How to Fix Windows Update Error Code 0x80080005 on Windows 10

Windows Update is far from perfect – a lot can go wrong when using the platform for retrieving and installing updates for your Windows 10 computer. An example of this is an issue where Windows Update fails to retrieve or install updates, resulting in users seeing an error message containing the error code 0x80080005. Users affected by this problem are hindered from successfully installing Windows updates available for their computer. This situation can be quite risky, considering updates often carry important and integral patches or fixes.

The main causes of this problem include a clash between Windows Update and a third-party security program installed on the computer, an Access Denied issue with the security descriptors of the Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS), the affected computer’s inability to access the System Volume Information folder, and issues with one or more Windows Update components. If you are experiencing this problem, the following solutions may be most effective for resolving it:

Solution 1: Uninstall any and all third-party security programs

Windows 10 users don’t need third-party antivirus, anti-malware or firewall programs—they have the Almighty Windows Defender and Windows 10’s built-in firewall to protect them from any and all threats. However, many Windows 10 users still end up installing one or more third-party security programs. These programs can sometimes clash with Windows 10 and create various problems—Windows Update failing with error code 0x80080005 being among these issues.

If you are suffering from this issue and have one or more third-party security programs installed, you need to immediately uninstall them or disable them temporarily, get rid of any traces or residual files they leave behind, restart your computer and check to see whether or not gets the job done.

Solution 2: Reset Windows Update components using a troubleshooter

If one or more Windows Update components on your computer are messed up and causing this problem, you need to reset them or you can try to repair them and that should take care of the problem. In order to reset Windows Update components on a Windows 10 computer, you need to:

1. Click here to download the Windows Update Troubleshooter for Windows 10.
2. Once the troubleshooter has been downloaded, navigate to where it was downloaded and double-click on it to run
3. Follow the onscreen instructions and go through the troubleshooter, and it will reset your computer’s Windows Update components.

Once the troubleshooter is finished, restart your computer and see whether or not you can successfully retrieve and install updates via Windows Update.

Solution 3: Grant full control of the System Volume Information folder to your computer

If the cause of this problem in your case is your computer not being able to access the System Volume Information folder, you can successfully get rid of the problem if you simply:

1. Right-click on the Start Menu button to open the WinX Menu.
2. Click on Command Prompt (Admin) in the WinX Menu to launch an elevated Command Prompt.
3. Type the following into the elevated Command Prompt and press Enter:

   cmd.exe /c takeown /f "C:\System Volume Information\*" /R /D Y && icacls "C:\System Volume Information\*" /grant:R SYSTEM:F /T /C /L

Wait for the command to be fully executed.

4. Close the elevated Command Prompt.
5. Restart your computer.

When your computer boots up, you may check to see whether or not the problem has been resolved.

Solution 4: Manually reset the security descriptors of the BITS service

Last, but certainly not the least, an extremely effective solution to this problem is manually resetting the security descriptors of the BITS service, along with almost all other Windows Update components on your computer. In order to apply this solution, you need to:

1. Right-click on the Start Menu button to open the WinX Menu.
2. Click on Command Prompt (Admin) in the WinX Menu to launch an elevated Command Prompt.
3. One by one, type the following commands into the elevated Command Prompt, pressing Enter after typing in each one and waiting for one command to be successfully executed before typing in the next one:

net stop wuauserv
net stop cryptSvc
net stop bits
net stop msiserver
ren C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution SoftwareDistribution.old
ren C:\Windows\System32\catroot2 catroot2.old
net start wuauserv
net start cryptSvc
net start bits
net start msiserver
pause

4. Close the elevated Command Prompt.
5. Restart your computer.

When the computer boots up, run Windows Update and see whether or not it successfully retrieves and installs updates.

If you were unable to fix your issue this way, you can try some further troubleshooting steps below.

• Run an SFC scan and a DISM scan.
• Perform a clean install of Windows.
• Also, perform a Chkdsk scan.

Solution 5: Deleting Update Files

In some cases, it is possible that some Windows files/configurations have been corrupted while being downloaded. This corruption is often a result of a bad internet connection or due to packet loss in the internet service. Therefore, in this step, we will be deleting these update files. For that:

1. Press “Windows” + “R’ to open the Run prompt.
2. Type in “Services.MSC” to open the service manager window.

   

3. In the service management window, scroll down and look for the “Windows Update” and the “Background Intelligent Service”.

