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I have a Windows 2008 Server 64bit installation running as a virtual instance with a hosting provider.

Windows Update has worked fine until IE8 (along with some other updates) managed to get installed (don't get me started). Now all of a sudden Windows Update fails to run and complains with error 80072F8F.

UPDATE: I've since removed IE8 and am still having issues (tissues are on order)

This apparently means that the time/timezone of the server is incorrect - which is not the case. I've synced the time with a time server and rebooted a number of times.

I've followed the instructions here (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929458) to no avail.

Thanks!

Andrew

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7 Answers

up vote 1 down vote

One possibility is that you have lost a root certificate and therefore do not trust Microsoft Update Server, see: http://superuser.com/questions/84957/why-does-windows-update-fail-with-code-80072f8f

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up vote 1 down vote

I was facing same problem with Windows server 2008 STD R2 , for me its works fine after changing the time of server to current date.

Hope it will work for others also

Good Luck :)

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up vote 0 down vote

are you sure the timezone is correct?- syncing with a timeserver does not affect the timezone information. You need to set the timezone then resync time.

run w32tm /tz at the command prompt to verify the timezone

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Jim, got the timezone set as GMT. Tried EST too with no luck. The w32tm output was as expected. – Andrew Jul 23 '09 at 13:21
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Do you have any Internet Security software installed, believe it or not I have heard of this being the cause.

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none - the thing is, this was working less than 3 hours before the updates and IE8 were installed. I've just uninstalled IE8 (which I have to say, was far less painless than expected) but still have issues. sigh – Andrew Jul 23 '09 at 13:47
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up vote 0 down vote

Have you tried to register the DLLs mentioned at the end of KB929458 ?

Method 4: Register Windows .dll files that may be causing the issue To do this, follow these steps, as appropriate for the operating system that you are running.

Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008

  1. Click Start Collapse this imageExpand this image Start button , type regsvr32 Softpub.dll /s in the Start Search box, and then click OK.

    Collapse this imageExpand this image User Account Control permission If you are prompted for an administrator password or for a confirmation, type the password, or click Continue.

  2. Repeat step 1 for the following file names: * regsvr32 Wintrust.dll /s * regsvr32 Mssip32.dll /s
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up vote 0 down vote

I got the same 0×80072F8F error but my issue was DNS-related. I had my 2008 R2 server pointing to itself for the Primary DNS like it's supposed to without a secondary DNS server listed. Once I put in 4.2.2.2 as the Secondary DNS, I could then download Windows Updates. My DNS Forwarders are configured correctly in DNS.

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up vote 0 down vote

I had this exact same problem, and once I joined the domain I was able to get updates.

Let me know if that works for you.

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