I have a 2012 R2 Standard server that won't install Windows Updates. It appears that Windows Update hasn't been working on this server for a long while (several months, at least).
When I go to Windows Update and "Check for Updates" it always shows the same 13 updates available. If I tell it to install those, it acts like they installed and says a reboot is necessary. When I reboot and check for updates again, it shows them all as available again, and update history shows me that they all failed with error 800F0831. I've tried them all at once, one at a time, started with the oldest one in the list by itself, etc, and same result each time. Sometimes it fails right there, but most times it acts like they installed with a reboot needed (then update history shows me they failed after I reboot and check it).
What I've tried already:
- Stop Windows Update, BITS, and Cryptographic Services, rename C:\Windows\system32\catroot2 to catroot2.old, rename C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution to SoftwareDistribution.old, and start those services back up so the folders get recreated (this was something I tried based on Google searching before I came across this forum). Folders recreated, but the problem didn't change.
- sfc.exe from elevated command prompt. It ran for about 10 minutes and said "Windows Resource Protection did not find any integrity violations"
- DISM /Online /cleanup-image /RestoreHealth from elevated command prompt. I got "The restore operation completed successfully. The component store corruption was repaired." However, the problem remains.
Is it generally ok to run sfcfix on a server? If so, I can run that too. Just wanted to check first.
Here's a Google Drive link for the zipped CSB folder (a bit over 15MB, so it's too large to upload):
CBS.zip