   

4. Doubleclick on each one by one and change their startup type to “Disabled”.
5. Click on “Stop” to turn them off and then save your changes.
6. After this, navigate to the following folder in your root drive.

   C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution

7. Open the folder, press “Ctrl” + “A” to select all files, and then press “Shift” + “Delete” to remove them from your computer.
8. After the files are deleted, go back to the service management window and enable both the services that we disabled in the first steps.
9. Press “Windows’ + “I” to open settings and click on “Update and Security”.
10. Select “Windows Update” from the left pane and select the “Check for Updates” button.

    

11. Check to see if the issue still persists.

Solution 6: Changing Group Policy Settings

In some cases, the group policy might require some changes which allow it to download certain repair content directly from the Windows Update servers. This option is disabled by default for most people but it can sometimes end up fixing the update process. In order to enable this:

1. Press “Windows” + “R” to open the Run prompt.
2. Type in “gpedit.msc” and press “enter”.

   

3. Double click on the “Administrative Templates” option and then double click on the “System” folder.
4. In the right pane, double click on the “Specify Settings for Optional Content Installation” option.

   

5. Check the “Enabled” button and then check the “Download Repair Content and options features directly” option.

   

6. Click on “Apply” and then on “Ok” to save your changes.
7. Check to see if the issue persists after doing this.

Solution 7: Making Registry Changes

In certain cases, making some registry changes can help us in getting rid of this issue but since the list of these changes is long, a user compiled them into a script which you can run on your computer to fix this issue permanently. For that:

1. Right-click anywhere on your desktop and select “New>Text Document”.
2. Paste the following lines inside the newly created document.

   Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
   
   [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\wuauserv]
   "DependOnService"=hex(7):72,00,70,00,63,00,73,00,73,00,00,00,00,00
   "Description"="@%systemroot%\\system32\\wuaueng.dll,-106"
   "DisplayName"="@%systemroot%\\system32\\wuaueng.dll,-105"
   "ErrorControl"=dword:00000001
   "FailureActions"=hex:80,51,01,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,03,00,00,00,14,00,00,\
     00,01,00,00,00,60,ea,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00
   "ImagePath"=hex(2):25,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,72,00,6f,00,6f,00,\
     74,00,25,00,5c,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,73,\
     00,76,00,63,00,68,00,6f,00,73,00,74,00,2e,00,65,00,78,00,65,00,20,00,2d,00,\
     6b,00,20,00,6e,00,65,00,74,00,73,00,76,00,63,00,73,00,20,00,2d,00,70,00,00,\
     00
   "ObjectName"="LocalSystem"
   "RequiredPrivileges"=hex(7):53,00,65,00,41,00,75,00,64,00,69,00,74,00,50,00,72,\
     00,69,00,76,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,67,00,65,00,00,00,53,00,65,00,43,00,72,00,\
     65,00,61,00,74,00,65,00,47,00,6c,00,6f,00,62,00,61,00,6c,00,50,00,72,00,69,\
     00,76,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,67,00,65,00,00,00,53,00,65,00,43,00,72,00,65,00,\
     61,00,74,00,65,00,50,00,61,00,67,00,65,00,46,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,50,00,72,\
     00,69,00,76,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,67,00,65,00,00,00,53,00,65,00,54,00,63,00,\
     62,00,50,00,72,00,69,00,76,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,67,00,65,00,00,00,53,00,65,\
     00,41,00,73,00,73,00,69,00,67,00,6e,00,50,00,72,00,69,00,6d,00,61,00,72,00,\
     79,00,54,00,6f,00,6b,00,65,00,6e,00,50,00,72,00,69,00,76,00,69,00,6c,00,65,\
     00,67,00,65,00,00,00,53,00,65,00,49,00,6d,00,70,00,65,00,72,00,73,00,6f,00,\
     6e,00,61,00,74,00,65,00,50,00,72,00,69,00,76,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,67,00,65,\
     00,00,00,53,00,65,00,49,00,6e,00,63,00,72,00,65,00,61,00,73,00,65,00,51,00,\
     75,00,6f,00,74,00,61,00,50,00,72,00,69,00,76,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,67,00,65,\
     00,00,00,53,00,65,00,53,00,68,00,75,00,74,00,64,00,6f,00,77,00,6e,00,50,00,\
     72,00,69,00,76,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,67,00,65,00,00,00,53,00,65,00,44,00,65,\
     00,62,00,75,00,67,00,50,00,72,00,69,00,76,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,67,00,65,00,\
     00,00,53,00,65,00,42,00,61,00,63,00,6b,00,75,00,70,00,50,00,72,00,69,00,76,\
     00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,67,00,65,00,00,00,53,00,65,00,52,00,65,00,73,00,74,00,\
     6f,00,72,00,65,00,50,00,72,00,69,00,76,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,67,00,65,00,00,\
     00,53,00,65,00,53,00,65,00,63,00,75,00,72,00,69,00,74,00,79,00,50,00,72,00,\
     69,00,76,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,67,00,65,00,00,00,53,00,65,00,54,00,61,00,6b,\
     00,65,00,4f,00,77,00,6e,00,65,00,72,00,73,00,68,00,69,00,70,00,50,00,72,00,\
     69,00,76,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,67,00,65,00,00,00,53,00,65,00,4c,00,6f,00,61,\
     00,64,00,44,00,72,00,69,00,76,00,65,00,72,00,50,00,72,00,69,00,76,00,69,00,\
     6c,00,65,00,67,00,65,00,00,00,53,00,65,00,4d,00,61,00,6e,00,61,00,67,00,65,\
     00,56,00,6f,00,6c,00,75,00,6d,00,65,00,50,00,72,00,69,00,76,00,69,00,6c,00,\
     65,00,67,00,65,00,00,00,00,00
   "ServiceSidType"=dword:00000001
   "Start"=dword:00000003
   "SvcHostSplitDisable"=dword:00000001
   "SvcMemHardLimitInMB"=dword:000000f6
   "SvcMemMidLimitInMB"=dword:000000a7
   "SvcMemSoftLimitInMB"=dword:00000058
   "Type"=dword:00000020
   
