How do I reset Windows Update components?

How do I reset Windows Update components?

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Windows 8.1, Windows 8, and Windows 7
Windows Vista and Windows XP

If you receive a Windows Update error, try Solutions for common Windows Update errors.
Automatically reset Windows Update components
To automatically reset Windows Update components, click Run now, and then follow the on-screen instruction.
Windows 8.1, Windows 8, and Windows 7
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Windows Vista and Windows XP
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The Automatically diagnose and fix common problems with Windows Update troubleshooter may automatically fix the problem described in this article.

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Manually reset Windows Update components
Important Follow the steps in this section carefully. Serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Before you modify it, back up the registry for restoration in case problems occur.

To reset the Windows Update components, follow these steps:

Open a command prompt. To do this, use one of the following methods, depending on your version of Windows:
    Windows 8.1 and Windows 8: From the Start screen, swipe in from the right side to display the charms, select Search, and then search for cmd. (Or, if you are using a keyboard and mouse, type cmd at the Start screen.) In the search results, press-and-hold or right-click Command Prompt, and then select Run as Administrator.
    Windows 7 and earlier versions: Press the Windows logo key + R, type cmd in the Run box, and then press Enter. Right-click cmd, and then select Run as Administrator.
Stop the BITS service, the Windows Update service, and the Cryptographic service. To do this, at a command prompt, type the following commands. Make sure that you press Enter after you type each command.
    net stop bits
    net stop wuauserv
    net stop appidsvc
    net stop cryptsvc
Delete the qmgr*.dat files. To do this, at a command prompt, type the following command, and then press Enter:
Del "%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Application Data\Microsoft\Network\Downloader\qmgr*.dat"
If this is your first attempt at resolving your Windows Update issues by following the steps in this article, you should skip step 4 and go to step 5. You should follow step 4 at this point in the troubleshooting only if you cannot resolve your Windows Update issues after you follow all steps except step 4. (Step 4 is performed by the "Aggressive" mode of the Fix it Solution that was mentioned earlier.)
    Rename the softare distribution folders backup copies. To do this, at a command prompt, type the following commands. Make sure that you press Enter after you type each command.
        Ren %systemroot%\SoftwareDistribution SoftwareDistribution.bak
        Ren %systemroot%\system32\catroot2 catroot2.bak
    Reset the BITS service and the Windows Update service to the default security descriptor. To do this, at a command prompt, type the following commands. Make sure that you press Enter after you type each command.

        sc.exe sdset bits D:(A;;CCLCSWRPWPDTLOCRRC;;;SY)(A;;CCDCLCSWRPWPDTLOCRSDRCWDWO;;;BA)(A;;CCLCSWLOCRRC;;;AU)(A;;CCLCSWRPWPDTLOCRRC;;;PU)

        sc.exe sdset wuauserv D:(A;;CCLCSWRPWPDTLOCRRC;;;SY)(A;;CCDCLCSWRPWPDTLOCRSDRCWDWO;;;BA)(A;;CCLCSWLOCRRC;;;AU)(A;;CCLCSWRPWPDTLOCRRC;;;PU)

At a command prompt, type the following command, and then press Enter:
cd /d %windir%\system32
Reregister the BITS files and the Windows Update files. To do this, at a command prompt, type the following commands. Make sure that you press Enter after you type each command.
    regsvr32.exe atl.dll
    regsvr32.exe urlmon.dll
    regsvr32.exe mshtml.dll
    regsvr32.exe shdocvw.dll
    regsvr32.exe browseui.dll
    regsvr32.exe jscript.dll
    regsvr32.exe vbscript.dll
    regsvr32.exe scrrun.dll
    regsvr32.exe msxml.dll
    regsvr32.exe msxml3.dll
    regsvr32.exe msxml6.dll
    regsvr32.exe actxprxy.dll
    regsvr32.exe softpub.dll
    regsvr32.exe wintrust.dll
    regsvr32.exe dssenh.dll
    regsvr32.exe rsaenh.dll
    regsvr32.exe gpkcsp.dll
    regsvr32.exe sccbase.dll
    regsvr32.exe slbcsp.dll
    regsvr32.exe cryptdlg.dll
    regsvr32.exe oleaut32.dll
    regsvr32.exe ole32.dll
    regsvr32.exe shell32.dll
    regsvr32.exe initpki.dll
    regsvr32.exe wuapi.dll
    regsvr32.exe wuaueng.dll
    regsvr32.exe wuaueng1.dll
    regsvr32.exe wucltui.dll
    regsvr32.exe wups.dll
    regsvr32.exe wups2.dll
    regsvr32.exe wuweb.dll
    regsvr32.exe qmgr.dll
    regsvr32.exe qmgrprxy.dll
    regsvr32.exe wucltux.dll
    regsvr32.exe muweb.dll
    regsvr32.exe wuwebv.dll
Reset Winsock. To do this, at a command prompt, type the following command, and then press Enter:
netsh winsock reset
If you are running Windows XP, you have to configure the proxy settings. To do this, at a command prompt, type the following command, and then press Enter:

proxycfg.exe -d
If you are running other versions of Windows, at a command prompt, type the following command, and then press Enter:
netsh winhttp reset proxy
Restart the BITS service, the Windows Update service, and the Cryptographic service. To do this, at a command prompt, type the following commands. Make sure that you press Enter after you type each command.
    net start bits
    net start wuauserv
    net start appidsvc
    net start cryptsvc
Windows Vista only: Clear the BITS queue. To do this, at a command prompt, type the following command, and then press Enter:
bitsadmin.exe /reset /allusers
Install the latest Windows Update Agent.
Restart the computer.