All solutions for Windows Update error 80072ee2

As an system administrator, I know how difficult it can be to solve Windows Update errors. This is particularly the case with Windows Update, because Windows Update always returns generic errors. KB-articles will likely not help you, because these articles are written with theoretical knowledge, and are barely based on real-world scenarios.

I’ve been struggling with the 80072ee2 error for quite some hours and fixed it at the end by creating a rule in ISA 2006 that allowed all traffic to the Windows Update site. Therefore, I would like to sum up all the possible solutions, so you can (try to) fix the problem in a time-efficient way :)

Problem: When you try to update a Windows 7 or Windows 2008 computer, you get the Windows Update error 80072ee2

Solution: The possible solutions are written below. After every solution, check whether Windows Updates is working again or not.

Solution 1:
If you use a proxy server, first make sure you have the correct settings in your Internet Explorer on the client. Make sure you can reach any URL without being prompted for a username or password. If this is the case, try to create a rule in the firewall that allows all traffic to Windows Update without using the proxy. Then remove the proxy settings from Internet Explorer on the client and try again to receive Windows Updates. If Windows Update now discovers the updates, install them. Don’t forget to revert all changes you made. Windows Update should now work flawlessly with your proxy server. (In my case, this was the solution. Shoot me… :/ )

Solution 2:
If you have spyware on your computer, or if you HAD, your Internet Explorer may be set to use a proxy server. With a single command, you can set this back to the original IE settings. Type CMD in your Search bar of your Start Menu, and ENTER the command:
netsh winhttp import proxy source=ie

Solution 3:
In some rare cases, the MTU setting of your computer are set incorrectly (I had this problem when I tried to log on to MSN Live Messenger).
To adjust the MTU setting of your router, type REGEDIT in your Search bar of your Start Menu. Then navigate to the following key: [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters\
Interfaces\[Adapter ID]]
Create a new DWORD value, or modify the existing value, called “MTU” and set it to a decimal value like 1492. Try Windows Update. If it did not help, change the MTU to 1500 and try again.

Solution 4:
Try to register some dll files, that may have become unregistered, somehow. To do this, Type CMD in your Search bar of your Start Menu, and ENTER the following commands:

regsvr32 oleaut32.dll
regsvr32 jscript.dll
regsvr32 vbscript.dll
regsvr32 msxml.dll
regsvr32 softpub.dll
regsvr32 wintrust.dll
regsvr32 initpki.dll
regsvr32 cryptdlg.dll

Every command should return a popup, that the registration completed successfully.

If you have more possible solutions for the Windows Update error 80072ee2, please post a comment. Also, when this article helped you, please leave a comment, so that I know for who I’m keeping this blog up :)