Microsoft Windows Update Fail KB2691905

By Xah Lee. Date: 2012-05-02

On 2012-04-30, Microsoft Windows Update prompted me for a update. One of the update is marked Important, and it's about updating Microsoft Security Essentials. During the update i lost internet connection. When connection is back few seconds later, i tried to update again. Things seems fine. However, when i restarted my machine, i noticed that Microsoft Security Essentials disappeared, and also, i can't start the Security under Action Center, and can't start Firewall. This page is a record of the story and how to fix.

My Windows machine is Windows 7 Home Prenium, Service Pack 1, 64-bit OS.

Here's a screenshot from the “update history” in Windows Update, showing the update failure due to lost of connection:

Microsoft Windows update fail KB2691905 2012-04-30 — Microsoft Windows update failure KB2691905 2012-04-30

Here's the text content:

Microsoft Security Essentials Client Update Package - KB2691905

Installation date: ‎2012-04-30,Mon 15:16

Installation status: Failed

Error details: Code 8004FF82

Update type: Important

You can also see this update failure in the log from Windows Update Client. From Event Viewer at [Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Administrative Tools\] %windir%\system32\eventvwr.msc /s. menu [Applications and Services Logs ▸ Microsoft ▸ Windows ▸ WindowsUpdateClient ▸ Operational].

- System
  - Provider
   [ Name]  Microsoft-Windows-WindowsUpdateClient
   [ Guid]  {945A8954-C147-4ACD-923F-40C45405A658}
   EventID 25
   Version 0
   Level 2
   Task 1
   Opcode 11
   Keywords 0x4000000000000022
  - TimeCreated
   [ SystemTime]  2012-04-30T22:16:59.162697500Z
   EventRecordID 7800
   Correlation
  - Execution
   [ ProcessID]  428
   [ ThreadID]  2516
   Channel Microsoft-Windows-WindowsUpdateClient/Operational
   Computer h3-HP
  - Security
   [ UserID]  S-1-5-18
- UserData
   errorCode 0x80072efd

The error code “0x80072efd” there means “ERROR_INTERNET_CANNOT_CONNECT”.

References

Temporary connection-related errors may occur when you use Windows Update or Microsoft Update (Article ID: 836941) 2012-04-24 By Microsoft. At ~~http://support.microsoft.com/kb/836941~~
Microsoft Security Essentials COMPLETELY vanished 2012-05-01 By Alan Mcbee. At [ http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/protect/forum/protect_updating/microsoft-security-essentials-completely-vanished/d91b6c5d-b34c-4f6e-91d3-92825b0de74c ]

Problem: Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) Disappeared

To fix the MSE problem, just download it again.

Go to [ http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows/products/security-essentials ] and re-installed that.

However, 2 other problems i've noticed, am not sure they are caused by this incidence, or perhaps because i didn't notice until now. The problems are:

(1) goto Control Panel, Action Center. The Windows Security Center Service is turned off. When turning it on, it says:

The Windows Security Center service can't be restarted.

(2) goto Control Panel, Windows Firewall. Double click on it. The error is:

Windows Firewall can't change some of your settings.
Error code 0x80070424

Windows Security Center service can't be started

There are several Microsoft sites that tries to fix this problem. However, they are extremely confusing, because it depends on whether you are running Windows Vista or Windows 7. In Windows 7, the “Windows Security Center” has become just Action Center. However, Windows 7 still has a program called “Windows Security Center service”.

So, when you check online for solution, make sure the page describes a Windows version on your machine.

Here they are 2 best answers, but didn't work for me:

The windows security center service can't be started. 2009-11-27 By Nithyananda J. At [ http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-security/the-windows-security-center-service-cant-be/d8250e7a-ee3c-4302-8ca6-9e2a10262feb ]
Error message: “Security Center service can't be started” (Article ID: 2519899) 2012-04-30 By Microsoft Support. At [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2519899 ]

These solutions didn't work for me because i cannot see “Security Center” in my Services panel.

Problem: No “Security Center” in Services Panel

When going into the Services panel, there is no item named “Security Center”.

Following is a page that fixed my problem. (Check posts by Niki Han. He's a MSFT CSG (Contigent Staff)):

Windows Security Centre Service Can't Be Started 2011-01-12 By Niki Han (MSFT CSG). At [ http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en/w7itprosecurity/thread/76b08f80-f547-473c-b43f-4029afefac02 ]

Go there, and download the Registry key fix. at [ http://cid-9fb18a384ebfc662.office.live.com/self.aspx/.Documents/wscsvc%5E564%5E6.zip ] (2012-05-02) (this one is for 64-bits).

(The registry is [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\wscsvc]. You can also export a good copy from a Windows machine. (be sure the Windows version and 64/32 bits match.))

Run it. Then, restart Windows. Then, go back to Action Center, and now you can start Security.

[see Windows: Registry Tutorial]

Windows Firewall Error code 0x80070424

See: Windows Firewall Error code 0x80070424; How to Fix .