Windows update can’t connect to service

«We couldn’t connect to the update service. We’ll try again later, or you can check now. If it still doesn’t work, make sure you’re connected to the Internet.»

I disabled the firewall to make sure it’s not an issue.

This is the generated WindowsUpdate.log:

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Hi Zohar,
I am Sumit, an Independent Advisor and a 3 year Windows Insider MVP here to help.

The content decoding apparently failed.

Do you use a Mobile Hotspot to download updates?

Type cmd in the search and press enter.

Paste the following command:

netsh winhttp show proxy

What is the output?

Sumit
Available 6 PM — 8 AM PST

It is always good to include your PC Specs, make and model in the question

Never Call the Phone numbers received in Emails from the Microsoft Community

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Thanks; however, after mucking around with it for hours, I got a tip from a Microsoft agent that there’s a «Windows 10 Update Assistant». It upgraded my win from 1909 to 2004, which resolved my issue.

If I had to venture a wild guess, then I’d say that because my last update was in May, for some reason, my update client wasn’t compatible with the update server anymore. Silly, but nothing else comes to mind.

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Windows 10 we cannot connect to the update service

Windows 10 Surface Pro 3 unable to get updates. throws message We couldn’t connect to the update service. We’ll try again later, or you can check now. If it still doesn’t work, make sure you’re connected to the Internet.

I ran the batch files from another thread to reset windows update, did not succeed. any help would be appreciated.

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Corrupted system files may be the possible cause why you’re unable to get an update. To address your issue, we’d like to know if you’ve made any recent changes prior to this issue.

Meanwhile, we suggest that you download and run Windows Update Troubleshooter for Windows 10 to diagnose and troubleshoot update issues. You may also follow the steps in this article to scan for corruptions and restore corrupted system files.

Keep us posted if you need additional help.

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Got same message that alanderas did, so I tried your suggestion.

troubleshooter said an unexpected error has occurred. The trooubleshooting wizard can’t continue.

Package ID: WindowsUpdateDiagnostic

Error code: 0x803C0103

I’d show you a screen shot, but this won’t let me past it; it’s too large.

Oh, and the manual reset of services didn’t work, either and BIT is always coming up stopped. But even when I start it, it makes no difference.

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More information. when I ran the reset of sesrvices, it failed on the rename of catroot2 and (can’t think of the name of the other folder). In a command window (elevated/admin autority, it said, «access denied», and if I went into file explorer as admin to rename them that way, it said the folders were in use. So, with those errors and the the troubleshooter failing, what else can I do?

(as an aside — and it may not be related), Windows spotlight stopped working after 1709 update was installed, too. I WAS able to download and install the one update that the catalog listed. But «update and security» still says windows update was last checked on 11/3 (even though the update was installed on 11/20)

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Hi Wes Struebing,

This could be due to the service being unable to connect because of network or proxy server issues, or that a service or application in your system is interfering with the connection of the service. May we know if the issue still persists on your end? This is for us to know and to proceed with aiding you in resolving the issue.

We look forward to your response.

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I had this issue as well.

Following fcu update to 1709 on two windows 10 pro pc’s, the proxy setting was turned on, on the pc with the problem. The other pc was fine so I turned off the proxy setting and the problem seems to have gone and stayed away.

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The problem seems to be intermittent. So, there could be contention with something. I couldn’t begin to tell you with what, however. I haven’t started running anything new, nor has anything been updated (well, except for Windows updates/security updates). Proxy is not active; I’m not running a VPN. Now, a curious thing — as I mentioned, Windows Spotlight broke after the 1709 update. When Windows Update started working again (after the manual download I refer to above), I thought that I was good. However, when I found instrcutions on how to (re)register Spotlight and applied that fix, Spotlight did indeed start working — but Windows Update was broken again (However, it did recognize that the lastest update was installed on 11/20). I rebooted, and Windows Update seemed to be OK — but Spotlight was broken again. I registerd it to fix it again.

Next day, when I booted, Windows Spotlight stayed registered and was working, but when I checked Windows Update, it again said that it couldn’t connect. Again, I tried the Update Trobubleshooter and it failed (it has never run on my machine) just as I mentioned in my original question.

Yesterday, when I booted my laptop up, Spotlight was working like a champ — and Windows update was working as well. It did its check, and came back saying that my machine was up to date and that it had just checked at the time I booted. This morning, again all was well.

I would sincerely love to be of more help, but when it doesn’t fail consistently (and, in fact, seems to have «fixed» itself), there isn;t much I can check to provide you with more information.

