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Windows Update error code Error 0x800A0046

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26 replies

by rsflea73

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Trying to run Windows update on a Win2K Pro box sometime after installing SP4 I got the Error 0x800A0046 error. Tried all the fixes that have been posted by M$ without luck. Tried the fixes I found through newsgroups, google etc such as RPC, BITS, auto updates etc to local and still no luck.
In the mean time my son, who thought he was doing me a favor, installed the WinXP Pro with SP2 upgrade I had purchased a couple months earlier but not yet installed. I hadn't installed it because I was trying to find a solution to the error I was getting. So now I have the same error showing on the now upgraded to WinXP box.
With both OS's I was getting the icon in the Sys Tray telling me an update was available from M$, but when I click on it it just goes away for approx 1 min and comes back.
I'm not a guru on M$ but can usually find my way around for soultions. This one has me stumped. I really don't want to have to format and re-install. Seems it would be easier to put in a new HDD and move what I want from the old if there is no solution for this.

26 replies

by inekam

I have googled the error and the first thing that poped up is the posible solution.

Are you running windows update as the local administrator?

What causes Error 0x800a0046

# The user logon account belongs to the Guests or Limited account groups.

# The security descriptor does not let authenticated users run Windows Update.

# The Impersonate a client after authentication policy is missing the Administrator and Service account from the list of Users and Groups.

To resolve this error, use one of the following methods:

Resolution Suggestion One:

# Remove the user account that is experiencing difficulty from the Guests or Limited account groups:

1. Click Start, click Run, type control admintools, and then click OK.
2. Click Computer Management.
3. Expand Local Users and Groups.
4. Select Users.
5. Open the account that is used to access Windows Update.
6. Click the Member Of tab.
7. Select the user account that you want to remove, and then click Remove.

by capnpauly

Do you have all the required services running that need to run to do Windows Update?

I believe you need to have the following in a 'Started' state to properly run Windows Updates:
-Automatic Updates
-BITS
-COM+ Event System
-RPC
-System Event Notification

Good luck!

by selinathe1

I don't see anyone posting this so just in case...
I was getting 0x800A0046 in my users's Win XP sp2. Along with this error message, other symptoms are:
- Start > Search does not work
- Network Connection window is empty
- msconfig is not accessible

The solution was to set the following in Group Policy:
Comptuer Configuration\Windows Settings\Security Settings\Local Policies\User Rights Assignment
in the right pane, find "Impersonate a client after authentication" and add "ADMINISTRATOR" and "SERVICE".

we also had another symptom where windows installer cannot be accessed. I solved this by either re-registering or reintalling msiexec.exe.

hope this helps.

by thomastx

I've had this same error, tried all fixes listed everywhere on the net. None work. I also have the problem of no interfaces showing up in Network Connections. I think something is up with DCOM security or something like that, but I don't know enough about it to troubleshoot it. I'm seeing this on a recently upgraded PC (2000 Pro to XP Pro SP2).

Another issue that is possibly related... When I open ANY service and click the Dependencies tab, I get an error "Win32: Access is denied.".

Help!

by selinathe1

you're right about DCOM. error code 0x800A0046 is cuased by permission issues. i found this site and i think it's pretty useful.
http://www.computerperformance.co.uk/Logon/code/code_800A0046.htm
as i posted earlier, if you change the seeting in group policy, it should give the user proper permission to run certin services.

"Impersonate a client after authentication" is introduced in XPSP2, and (i think) 2KSP3. in this permission, the default should have 'administrator' and 'service'. but for some reasons, it doesn't, all you have to do is to add it.

i was getting the same error (Win32: access denied) when i made a change in GP, it got solved all together. =)

lemme know how it works for you.

by jorabi

thomastx,

I am having the exact same problem with a client pc as you posted back on 6/20/06.

Windows Update error, empty Network Connections window, Win32 error in Dependencies, etc.

Did you ever find the answer? I've been searching and trying everything, including everything listed here, to no avail. Arrgh!

by gacrabill

See http://support.microsoft.com/kb/910338/en-us

I have seen steps 3,4,5,6 at other places as 1,2,3,4. Step 1, sub-step 7 at above site involving DCOM security solved my problem. I went one step further than what was documented in step 1, sub-step 7 ... I added only one thing, the only account name on this computer as documented in step 1-7-d. This account by default is part of Administrators, but I figured that it couldn't hurt to add it .... and after a re-boot, Windows Update works and Network Connections looks like it's supposed to.

by greg

I experienced both of these problems on a Windows XP SP2 machine. We had previously had a problem in the domain (SBS 2003) which required a call to MS. They had us disable the IPSec Service on the workstation, and change the RPC Service to run as 'Local System Account'. I had changed all machines in the domain except one. When I made the above changes to this last machine, both of these symptoms were resolved.

by rvsdgl

The folder in "C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution" cannot be with the Properties Hidden (right click, Properties). This also generate the "error 0x800A0046".

by pruny9090

Thanks for this fix. This worked when none of the other forum fixes(Mostly Microsoft Knowledge Bulletin fixes)worked. I have been to several other community forums and they were pretty much a repeat of the solutions offered here with the exception of this fix, which worked immediately.

by zap.cb

Thanks RVSDGL!

