Reset, Repair and Reinstall Automatic Updates

We have written three small batch files that resets, repairs or reinstalls the Automatic Update system. They work with a Windows XP SP2 or Windows 2003 Server system straight out of the box, but with Windows 2000 the machine needs to have been updated to the new version of the Windows Automatic Update client before they will work.

Important

Where Windows Vista is mentioned, this also applies to Windows 2008 Server, unless otherwise specified.
Where Windows 7 is mentioned, this also applies to Windows 2008 R2 Server, unless otherwise specified.
Where Windows XP is mentioned, this also applies to Windows 2003/2003 R2 Server, unless otherwise specified.
None of these scripts work on Windows 10.

Windows Vista and Windows 7

On Windows 7\Vista the script will not run from a network share and needs to be run as Administrator. Therefore ensure the file is on your local machine, then right click on it and choose "Run as Administrator"

Reset the Automatic Updates System

What does it do?
The file stops the Automatic Update service, then flushes out the contents of the folder "Software Distribution". It then restarts the Automatic Update service again before forcing an update cycle to start.

Copy the text below in to a new notepad document and save it as aureset.cmd. On Windows XP, double click on the file to run it. On Windows Vista and Windows 7, right click and choose Run As Administrator. This script (updated July 2012) works on all versions of Windows.

net stop wuauserv net stop bits rd /s /q %windir%\softwaredistribution net start bits net start wuauserv wuauclt.exe /detectnow

Repair Automatic Updates System

This is another batch file that repairs the automatic updates system.

What does it do?
The file stops the "Background Intelligent Transfer Service" and the Automatic Update service, then re-registers the required DLLs. It then restarts the the two services that were stopped before forcing an update cycle to start with fresh cookies.

Copy the text below in to a new notepad document and save it as aurepair.cmd. Double click on the file to run it.

This is for Windows XP/Windows 2003 Only

net stop bits net stop wuauserv %windir%\system32\regsvr32.exe /s %windir%\system32\atl.dll %windir%\system32\regsvr32.exe /s %windir%\system32\jscript.dll %windir%\system32\regsvr32.exe /s %windir%\system32\msxml3.dll %windir%\system32\regsvr32.exe /s %windir%\system32\softpub.dll %windir%\system32\regsvr32.exe /s %windir%\system32\wuapi.dll %windir%\system32\regsvr32.exe /s %windir%\system32\wuaueng.dll %windir%\system32\regsvr32.exe /s %windir%\system32\wuaueng1.dll %windir%\system32\regsvr32.exe /s %windir%\system32\wucltui.dll %windir%\system32\regsvr32.exe /s %windir%\system32\wups.dll %windir%\system32\regsvr32.exe /s %windir%\system32\wups2.dll %windir%\system32\regsvr32.exe /s %windir%\system32\wuweb.dll net start bits net start wuauserv wuauclt /resetauthorization /detectnow

This is the version for Windows Vista/Windows 7. You will need to run this script in an elevated command prompt.

net stop bits net stop wuauserv %windir%\system32\regsvr32.exe %windir%\system32\vbscript.dll /s %windir%\system32\regsvr32.exe %windir%\system32\mshtml.dll /s %windir%\system32\regsvr32.exe %windir%\system32\msjava.dll /s %windir%\system32\regsvr32.exe %windir%\system32\jscript.dll /s %windir%\system32\regsvr32.exe %windir%\system32\msxml.dll /s %windir%\system32\regsvr32.exe %windir%\system32\actxprxy.dll /s %windir%\system32\regsvr32.exe %windir%\system32\shdocvw.dll /s %windir%\system32\regsvr32.exe wuapi.dll /s %windir%\system32\regsvr32.exe wuaueng1.dll /s %windir%\system32\regsvr32.exe wuaueng.dll /s %windir%\system32\regsvr32.exe wucltui.dll /s %windir%\system32\regsvr32.exe wups2.dll /s %windir%\system32\regsvr32.exe wups.dll /s %windir%\system32\regsvr32.exe wuweb.dll /s %windir%\system32\regsvr32.exe Softpub.dll /s %windir%\system32\regsvr32.exe Mssip32.dll /s %windir%\system32\regsvr32.exe Initpki.dll /s %windir%\system32\regsvr32.exe softpub.dll /s %windir%\system32\regsvr32.exe wintrust.dll /s %windir%\system32\regsvr32.exe initpki.dll /s %windir%\system32\regsvr32.exe dssenh.dll /s %windir%\system32\regsvr32.exe rsaenh.dll /s %windir%\system32\regsvr32.exe gpkcsp.dll /s %windir%\system32\regsvr32.exe sccbase.dll /s %windir%\system32\regsvr32.exe slbcsp.dll /s %windir%\system32\regsvr32.exe cryptdlg.dll /s %windir%\system32\regsvr32.exe Urlmon.dll /s %windir%\system32\regsvr32.exe Shdocvw.dll /s %windir%\system32\regsvr32.exe Msjava.dll /s %windir%\system32\regsvr32.exe Actxprxy.dll /s %windir%\system32\regsvr32.exe Oleaut32.dll /s %windir%\system32\regsvr32.exe Mshtml.dll /s %windir%\system32\regsvr32.exe msxml.dll /s %windir%\system32\regsvr32.exe msxml2.dll /s %windir%\system32\regsvr32.exe msxml3.dll /s %windir%\system32\regsvr32.exe Browseui.dll /s %windir%\system32\regsvr32.exe shell32.dll /s %windir%\system32\regsvr32.exe wuapi.dll /s %windir%\system32\regsvr32.exe wuaueng.dll /s %windir%\system32\regsvr32.exe wuaueng1.dll /s %windir%\system32\regsvr32.exe wucltui.dll /s %windir%\system32\regsvr32.exe wups.dll /s %windir%\system32\regsvr32.exe wuweb.dll /s %windir%\system32\regsvr32.exe jscript.dll /s %windir%\system32\regsvr32.exe atl.dll /s %windir%\system32\regsvr32.exe Mssip32.dll /s net start bits net start wuauserv wuauclt /resetauthorization /detectnow

Remove and Reinstall of Automatic Updates (Not Vista or Windows 7)

This batch file actually removes and reinstalls the Automatic Update system.

What does it do?
The file stops the "Background Intelligent Transfer Service" and the Automatic Update service, then removes the Automatic Update system, the logs and downloaded software files. It then reinstalls the automatic update system, starts the services and then removes the cookies for the automatic updates system and force it to look for changes.

Copy the text below in to a new notepad document and save it as aureinstall.cmd. Double click on the file to run it.

net stop bits net stop wuauserv regsvr32 /u wuaueng.dll /s del /f /s /q %windir%\SoftwareDistribution\*.* del /f /s /q %windir%\windowsupdate.log regsvr32 wuaueng.dll /s net start bits net start wuauserv wuauclt.exe /resetauthorization /detectnow

Common Mistake - Not Changing the File Type in Notepad

The most common reason why these scripts do not work is that to save a file as a cmd file, you need to change the setting in the Save as box to All File Types. You can then enter the full file name. Otherwise Windows will save it as "reset.cmd.txt" which will not do anything but open notepad.

Free up Space

If you have recently built the machine, or are simply getting tight on space, the first reset script can give you back a significant amount of space. Once the updates have been installed correctly, the files in the download location are no longer required. Therefore removing them before a defrag can make a significant difference.