Possible reasons for the error code:-
1. Internet Explorer temporary files corrupted.
2. Background Intelligent and Event Log service not started
3. SoftwareDistribution folder has become corrupted
4. You may need to re-registered some dlls files
5. You may need to add Windows Update to the Trusted Sites Zone:
6. Spyware.
7. Third party programs running in background.
8. Windows Update Engine corrupted.
Suggestion 1:-
Clearing Temporary Internet files, cookies and history in Internet Explorer
Tools>Internet Options>General
You'll see Delete Cookies, Delete files, Delete History
NB: "Delete all offline content", will delete all files needed to browse the
websites offline.
Reboot and try Windows Update again.
Suggestion 2:-
1: Check that the Background Intelligent Transfer Service to is set to Automatic
and verify the Status is Started.
Click Start, Choose Run, and in the Run box, type services.msc, Click OK
Locate the Background Intelligent Transfer Service service, and right-click to
select it.
Select Properties, and in the Startup Type list, select Automatic. Verify the
service Status is Started. Click OK.
2. Check that the Set Event Log service is set to Automatic and verify that the
Status is Started
Click Start, Choose Run, and in the Run box, type services.msc, Click OK.
Locate the Event Log service, and right-click to select it.
Select Properties., and in the Startup type list, select Automatic. Verify the
Service status is Started. Click OK.
3. Register qmgr.dll and qmgrprxy.dll
Click Start, Choose Run and in the Run box, type regsvr32 qmgr.dll, Click OK.
Click Start, Choose Run and in the Run box, type regsvr32 qmgrprxy.dll, Click
OK.
Suggestion 3:-
It is possible that the contents of the SoftwareDistribution folder have become
corrupted, so try Renaming the SoftwareDistribution folder
Click Start, Choose Run.
In the Run box, type services.msc.
Click OK.
Right-click the Automatic Updates service.
Click Stop.
Stopping the service will take a moment.
Rename the "SoftwareDistribution" folder:
a. Click Start, click Run, type: %systemroot%
Click OK.
b. Right-click the SoftwareDistribution folder, and then click Rename.
c. Type SoftwareDistribution.old, and then press ENTER to rename this folder.
Click Start. Choose Run.
In the Run box, type services.msc.
Click OK.
Right-click the Automatic Updates service.
Click Start.
Starting the service will take a moment.
Please note that your update history is contained in the "datastore" folder and
when you rename the Software Distribution folder, the history is lost but it's
not important. You can if need be, copy the contents back from the renamed
softwareDistribution.old folder. Losing the history of Windows Updates is not
important.
Suggestion 4:-
Certain files may have become unregistered, and you will need to register them
again:-
Click Start, Choose Run and in the Run box, type regsvr32 wuaueng1.dll, Click
OK.
Do the same for the other files:-
wucltui.dll
wuaueng.dll
wuapi.dll
jscript.dll
MSXML.DLL
MSXML2.DLL
MSXML3.DLL
Suggestion 5:-
Add Windows Update to the Trusted Sites Zone:
Please note that Security settings in Internet Explorer must be set to Medium or
lower for ActiveX files to correctly pass to your computer.
Only the Web sites listed in Internet Explorer's Trusted Sites Zone will be
affected by the lowering of Security settings. Your current security settings
for all other Web sites will remain as they are currently configured.
Open Internet Explorer, click Tools, and then click Internet Options, Click
Security. Click Trusted Sites Zone. Click Sites.
Clear the Require server verification (https:) for all sites in this zone check
box.
Use the Add button next to the Add this Web site to the zone box to add the
following sites:
http://*.windowsupdate.microsoft.com
https://*.windowsupdate.microsoft.com
http://download.windowsupdate.com
Suggestion 6:-
The below links assist you in checking your system for parasites:-
http://aumha.org/a/noads.htm
http://inetexplorer.mvps.org/tshoot.html
Please note that some malware may kill the internet connection when it is
removed, the program on the link below will enable you to regain the internet
connection.
http://www.cexx.org/lspfix.htm
Spyware Programs links:-
www.lavasoftusa.com Ad-Aware
www.security.kolla.de Spybot
Suggestion 7:-
Make sure you haven't got anything blocking Windows Update like Nortons,
Zonealarm etc
Also make sure you don't have a Web Accelerator working in the background such
as NetZerio, HiSpeed, Speedband etc.
Suggestion 8:
If still receiving the error, then reinstall the Windows Update Engine
http://download.windowsupdate.com/v6/windowsupdate/redist/standalone/WindowsUpdateAgent20-x86.exe
