Did your Windows updates fail or an error code 0x80242008 and you are wondering what to do next? Well, this is a temporary issue that may resolve automatically after you reboot your PC. In case this error persists, visit Settings > Update & Security, and hit Check for updates again. The problem must have been resolved by now and the pending updates start downloading on your computer.
In case this doesn’t resolve this issue, there may lie some corrupted files or folders on your device that are blocking an ongoing update process. To fix this, boot your device into Safe mode and try again to update your Windows OS. If none helps, download the relevant standalone package and install it manually on your device.
Windows Update Error Code 0x80242008 Solutions
If you are not able to update Windows because of an error code 0x80242008, try out these suggestions, and see if any help to solve this issue.
1] Boot into Safe mode and retry updating Windows
The error code 0x80242008 mostly occurs due to third-party apps’ interactions with the system applications. In order to overcome this issue, you may try booting into the Clean boot state and retry updating Windows.
When you are inside Safe Boot, this disables all external apps including antivirus programs. Since there won’t be any interferences from third-party apps, visit Windows Update, and check if you can now upgrade to the next available Build version.
Note: Make sure to disable Windows Defender manually as well so that it nullifies its interactions with the ongoing update process.
2] Troubleshoot Windows Update
Windows Update Troubleshooter is an in-built tool that you may use whenever you are facing update-related issues on your computer. Running this tool will diagnose the probable causes and repair them. Even in cases where it can’t help you directly, this tool will suggest what to do next. Here’s how you may run this utility program –
On Windows 10:
- Press Win + I to launch Settings.
- Click Update & Security > troubleshoot (on the left pane).
- Head over to the right side and click Additional troubleshooters.
- Click to expand Windows update and hit Run the troubleshooter.
On Windows 11:
- Launch Settings (Win + I) and navigate to the below path –
System > Troubleshoot > Other troubleshooters
- Locate Windows update and hit the Run button beside it.
When the troubleshooting window comes into the display, hit Next and follow the on-screen instructions. Hopefully, this tool will resolve the error code 0x80242008 on your device. If not, try out the fixes outlined below.
3] Repair missing/damaged system files
With time, system files become corrupted or are gone missing on the Windows operating system. This happens because of the presence of third-party apps and their interferences.
When the update files are gone missing, this may prevent Windows updates from occurring automatically. Well, you may fix this issue by running the System File Checker program.
Here’s how to use SFC –
- Launch CMD as an administrator first.
- The UAC windows will appear next, hit Yes.
- On the elevated console, type the following and press Enter –
sfc /scannow
- Let this tool perform scanning/repairing of the missing or corrupted system files.
- Once this is over, reboot your device and check if you can now update Windows.
4] Run DISM Scan
Just like SFC, users may also use DISM to scan and resolve the 0x80242008 issue. Use this tool only when you feel your system running slow or there’s an increase in the load time to launch system apps.
Here’s how to scan Windows 11/10 using DISM –
- Press Win + S, and type CMD.
- Right-click on the top result and choose the option – Run as administrator.
- The UAC window should appear next, hit Yes to confirm the access.
- Copy/paste the following and press Enter –
DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /CheckHealth DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth
The three codes will do exactly what is required to repair any corruption inside the Windows 11/10 Image.
- After executing these codes successfully, run these codes –
del C:\Windows\WinSxS\cleanup.xml del C:\Windows\WinSxS\pending.xml
These two codes will delete any updates that are already in motion, however, are still pending.
5] Reset update components
Disabled update-related services or corruption inside the update components may also cause this error 0x80242008 on your computer. If that’s the case, look out for the services that are disabled and re-enable them. While you are restarting the disabled services on your computer, it is recommended to purge the Windows cache folders as well.
Windows cache folders are those folders that contain all the relevant data about an update. With so many updates (security, non-security, optional) installed on your device, this may happen that the Windows cache folders start blocking any further updates. So, it is an important task to purge these folders from time to time.
While you purge the cache folders inside Windows 11/10, make sure to disable all the update-related services. One may perform both these tasks i.e. restarting stopped services and clearing cache folders at the same time by running a few codes on the elevated Command prompt (Admin). The codes that you need to execute are as follows –
Note: Make sure to press the Enter key after each code.
- Stop Update services
net stop wuauserv net stop bits net stop cryptsvc net stop trustedinstaller net stop appidsvc
- Purge Windows cache folders
ren %systemroot%\softwaredistribution softwaredistribution.bak ren %systemroot%\system32\catroot2 catroot2.bak
- Re-enable stopped services
net start wuauserv net start bits net start cryptsvc net stop trustedinstaller net start appidsvc
Reboot your PC and check if you can install pending updates on your computer.
6] Manually install pending updates
If none of the above fixes help to resolve the error code 0x80242008 on Windows 11/10, you may manually download the relevant package from Update Catalog and later install that on your PC.
- Manually install pending updates on Windows 11
- Download and install pending updates manually on Windows 10
I hope the solutions above indeed help to overcome the error code 0x80242008 on Windows 11 or 10 PC.
