How to Reset Windows Update Components on Windows 11

1. Reset via Windows Update Troubleshooter

Microsoft provides several built-in debuggers to help resolve most problems. It also includes “ Windows Update Troubleshooter` which can be used to reset components that need it.

To reset Windows Update components using the Windows Update troubleshooter, right-click the “Start” icon on the taskbar or press WINDOWS + X to launch the Windows Update menu. Quick access, then select “Settings” from the list of options.

In the ‘System’ tab, select ‘Troubleshoot’ on the right.

Next, select ‘Other troubleshooters’ on the right.

You will now find a bunch of troubleshooters listed here Locate ‘Windows Update’ and click on ‘Run’ next to it.

The troubleshooter will now check for all issues and resolve them along the way. If you receive a prompt during troubleshooting, select the appropriate response.

2. Reset via Command Prompt

You can also reset Windows Update components by running certain commands at an elevated command prompt. This is certainly a timed process but very efficient, unlike a troubleshooter that only resets itself when the need arises.

To reset Windows Update components through the command prompt, search for “Windows Terminal” in the Search menu, right-click the affected search result, and select “Run as administrator” from the Contextual menu. Click “ Yes ” in the UAC box that appears.

Windows PowerShell will launch by default, unless you changed the default profile in the terminal settings. To open the Command Prompt, click the down arrow at the top and select “Command Prompt” from the list of options. You can also press CTRL + SHIFT + 2 to launch the Command Prompt tab.

First, we will stop the Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS), Windows Update service, and cryptographic service. To do this, type the following commands one at a time and press ENTER after each command to run.

net stop bits

net stop wuauserv

net stop cryptsvc

The next step is to delete the qmgr*.dat files. You can do this by executing the following command.

Del "%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Application Data\Microsoft\Network\Downloader\qmgr*.dat"

Note: You can skip this step if this is your first time resetting Windows Update components. However, if that doesn’t work, include this step next time.

The next step is to rename some folders on the system. To do this, type the following commands and press ENTER after each to run them.

Ren %Systemroot%\SoftwareDistribution\DataStore DataStore.bak

Ren %Systemroot%\SoftwareDistribution\Download Download.bak

Ren %Systemroot%\System32\catroot2 catroot2.bak

Note: You can skip this step if this is your first time resetting Windows Update components. However, if that doesn’t work, include this step next time.

You must now reset the Windows Update and BITS service. To do this, type the following two commands and press ENTER after each command.

sc.exe sdset bits D:(A;;CCLCSWRPWPDTLOCRRC;;;SY)(A;;CCDCLCSWRPWPDTLOCRSDRCWDWO;;;BA)(A;;CCLCSWLOCRRC;;;AU)(A;;CCLCSWRPWPDTLOCRRC;;;PU)

sc.exe sdset wuauserv D:(A;;CCLCSWRPWPDTLOCRRC;;;SY)(A;;CCDCLCSWRPWPDTLOCRSDRCWDWO;;;BA)(A;;CCLCSWLOCRRC;;;AU)(A;;CCLCSWRPWPDTLOCRRC;;;PU)

Next, enter the following command and press ENTER.

cd /d %windir%\system32

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This is a time consuming step. Type the following commands in turn, and press ENTER after each, to re-register Windows updates and the BITS file. Click “OK” on the prompt that appears after saving each file.

regsvr32.exe atl.dll
regsvr32.exe urlmon.dll
regsvr32.exe mshtml.dll
regsvr32.exe shdocvw.dll
regsvr32.exe browseui.dll
regsvr32.exe jscript.dll
regsvr32.exe vbscript.dll
regsvr32.exe scrrun.dll
regsvr32.exe msxml.dll
regsvr32.exe msxml3.dll
regsvr32.exe msxml6.dll
regsvr32.exe actxprxy.dll
regsvr32.exe softpub.dll
regsvr32.exe wintrust.dll
regsvr32.exe dssenh.dll
regsvr32.exe rsaenh.dll
regsvr32.exe gpkcsp.dll
regsvr32.exe sccbase.dll
regsvr32.exe slbcsp.dll
regsvr32.exe cryptdlg.dll
regsvr32.exe oleaut32.dll
regsvr32.exe ole32.dll
regsvr32.exe shell32.dll
regsvr32.exe initpki.dll
regsvr32.exe wuapi.dll
regsvr32.exe wuaueng.dll
regsvr32.exe wuaueng1.dll
regsvr32.exe wucltui.dll
regsvr32.exe wups.dll
regsvr32.exe wups2.dll
regsvr32.exe wuweb.dll
regsvr32.exe qmgr.dll
regsvr32.exe qmgrprxy.dll
regsvr32.exe wucltux.dll
regsvr32.exe muweb.dll
regsvr32.exe wuwebv.dll

The penultimate step is to reset Winsock (Windows Sockets). Execute the following command to do that.

netsh winsock reset

We stopped three services in the first step, it’s now time we re-enable them. Type or paste the following commands and press ENTER after each.

net start bits

net start wuauserv  

net start cryptsvc

Now, restart the PC for all the changes to come into effect. The Windows Update components have now been reset.

3. Reset with Reset Windows Update Tool, an Open-source Third-party Tool

You can also use the “ Reset Windows Update Tool ” to reset Windows Update components. This is a fairly lengthy process but by far the best as it gives you more options and even though the installation takes time you don’t need to put in any effort in the implementation phase. You don’t need to enter any commands, the tool takes care of everything.

First, you will have to download the ‘Reset Windows Update Tool’.

To download the tool, go to github.com/ManuelGil and click on the ‘zip’ option under the latest version.

Since this is a zip file, you will need to unzip it. To extract the zip file, navigate to the “Downloads” folder, right-click on it and select “Extract All”.

Now, click on ‘Browse’ to choose the destination for the extracted files, and click on the ‘Extract’ at the bottom.

You will now have to download another app, ‘Dev-C++.

To download, go to sourceforge.net/projects, and click on ‘Download’.

Once downloaded, navigate to the “Downloads” folder again and double click on the downloaded file to run the installer.

Then follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation.

Once the application is installed, right click on the application shortcut or the file in the source folder and select “Run as administrator” to run the application with administrative privileges.

Next, click on the ‘File’ menu at the top-left and select ‘Open’ from the list of options.

Now navigate to the location where you previously extracted the “Reset Windows Update Tool” files, select the “WUREset.dev” file and click “Open” at the bottom.

Wait a moment while `DevC ++` analyzes the files. Now click on the “Run” menu at the top and select “Compile” from the list of options. Alternatively, you can press F9 to compile.

Wait for the compilation to complete. The process is likely to be quick.

Next, again click on the ‘Execute’ menu and select ‘Run’. Alternatively, you can press F10 to run it.

The “Reset Windows Update Tool” window will open with the terms of use. Browse through them, type Y, and then hit ENTER.

Next, press 2 and then press ENTER.

The tool will work for a while to make the necessary changes to reset Windows Update components. You will be notified of the current quest at each step. When the reset is complete, the screen will show the message “Operation completed successfully”. You can now close the window.

Here are three ways to reset Windows Update components on Windows 11. You should try the troubleshooter first in case you get an error while updating Windows, but it does not guarantee the results. . If this is the case for you, use the command prompt method or the Windows Update reset tool.

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