I’m still concerned about the troubleshooter failure (that IS consistent), but as long as Update conties to work, I’ll not need to run the troubleshooter.

windows update cant connect to server.

windows update stopped now for more than 4 month, it keep trying to connect and same message all the time

( We couldn’t connect to the update service. We’ll try again later, or you can check now. If it still doesn’t work, make sure you’re connected to the Internet.)

I have another pc on same wifi network and updating fine.

I`v tried literally every thing, microsoft and troubleshooting nothing works,

my windows version is 2004, build 19041.264

any one have any idea on how to fix it.

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Hi AhmedTalha, I am an independent advisor that will help you

Welcome to the Microsoft community

You may have some problems with the Wi-Fi connection of your PC, you can try to solve it using a few command lines from the CMD or command prompt.

netsh winsock reset.
ipconfig /release.
netsh int ip reset.
ipconfig /renew.
ipconfig /flushdns.

On the other hand, you can enter the following links where you specify a guide that will help you solve your problem with Windows Update and you can also search for updates manually.

I will be awaiting your response.

A cordial greeting.

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Hello Ana, thank you for the reply i really appreciate your help,

i followed the CMD command instructions that you provided and unfortunately nothing seams to work the problem still exist, i also followed instructions at Microsoft support page and no luck, and i did reset firewall sittings.

last update was manually (may 2020 update) and no changes since, is there is anything else i could do to fix this issue?

best regards and thanks again

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Hello, I’m Virginia an independent advisor with 20 years of expertise in fixing my own & friends’ PC problems.

Have you tried resetting the update components?
Open cmd prompt/powershell with admin & enter:
Net Stop bits
Net Stop wuauserv
Net Stop appidsvc
Net Stop cryptsvc
Ren %systemroot%SoftwareDistribution SoftwareDistribution.bak
Ren %systemroot%system32catroot2 catroot2.bak
Net Start bits
Net Start wuauserv
Net Start appidsvc
Net Start cryptsvc
Restart the PC & try updating again.
If this fails/doesn’t correct the problem then click start, run, type regedit & click enter & find: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate
Try deleting the entries WUServer and WIStatusServer in the right pane if they’re there, if not don’t worry.

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Windows update cannot connect to internet but chrome does.

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Thank you for contacting Microsoft Community. I will surely help you to fix this issue.

This issue could have occurred due to these reasons:
1. Conflict between third party applications.
2. Conflict between antivirus software.

Try the steps listed here:

Method 1:
I suggest you to set the computer in a clean boot state and check if it helps. Setting the system in a clean boot state will help to identify if any third party applications or startup items are causing the issue.

How to perform a clean boot in Windows
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929135/en-us

Warning: After clean boot troubleshooting steps, refer to the section » How to reset the computer to start as usual after troubleshooting with clean boot » in the provided link to return your computer to Normal startup mode.

Method 2:
If the issue persists, I suggest you to disable Antivirus software temporarily to check if there is any conflict.

Warning:
1) Please make sure to re-enable Antivirus software after troubleshooting steps.
2) Antivirus software can help protect your computer against viruses and other security threats. In most cases, you shouldn’t disable or uninstall your antivirus software. If you have to temporarily disable or uninstall it to install other software, you should re-enable it as soon as you’re done. If you’re connected to the Internet or a network while your antivirus software is disabled or uninstalled, your computer is vulnerable to attacks.

Hope this information helps. Reply to the post with an updated status of the issue so that we can assist you further.

Cannot connect to the update server

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I’m Princess, an Independent Advisor and a Microsoft user like you. I’ll be happy to assist you today.

I would suggest changing the DNS server addresses and check if it helps to resolve the issue.

1. Press the Windows key + R to open Run.
2. Type ncpa.cpl and press Enter.
3. Right-click the Ethernet adapter and select Properties.
4. Double-click the Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4)
5. Tick on Use the following DNS server addresses.
6. Type 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4
7. Tick Validate settings upon exit.
8. Click OK and click OK again.
9. Safely restart the PC.

If the steps above do not fix the issue, I would suggest performing a clean boot environment in Windows 10.

A clean boot is meant to troubleshoot software conflicts by disabling certain third-party software, services, and drivers during startup.

If your problem does not occur while the computer is in a clean boot environment, then you can determine which startup application or service is causing the problem by systematically turning them on or off and restarting the computer. While turning on a single service or startup item and rebooting each time will eventually find the problematic service or application, the most efficient way to do this is to test half of them at a time, thus eliminating half of the items as the potential cause with each reboot of the computer. You can then repeat this process until you’ve isolated the problem.

Please click the link and refer to the listed sections below.

1. How to perform a clean boot
2. How to determine what is causing the problem after you do a clean boot

I hope this helps. If it doesn’t work, please let me know how it goes. Thank you!