On my Windows Server 2008 x64 machine, I get a balloon saying "Windows can't check for updates". It also says to click on the balloon to see how to remedy this.When I click on the balloon, it opens the usual Control Panel\Windows Update window, with a most recent check of shortly after first boot that day, and "Windows is up to date", or the message about updates to download. I have it set to check for updates but don't download.I can initiate a manual check for updates and manual download and installs with no problems.Yet the icon remains in the notification area and hovering over it shows "Windows can't check for updates".Since Windows Update works normally except for this, it is not a major problem. It just annoys me.

Hi, Thank you for posting here. According to your description, I understand that the error "Windows can't check for updates" was encountered on Windows Server 2008 X64 system. But you can update manually. If I have misunderstood the problem, please don't hesitate to let me know. This issue may be caused by corrupt file or incorrect proxy settings. 1. Do you have WSUS server configured in your environment? Does the server connect to WSUS server or Microsoft Updates? 2. Do you use internet proxy? If so, you may need to use the following command to configure WinHTTP proxy: netsh winhttp import proxy source=ie If the issue persists, please help to collect WindowsUpdate.log file for research. Open C:\Windows, find WindowsUpdate.log and use Windows Live SkyDrive (http://www.skydrive.live.com/) to upload the file and then give me the download address. Thanks.This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

hi there, in-line with mervyn's suggestion Also make sure that you check a) virus / trojan on the system b) do not configure any policies for WSUS / reset them to default and check the behaviorc) disable the windows firewall and AV and check for the behaviord) windowsupdate.log is best way to know the messages. e) Netmon trace between failure and success might also help us to certain stage.f) have you enabled windows defender ?sainath !analyze

Thank you, Mervyn and Sainath.WSUS is not being used; the server is connecting to Microsoft Update.No proxy, but my router is providing NAT.I have uploaded the WindowsUpdate.Log. Note I truncated it to just this month.http://smkksw.blu.livefilestore.com/y1p2vfCpiZBn8TuTJBW3nleeVbxNb1oFD0Ez1vY5hrAxVDzeblr69ZIe1_if_LWVNI2RJGJ2x8aiFlV5K0ngMLJTg/WindowsUpdate.log?download

Hi, Thank you for update and log file. From the log we can find error 80070422. This error relates to Windows Update Service; please try the article below for troubleshooting. Error message when you try to install updates by using the Windows Update Web site or the Microsoft Update Web site: "0x80070422" http://support.microsoft.com/kb/958043 Description of the System Update Readiness Tool for Windows Vista, for Windows Server 2008, for Windows Server 2008 R2 Release Candidate, and for Windows 7 Release Candidate http://support.microsoft.com/kb/947821 If the prompt "Windows can't check for updates" appears again, please upload the latest WindowsUpdate.log. Thanks. This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

Thank you, Mervyn.I tried your suggestions, to no avail.I hadn't checked for viruses yet, since I only had Windows Defender running. I installed BullGuard security andhad it run a full scan. Nothing found besides some suspicius cookies. This ended up being one step forwards and two steps back, since it's default firewall settings disabled my domain.I see a perpetual "SetupWARNING: SelfUpdate is in an error state" message in the WindowsUpdate.log. I also see a lot of "AUClntWARNING: Shell_NotifyIcon failed (dwMessage=0x0, uFlags=0x7, hr=0x80070002)" in the WindowsUpdate.log. This seems to explain why the notification tray icon never changes.Although, when I do download and update, the balloon changes to the expected one "Windows Update is downloading...". It also shows the "New updates are available balloon".I have replaced the WindowsUpdate.log file on SkyDrive with the latest additions. http://cid-08ec6ef1e1795d54.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/.Public/WindowsUpdate.log

Hi, Thank you for new information. Based on the current situation, please check if Firewall is enabled on the system, if any Firewall, including Windows Firewall, is enabled, try to disable it and test. If not Firewall enabled, lets try to update the Windows Update Agent. Download and install the following file. http://download.windowsupdate.com/windowsupdate/redist/standalone/7.2.6001.788/windowsupdateagent30-x64.exe After that, try to restart and test. If the issue persists, open "services.msc", try to stop and restart Automatic Update service manually. If any error, try the following command, open CMD and run: sc sdset wuauserv D:(A;;CCLCSWRPWPDTLOCRRC;;;SY)(A;;CCDCLCSWRPWPDTLOCRSDRCWDWO;;;BA)(A;;CCLCSWLOCRRC;;;AU)(A;;CCLCSWRPWPDTLOCRRC;;;PU) Thanks. This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

