How to Fix Windows Update Error 0x80070bc2

This Windows Update error code usually appears on Windows 10 running computers but seeing it on Windows 7 and 8 is nothing strange. It appears after the update has already been downloaded when it’s supposed to be installed. However, users appear to fall into an endless loop of restarts and occurrences of this error and the error remains.

Windows users have suggested various methods which can be used when troubleshooting this problem and we highly recommend you check them out. These solutions have worked for them and we sincerely hope you would be able to solve this problem as well!

Solution 1: Configure Certain Windows Services to Start up Automatically

There are four main services upon which Windows Update usually depends and these are: Cryptographic Service, Background Intelligent Transfer Service, Trusted Installer Service and, of course, Windows Update Service. All of these services need to be configured to start up automatically in order for the update to be installed properly so make sure you do that.

1. Search for “Command Prompt” either right in the Start menu or by tapping the search button right next to it. Right-click on the first result which will appear at the top and select the “Run as administrator” option.

2. Type in the following set of commands one after another and make sure you click Enter after typing each one and wait for the process to finish and display a “process successful” message:

SC config wuauserv start= auto
SC config bits start= auto
SC config cryptsvc start= auto
SC config trustedinstaller start= auto

3. Restart your computer and check to see if the problem still appears on your computer.

If the commands below won’t execute because of various reasons (permissions, SC not configured, etc.) you will have to execute this process manually which is a bit longer, but nothing too scary!

Let’s start with the Cryptographic Service! Note you will have to repeat this process for each of the four services we have mentioned.

1. Open the Run dialog box by pressing the Windows Key + R key combination on your keyboard. Type “services.msc” in the Run box without the quotation marks and click OK in order to open Services.

2. Locate Cryptographic Service in the services list, right-click on it and select Properties from the context menu which will appear.
3. If the service is started (you can check that just next to the Service status message), you should stop it by clicking the Stop button in the middle of the window. If it has already been stopped, leave it as it is (for now).

4. Make sure that the option under the Startup type menu in the Cryptographic Service’s properties is set to Automatic before you proceed with the instructions. Confirm any dialogue boxes which may appear when you set the startup type. Click on the Start button at the middle of the window before exiting.

You may receive the following error message when you click on Start:

 “Windows could not start the Cryptographic Service on Local Computer. Error 1079: The account specified for this service differs from the account specified for other services running in the same process.”

If this occurs, follow the instructions below to fix it.

1. Follow the steps 1-3 from the instructions above in order to open Cryptographic Service’s properties. Navigate to the Log On tab and click on the Browse… button.

2. Under the “Enter the object name to select” box, type in your account’s name, click on Check Names and wait for the name to become recognized.
3. Click OK when you are finished and type in the password in the Password box when you are prompted with it, if you have setup a password. It should now start without issues!

Do the same for Windows Update Service, BITS, and Trusted Installer!

Solution 2: Use the Windows Update Troubleshooter

Built-in troubleshooters are not always so helpful but this time they were able to help users who were seeing the 0x80070bc2 update error code when trying to install latest updates. You can run it easily and it can sometimes at least point out the real cause for the problem.

Windows 10:

1. Open the Settings tool on Windows by clicking on the Start button and then the gear icon at the lower left part of the Start menu window. You can also search for it in the start menu or with the Search button next to it.
2. Open the Update & Security sub-section at the bottom of the Settings window and navigate to the Troubleshoot tab from the right navigation pane.

3. First of all, click on the Windows Update option and follow the instructions on screen after the Windows Update troubleshooter opens to see whether there is something wrong with Windows Update services and processes.
4. After the troubleshooter finishes, you should also navigate to the Troubleshoot section again and open the Internet Connections troubleshooter.
5. Check to see if the problem is solved after you restart your computer and run Windows Update again.

Older Versions of Windows:

1. Open Control Panel by locating it in the Start menu. You can also search for it using the Start menu’s search bar.
2. After the Control Panel window opens, switch the “View by” option at the top right part of the window to “Large Icons” and scroll until you locate the Troubleshooting entry.

3. After clicking on Troubleshooting, check the bottom of the window, under the System and Security section and try to find the “Fix problems with Windows Update” option. Click on this entry, choose Next from the initial window and wait for the troubleshooter to finish.

4. Check to see if your problem is solved.

Solution 3: Install the Problematic Update Manually

Sometimes the update installer is to blame and a perfectly working update is unable to be installed on your computer because of minor install-related bugs. This can be fixed easily if you download and install the update manually from Microsoft’s official site.

