s try to run it using Command Prompt as we did already.

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.

5. Try disabling anti-malware software

In case you have some other anti-malware software running on your PC apart from Windows Defender, it might conflict with the installation of updates. Sometimes protection tools run extensive control over the system which prevents certain mechanisms from working correctly. Thus, to check whether it is the case, simply turn off your antivirus and find the update again. If it finally worked, think of deleting or changing your antivirus to a more compatible one.

6. Scan your device for malware

As we started talking about anti-malware software, let’s make sure your PC is not infected as well. This is necessary to do because some unwanted or malicious programs can damage device settings causing various issues. We recommend you to use one of the most trusted and efficient tools called Malwarebytes Anti-Malware. It has been around this market for a long time and gained just enough experience in providing high-quality detection and removal of malware. To download it, there is a button located below.

Download Malwarebytes

7. Reset Windows Update components

Although this method is more advanced and takes some time to finish, it usually results in a successful installation of problematic updates. In short, the process involves restarting BITS, Cryptographic, MSI Installer, and Windows Update services and renaming some update folders (SoftwareDistribution and Catroot2). Because these folders contain special signatures for Windows Updates, this has to be done to remove corrupted elements and make Windows create update components from scratch. To do this, let’s deep dive into the steps down below:

1. Open Command Prompt with administrative privileges as we did above already.
2. 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

3. 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

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

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

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

Summary

We have approached the end of our guide. Hopefully, a set of robust solutions helped you reach the point and get rid of the 0x80070490 error. There are hundreds of other codes representing the same issues. Thus, whenever you face similar problems related to updates in the future, having these steps under your belt will be very useful. Also, if you struggle to deal with malware or annoying apps, our website offers a section for that as well.