Thanks, Mervyn.I have disabled the BullGuard firewall, although that wasn't installed when I started having the problem. Windows Firewall was always disabled. I also stopped both firewall services and set startup on disabled.I downloaded and installed WindowsUpdateAgent30-x64.exe. After reboot, there was no change. Restarting wuauserv removes the icon from systray, but if I check for updates, the icon comes back with "Windows can't check for updates" hover text.I tried:sc sdset wuauserv D:(A;;CCLCSWRPWPDTLOCRRC;;;SY)(A;;CCDCLCSWRPWPDTLOCRSDRCWDWO;;;BA)(A;;CCLCSWLOCRRC;;;AU)(A;;CCLCSWRPWPDTLOCRRC;;;PU),and got the response [SC] SetServiceObjectSecurity SUCCESS.Ithen restarted wuauserv and tried a check for updates but there was no change.Is there anything else I could look at, short of re-installing?BrianP.S. I thought I might add I am also having a problem with IE8. Both the 32-bit and 64-bit versions will sooner or later start taking over all the available memory. Eventually, if I let it continue, Windows will get slow and unresponsive. See: Memory Leak in IE8?

Hi Brian, Thank you for your time and effort spent on this problem. I suggest we focus on the Windows Update issue now to keep trace of troubleshooting in this thread. Lets try to monitor the process of checking update. 1. Download and install Process Monitor v2.04 http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896645.aspx 2. Stop Automatic Update service. Run Process Monitor and make sure File-> Capture Events is selected. 3. Start the Automatic Update service and try to reproduce the error message. 4. When the error occurs, uncheck File-> Capture Events and click Save to save the trace file. Upload the file and give us the link for research. Thanks. This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

Mervyn, thank you for the detailed instructions.I have followed them and include the link to the zipped logfile, http://cid-08ec6ef1e1795d54.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/.Public/Logfile.zip.Note, when I went to start wuauserv after previously stopping it, it was already running. I restarted it again just in case. After the systray icon poped up again I stopped it and saved the logfile.I have updated the logfile. This time I used sc.exe to stop and start wuauserv, and query it's status. I also worked faster and limited the other applications open to reduce the size of the file.