1. Visit the Microsoft support site in order to find out which is the latest released update for your version of Windows. It should be located at the top of the list at the left part of the site with the current Windows 10 version at the top.

2. Copy the KB (Knowledge Base) number together with “KB” letters as well (e.g. KB4040724) next to the latest released update for your OS.
3. Open the Microsoft Update Catalog and perform a search by pasting the Knowledge Base number you copied and by clicking on the search button at the top right corner.

4. Click on the Download button to the left and choose the correct architecture of your PC (32bit or 64bit). Make sure you know the architecture of your PC’s processor before choosing this option.
5. Run the file you downloaded and follow the instructions on screen carefully in order to complete the updating process.
6. After the update has finished, make sure you restart your computer and the update will be installed on your computer and the problem shouldn’t occur with the next update released.

Solution 4: Reset Windows Update History and Files

This quick method can prove to be quite useful and it can be used to avoid having to reset Windows update components which can be quite a long and difficult process. This process is somewhat quicker and it only requires the use of Command Prompt with administrator privileges.

1. Let’s start with the method by shutting down the core services related to Windows Update: Background Intelligent Transfer, Windows Update, and Cryptographic Services (as we mentioned above). Shutting them down before we start is important if you want the remainder of the steps to work.
2. Search for “Command Prompt” either right in the Start menu or by tapping the search button right next to it. Right-click on the first result which will appear at the top and select the “Run as administrator” option. 
3. Users who are using an older version of Windows such as Windows 7 or 8 can use the Windows Logo Key + R key combination in order to bring up the Run dialog box. Type in “cmd” in the Run box and use the Ctrl + Shift + Enter key combination in order to run Command Prompt as an administrator.
4. Copy and paste the commands shown below and make sure you click the Enter key on your keyboard after typing each one:

net stop bits
net stop wuauserv
net stop appidsvc
net stop cryptsvc

Not it’s time to get rid of a certain folder which holds history and update information which can be reset.

1. Open This PC on newer version of Windows or My Computer on older ones depending on the version of Windows you have running.
2. You can navigate there by opening your Windows Explorer interface by clicking the Libraries icon or by opening any folder and clicking on This PC/My Computer at the navigation pane at the left side of the window.

3. Double-click on the drive where your operating system is installed (Local Disk C by default) and try to locate the Windows folder. If you can’t see the Windows folder when you open the disk, that is because the hidden files are disabled from being seen on your computer and you will need to enable the view of them.
4. Click on the “View” tab on File Explorer’s menu with the disk being the opened path and click on the “Hidden items” checkbox in the Show/hide section. File Explorer will show the hidden files and will keep this option until you change it again.

5. Locate the SoftwareDistribution folder in the Windows folder, right-click on it, and choose the Rename option from the context menu. Change its name to SoftwareDistribution.old and apply the changes.

Not it’s time to start the services we have ended in the first step so that Windows update can go back to normal again. After these services start, the whole updating process should now work properly.

1. Open Command Prompt exactly the same as you did above and make sure you open it with administrator privileges.
2. Execute the command below one after another and make sure you press Enter after each one. You should see message confirming that the operations were executed successfully.

net start bits
net start wuauserv
net start appidsvc
net start cryptsvc

Solution 5: Install the Update Using Windows 10 Media Creation Tool

This tool is not just used when you want to create a recovery DVD or USB to boot when your Windows installation goes completely corrupt. It can also be used to update Windows offline as the latest version available on Microsoft’s site is also updated to the latest build. That is why you can use it to avoid communicating with Microsoft servers or using their update installation wizards.

1. Download the Media Creation Tool from Microsoft’s website and wait for the download to finish. Double-click on the downloaded file in your Downloads folder called MediaCreationTool.exe in order to open the setup. Tap Accept at the initial screen.
2. Select the “Upgrade this PC now” option by clicking its radio button and click on the Next button to proceed. The tool will download certain files, check for updates, and scan your PC so please stay patient.

3. Accept the license terms from the next window if you want to proceed with the installation and wait again to communicate with Microsoft for updates (again).
4. After that, you should already see the Ready to install screen with Install Windows and Keep personal files and apps option being listed. This has been chosen automatically since you are already running Windows 10 and you want to keep everything. The install should now proceed so your computer should be updates after the tool finishes with its process.