I've just spent several hours searching for the cause of this error, and had got fed up rereading the same "solutions". The Win Server 2003 machine had had a virus a week or so earlier and we'd done lots of repairs, but one of the symptoms - possibly not fully repaired - was that various C: drive folders had been set to Hidden.

Folder {C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution} wasn't Hidden, but its subfolders were - and after unhiding them, I was able to reload the Windows Update webpage and proceed.

by wolfeee

Tried all the MS fixes & this is what worked! To bad MS did not have this fix on their site.

by redzcar

I've tried all the worthless solutions from the MS website and none of them worked.

What happened...I got a virus/trojan/whatever known as TROJ_FAKEA.ORT or something like that. It caused the loss of all my desktop icons AND all the programs on my start menu. My computer started fine, but was unusable. I was about to scrape my HD and re-install XP from scratch when as a last ditch effort I invoked Task Manager and saw where I could "Run" a program from the dropdown menu, so I started IE and searched the 'net for the solution. Long story short...I had both a rootkit virus and somehow all my icons and program links had been copied to a sub-folder within the 'Temp' folder. I routinely 'clean' the Temp folder..thank God I had not done that since I got the virus. Part of the attack included hiding damn near every component of the XP OS! When repairing the damage, I guess I missed un-hiding this folder and its sub-folders.

Anyway...be secure in the knowledge that YOU actually know what you're doing...versus all the idiots that work for MS who are just that...idiots.

Again, THANK YOU!!!!!!!!

by jlrpayne

I tried everything out there but no go. I came across this accidently and finally my Windows Update will work.
Navigate to your WINNT\SYSTEM32 directory and find the SCRRUN.DLL. Right-click the file and select properties. Then click the security tab then hit the Adavanced button. In the "Permissions" tab, make sure that your user is set to "full control".

by phil.morris

Hopefully I can horse-trade this fix.

I had this problem on a lot of our WinXP clients when they upgraded to SP2.

They had the DCOM errors in the event log, the empty network connections, unable to run windows update etc.

The fix I found was to remove windows update patch "Security Update for Windows XP (KB902400)"

The machines then worked fine.

I now have the same error on windows 2003 server on SP2.. and can't fix this :( - can anyone help?

by big ole jack

I tried an inplace repair and that didn't seem to fix the issue. Apparently, something got corrupted during the file copy process during the OS install, which would cause the windows update service to fail.

by charliespencer

You can cut and paste this into a .BAT file; that's how I run it. This is consolidated from every KB article and web resource I've been able to find on the subject of why Update defecates itself. If anybody has any additional suggestions, please let me know.

The opening remarks serve as reminders of what to do when the batch file opens the IE Options applet. If it still doesn't work after all this, try resetting the system time to one hour earlier. If this works, reset it after running Update. This works if you have applied any of the 2007 DST patches.

rem Delete cookies, temporary files, history, and files in Temp directory
rem Programs tab - "Reset Web Settings"
rem Advanced tab - "Restore Defaults"
rem Advanced tab - uncheck "Enable third-party browser extensions"
rem Advanced tab - uncheck "Check for server certif. revocation"

inetcpl.cpl
pause

net stop wuauserv

regsvr32 wuapi.dll /s
regsvr32 wups.dll /s
regsvr32 wuaueng.dll /s
regsvr32 wuaueng1.dll /s
regsvr32 wucltui.dll /s
regsvr32 wuweb.dll /s
regsvr32 msxml.dll /s
regsvr32 msxml2.dll /s
regsvr32 msxml3.dll /s
regsvr32 urlmon.dll /s
regsvr32 softpub.dll /s
regsvr32 initpki.dll /s
regsvr32 mssip32.dll /s
regsvr32 wintrust.dll /s
regsvr32 dssenh.dll /s
regsvr32 rsaenh.dll /s
regsvr32 gpkcsp.dll /s
regsvr32 sccbase.dll /s
regsvr32 slbcsp.dll /s
regsvr32 cryptdlg.dll /s
regsvr32 jscript.dll /s
regsvr32 qmgr.dll /s
regsvr32 qmgrprxy.dll /s

net stop cryptsvc

ren %windir%\SoftwareDistribution sold
ren %windir%\System32\Catroot2 cat2old

net start cryptsvc
net start wuauserv

ipconfig/flushdns

ren if softwaredistribution directory will not rename,
ren reboot in Safe Mode and delete manually.

pause

by your_zman

ive done everything that microsoft and everyone else has told me to do yet it always gives me the same error when i try to manual update. so i chose auto updates and also, i get the little icon that says updates are ready but it crashes when i click on it and starts up a few seconds later and never works. it wont even install at a specific time either.

by your_zman

"Select radio button next to: Local System account "

what? for one, theres nothing you can do to RPC because its a required system service. so you cant click any button besides "allow service to interact with desktop" which doesnt help. everything else on the computer relys on this service so you cant change the other parts, they're greyed out.

by your_zman

seems we have the same exact thing and nobody knows how to fix it, not even microsoft. you think it wouldnt be that hard, really, since we did everything they told us to, maybe its bugged in a way they just need to make a verifyer program that tells windows update to bypass that part or maybe a NEW type of update. oMG it wouldnt be that hard.

by charliespencer

is that you can run Update successfully, then run it again and it 0xnumber on the second pass. Obviously it's something being done by the Update process itself that's causing the problem, so you'd think the geniuses at MS would be able to figure it out.

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