Short, but not sweet: 2009-06-29 20:35:42:770 532 c78 Misc =========== Logging initialized (build: 7.2.6001.788, tz: -0500) =========== 2009-06-29 20:35:42:770 532 c78 Misc = Process: C:\Windows\system32\svchost.exe 2009-06-29 20:35:42:770 532 c78 Misc = Module: c:\windows\system32\wuaueng.dll 2009-06-29 20:35:42:770 532 c78 Service ************* 2009-06-29 20:35:42:770 532 c78 Service ** START ** Service: Service startup 2009-06-29 20:35:42:770 532 c78 Service ********* 2009-06-29 20:35:42:770 532 c78 Agent * WU client version 7.2.6001.788 2009-06-29 20:35:42:770 532 c78 Agent * Base directory: C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution 2009-06-29 20:35:42:770 532 c78 Agent * Access type: No proxy 2009-06-29 20:35:42:801 532 c78 Agent * Network state: Connected 2009-06-29 20:35:42:801 532 c78 Setup WARNING: SelfUpdate is in an error state 2009-06-29 20:36:27:805 532 c78 Agent *********** Agent: Initializing Windows Update Agent *********** 2009-06-29 20:36:27:805 532 c78 Agent *********** Agent: Initializing global settings cache *********** 2009-06-29 20:36:27:805 532 c78 Agent * WSUS server: <NULL> 2009-06-29 20:36:27:805 532 c78 Agent * WSUS status server: <NULL> 2009-06-29 20:36:27:805 532 c78 Agent * Target group: (Unassigned Computers) 2009-06-29 20:36:27:805 532 c78 Agent * Windows Update access disabled: No 2009-06-29 20:36:28:242 532 c78 DnldMgr Download manager restoring 0 downloads 2009-06-29 20:36:28:242 532 c78 AU ########### AU: Initializing Automatic Updates ########### 2009-06-29 20:36:28:242 532 c78 AU # Approval type: Pre-download notify (User preference) 2009-06-29 20:36:28:242 532 c78 AU AU setting pending client directive to 'Unable To Detect' 2009-06-29 20:36:28:242 532 c78 AU AU finished delayed initialization 2009-06-29 20:36:28:616 532 c78 Report *********** Report: Initializing static reporting data *********** 2009-06-29 20:36:28:616 532 c78 Report * OS Version = 6.0.6002.2.0.196882 2009-06-29 20:36:28:616 532 c78 Report * OS Product Type = 0x0000000A 2009-06-29 20:36:28:757 532 c78 Report * Computer Brand = Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd. 2009-06-29 20:36:28:757 532 c78 Report * Computer Model = GA-MA78GM-S2H 2009-06-29 20:36:28:772 532 c78 Report * Bios Revision = F8a 2009-06-29 20:36:28:772 532 c78 Report * Bios Name = Award Modular BIOS v6.00PG 2009-06-29 20:36:28:772 532 c78 Report * Bios Release Date = 2009-02-10T00:00:00 2009-06-29 20:36:28:772 532 c78 Report * Locale ID = 1033 2009-06-29 20:36:43:248 532 c78 AU Launched new AU client for directive 'Unable To Detect', session id = 0x1 2009-06-29 20:36:43:295 4064 c74 Misc =========== Logging initialized (build: 7.2.6001.788, tz: -0500) =========== 2009-06-29 20:36:43:295 4064 c74 Misc = Process: C:\Windows\system32\wuauclt.exe 2009-06-29 20:36:43:295 4064 c74 AUClnt Launched Client UI process 2009-06-29 20:36:43:358 4064 c74 Misc =========== Logging initialized (build: 7.2.6001.788, tz: -0500) =========== 2009-06-29 20:36:43:358 4064 c74 Misc = Process: C:\Windows\system32\wuauclt.exe 2009-06-29 20:36:43:358 4064 c74 Misc = Module: C:\Windows\system32\wucltux.dll 2009-06-29 20:36:43:358 4064 c74 CltUI AU client got new directive = 'Unable To Detect', serviceId = {7971F918-A847-4430-9279-4A52D1EFE18D}, return = 0 This encompasses the time between restarting wuauserv and the baloon appearing.

Hi Brian, Sorry to say, still cannot find the root cause of this problem. Let's try the steps below to narrow down the cause. 1. Stop Automatic Update service, open C:\Windows, find SoftwareDistribution folder and rename it to SD. 2. Was Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2 installed? If not, please try to install it. http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=656c9d4a-55ec-4972-a0d7-b1a6fedf51a7&displaylang=en If the error persists, please help to collect the following information: 1. Does this error appear on any other system?2. When did the issue start to occur?3. Is there any change made on this system?4. Is there any other abnormal behavior on this system? Thanks. This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

