Did you encounter an update error 0x80070008 while installing the latest cumulative update on your computer? If yes, then this post deals with the reasons causing this error code in the first place along with the four fixes that might resolve this issue on Windows PC.
What may cause an Update Error 0x80070008 on Windows?
An update error 0x80070008 might appear when your system meets one or a combination of the following issues on your computer.
- Internal glitches: Run Windows Update troubleshooter and check if the problem resolves this way.
- Accumulated cache inside Windows Cache folder: One may rectify this problem by simply purging both SoftwareDistribution and catroot2 folders.
- Disabled Windows Update Service and other related services: Go and check if you can find all update-related services enabled and running in the background. If not, re-enable them after changing their Startup types first.
Windows Update Error 0x80070008 Solutions
If you are encountering an error code 0x80070008 while updating Windows and don’t know what to do next, here’s a list of solutions that you must try –
- Run Windows Update Troubleshooter
- Enable Windows Update Services
- Reset Windows Update Components
- Manually download and install pending updates
1. Run Windows Update Troubleshooter
Running Windows Update troubleshooter is the most effective tool to automatically find what goes wrong and have the bugs resolved. Since Microsoft has changed a few here and there inside Windows 11 as compared to Windows 10, you need to separately learn how to troubleshoot Windows Update on different versions of Windows.
Windows 11:
- Right-click on the Windows icon and select Settings.
- Go to System > Troubleshoot, and click to expand Other troubleshooters.
- When this section expands, look for Windows Update under Most frequent, and hit the Run button next to it.
- The troubleshooter will immediately start and start diagnosing the real culprit. If the troubleshooting hasn’t started till now, hit the Next button.
This tool will check for the underlying causes within your system and have them resolved. Restart your PC and check if you can install pending updates on your computer.
Windows 10:
- Press Win + I to launch Windows Settings.
- Go to Update & Security > Troubleshoot, and click Additional troubleshooters.
- Locate Windows Update under Most frequent and click to expand this category.
- You may now see the Run the troubleshooter button. Well, click on this button.
- Click Next and follow the on-screen instructions.
The troubleshooter is most likely to find the reasons for invoking this update error 0x80070008 and address this issue on its own. After you see this tool has completed the troubleshooting message, close it and restart your PC. Sign back into your device again and check if you can now update Windows normally.
2. Enable Windows Update Services
Windows updates mostly fail when the related services are either disabled or not running in the background. Go and check all such services and enable them right from the Services window. Here’s what you need to check and enable on your Windows PC.
- Press Win + R to launch the Run dialog.
- Type “
Services.msc” on it and hit OK. - When the Services window opens up, scroll down and locate BITS.
- Right-click on this service, and select Properties.
- Moving forward, check what’s next to the Startup type and change it to Automatic.
- Click Stop (if running) and then Start again. If the service is already not running, you may directly click on the Start button.
- Now, repeat the above steps for all services that are mentioned below.
Cryptographic Services – Automatic
DCOM Server Process Launcher – Automatic
RPC Endpoint Mapper – Automatic
Windows Installer – Manual
Windows Update Medic Services – Manual
Windows Update Service – Manual (Triggered)
- After you perform the changes as shown above, close the Services window, and restart your PC.
Hopefully, you will be able to download and install pending updates on your computer.
3. Reset Windows Update Components
The update error might also occur when the cache folders have accumulated old update files and logs. If that’s the case, you should get rid of all such files as soon as possible and retry upgrading your Windows PC. Here’s a step-wise article, written specifically to solve the Update Errors occurring on account of corrupt cache folders.
4. Manually download and install pending updates
If none of the above solutions help to resolve this update error 0x80070008 on Windows, you may try out the manual method. To do so, you need to know the security update KB number which is failing to install on your computer. For this, visit the Windows Update history page, and select your version.
After you select your version, click the top link inside that. You will get the failing or the latest cumulative update KB number. Now, visit Microsoft’s update catalog, and search for the respective update in the Search field. Pick the update that best matches your system architecture, and hit the Download button.
Here’s a complete guide on how to manually download and install standalone packages on your Windows PC.
How do I solve Update Error 0x800f0831 on Windows?
Since the error 0x800f0831 is again an update-related service, you may try out the solutions explained in this post. However, we recommend following this article, as this explains in detail what exactly triggers this error code and the solutions that might work in this case.
