Windows could not search for new updates?

windows windows-server-2008-r2 windows-update

6,426

Solution 1

And I found the source... a Barracuda Web Filter set to block Windows Updates...

Soooo wrong (another admin configured this)...

Administrators should understand this this is a poor way of managing bandwidth.

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Solution 2

The general place to start troubleshooting this error is KB836941. Following the steps in this KB article may resolve the problem, but probably won't, since the article indicates that 0x80072F76 corresponds to an API error ERROR_WINHTTP_HEADER_NOT_FOUND. This error, it turns out, means that there is an HTTP header that Windows Update is looking for but wasn't present in the response.

This, of course, indicates that Windows Update didn't actually connect successfully to the Windows Update server, but something in the middle interfered with the connection.

To resolve the issue, check the proxy servers and firewalls in the path between the server and the Internet to determine which one is blocking or mangling the connection. Also check for viruses and malware, as some of them target Windows Update to prevent updates from being installed.

6,426

ewwhite

Updated on September 18, 2022

Comments

ewwhite almost 2 years

I have a recently-built Windows Server 2008 R2 system whose Windows Updates started failing suddenly. While I am presented an error code 80072F76, none of the automatic fixes seem to work.

What's the best method to troubleshoot this? General internet access works as normal.
- Giordano Ferrari about 11 years
  
  Is Automatically detect settings check box is selected in the LAN settings? IE > Tools > Internet Options > Connections > LAN Settings
- ewwhite about 11 years
  
  @cole Yes. It's checked.
- Giordano Ferrari about 11 years
  
  Can you reboot the server? I've seen this issue before where it wouldn't connect (usually on a new installation) and a reboot usually fixes it.
- ewwhite about 11 years
  
  Rebooted several times... No change.
- kralyk about 11 years
  
  This will sound silly, but is Windows activated properly?
- David V about 11 years
  
  Is there a WSUS server on the network by chance? And are your firewalls running any IDS software on them? I've seen (with Sonicwalls) that the IDS signatures will occasionally flag and block windows update traffic.
- Giordano Ferrari about 11 years
  
  I've also seen Kaspersky Antivirus stop updates from happening, or the Windows Update service is set to manual.
- Brock Hensley about 11 years
  
  I've seen UAC cause problems, try disabling UAC, reboot, update again
- ewwhite about 11 years
  
  @dirt Normal cocktail of local DNS with forwarded to ISP and Google DNS.
Brock Hensley about 11 years

Barracuda is just that smart.
kralyk about 11 years

Maybe it was done on purpose because WSUS. Proper GPO might still be needed. (Although that block sure looks global to me)
ewwhite about 11 years

No WSUS, no AD domain (yet) and yes, it was a blanket global URL block.
kralyk about 11 years

Maybe the admin thought Windows Updates were on par with thedirty.com ;)