Mervyn I renamed SoftwareDistribution while wuauserv was stopped. I also renamed C:\Windows\WindowsUpdate.log. When wuauserv came back up, the baloon appeared and WindowsUpdate.log contained the following: 2009-07-01 13:39:20:432 528 dcc AU ########### AU: Initializing Automatic Updates ########### 2009-07-01 13:39:20:432 528 dcc AU # Approval type: Pre-download notify (User preference) 2009-07-01 13:39:20:432 528 dcc AU AU setting pending client directive to 'Unable To Detect' 2009-07-01 13:39:20:432 528 dcc AU AU finished delayed initialization 2009-07-01 13:39:35:438 528 dcc AU Launched new AU client for directive 'Unable To Detect', session id = 0x1 2009-07-01 13:39:35:485 3880 39c Misc =========== Logging initialized (build: 7.2.6001.788, tz: -0500) =========== 2009-07-01 13:39:35:485 3880 39c Misc = Process: C:\Windows\system32\wuauclt.exe 2009-07-01 13:39:35:469 3880 39c AUClnt Launched Client UI process 2009-07-01 13:39:35:547 3880 39c Misc =========== Logging initialized (build: 7.2.6001.788, tz: -0500) =========== 2009-07-01 13:39:35:547 3880 39c Misc = Process: C:\Windows\system32\wuauclt.exe 2009-07-01 13:39:35:547 3880 39c Misc = Module: C:\Windows\system32\wucltux.dll 2009-07-01 13:39:35:547 3880 39c CltUI AU client got new directive = 'Unable To Detect', serviceId = {9482F4B4-E343-43B6-B170-9A65BC822C77}, return = 0 Yes, SP2 was installed, quite some time ago. As to the other questions: This is the only system with the problem. I also have systems with XP, Vista, Server 2003 R2, Windows 7, Server 2008 R2, and another Server 2008, all x64 and with the most recent SP's and updates. The issue seems to have been going on at least two weeks. The first instance of "WARNING: SelfUpdate is in an error state" is 6/10/09. Before that, I see: 2009-06-10 00:49:32:470 520 ff4 Handler FATAL: UH: 0x80070bc9: EvaluateApplicability failed in CCbs::EvaluateApplicability 2009-06-10 00:49:32:470 520 ff4 Setup WARNING: CBS EvaluateApplicability returned error, error = 0x80070BC9 2009-06-10 00:49:32:470 520 ff4 Setup FATAL: Applicability evaluation for setup package "WUClient-SelfUpdate-ActiveX~31bf3856ad364e35~amd64~~7.2.6001.788" failed, error = 0x80070BC9 2009-06-10 00:49:32:470 520 ff4 Setup FATAL: SelfUpdate check failed, err = 0x80070BC9 I have been racking my brain trying to remember what I may have changed recently. I think I may have updated the AMD IDE A and SATA drivers. So I replaced them with the standard Microsoft ones. I added BullGuard Security, but I have since removed it. I don't think there is anything else. Yes, Internet Explorer 8 has been having a problem during the same period. Sooner or later it will take over all the available memory, until IE and then Windows get unresponsive. After I exit or kill all iexplore.exe processes, the system returns to normal. I recently uninstalled and reinstalled IE8. This may have fixed the 32-bit version of IE8 but the 64-bit version still does it. See: http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/itprovistaie/thread/e083a7b6-b6bb-49a6-a6b6-2fd72f55824a#6ca23ba1-49c8-4885-9609-17101f48615c.

Hi Brian, Based on current information, it may be caused by corrupt files. Lets try to run SFC and chkdsk. 1. Open CMD, run "sfc /scannow". Is there any corruption? 2. Run "chkdsk C:". If still no progress, try to "windowsupdateagent30-x64.exe /uninstall". If Windows Update Agent uninstall successfully, try to install it again. If it cannot uninstall successfully, try to remove it manually. Remove the following file. C:\Windows\system32: Cdm.dll Wuapi.dll wuauclt.exe wuaucpl.cpl wuaueng.dll wucltui.dll wups.dll wups2.dl wuweb.dll C:\Windows\syswow64: wuweb.dll wuapi.dll wups.dll wups2.dll wuaueng.dll wuaucpl.cpl After that, try to install it and test. Thanks. This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

Thank you Mervyn.I have done as you suggested but still no go.I ran sfc /scannow, which returned no errors.I rebooted and ran chkdsk "offline" using my WinPE boot CD. Chkdsk found no problems.After I rebooted back to Windows, I ran "windowsupdateagent30-x64.exe /uninstall" from the folder where I had just downloaded it. It completed, so I tried Windows Update to test the removal. This popped up an error box.I also removed the files you listed, just to be sure. I also did this offline to avoid any potential problems.After I rebooted again I ran windowsupdateagent30-x64.exe which completed with no error. Shortly thereafter, the "Windows can't check for updates" baloon popped up.I am starting to lean towards a complete reinstall of Windows, since Internet Explorer 8.0 x64 is still leaking memory.

Hi, I agree continuing troubleshooting may take too much time to fix this problem. Before reinstalling, please backup important files. If there is anything we can do for you, please let us know. Thanks. This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

I did and in-place upgrade to Windows Server 2008 R2 RC, to see what it would do,and it fixed the problem.Unfortunately I now have "The virtual machine bus is not running" error message.

Hi Brian, Glad to hear R2 RC has fixed this problem. Also, please check if the solution for "The virtual machine bus is not running" error message works for you. Thanks. This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.