   [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\wuauserv\Parameters]
   "ServiceDll"=hex(2):25,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,72,00,6f,00,6f,\
     00,74,00,25,00,5c,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,\
     77,00,75,00,61,00,75,00,65,00,6e,00,67,00,2e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,00,00,00
   "ServiceDllUnloadOnStop"=dword:00000001
   "ServiceMain"="WUServiceMain"
   
   [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\wuauserv\Security]
   "Security"=hex:01,00,14,80,78,00,00,00,84,00,00,00,14,00,00,00,30,00,00,00,02,\
     00,1c,00,01,00,00,00,02,80,14,00,ff,00,0f,00,01,01,00,00,00,00,00,01,00,00,\
     00,00,02,00,48,00,03,00,00,00,00,00,14,00,9d,00,02,00,01,01,00,00,00,00,00,\
     05,0b,00,00,00,00,00,18,00,ff,01,0f,00,01,02,00,00,00,00,00,05,20,00,00,00,\
     20,02,00,00,00,00,14,00,ff,01,0f,00,01,01,00,00,00,00,00,05,12,00,00,00,01,\
     01,00,00,00,00,00,05,12,00,00,00,01,01,00,00,00,00,00,05,12,00,00,00
   
   [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\wuauserv\TriggerInfo]
   
   [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\wuauserv\TriggerInfo\0]
   "Type"=dword:00000005
   "Action"=dword:00000001
   "Guid"=hex:e6,ca,9f,65,db,5b,a9,4d,b1,ff,ca,2a,17,8d,46,e0
   
   [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\wuauserv\TriggerInfo\1]
   "Type"=dword:00000005
   "Action"=dword:00000001
   "Guid"=hex:c8,46,fb,54,89,f0,4c,46,b1,fd,59,d1,b6,2c,3b,50

3. Click on the “File” option and select “Save As”.

   

4. Click on “All Types” in the Format dropdown and type in “Fix.reg” in the file name field.
5. Click on “Save” after choosing a suitable location.
6. Run the file from that location and the changes should automatically be implemented for you.
7. Check to see if the issue persists.

Note: Try downloading and running the Windows Update Troubleshooter from here. Also, make sure to disconnect all USB devices and restart your computer and then attempt to update.