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You receive error code 0xC80001FE when try to connect to the Windows Update Web site or to the Microsoft Update Web site to install updates

Article ID: 958048 - View products that this article applies to.

SYMPTOMS

When you try to connect to the Microsoft Windows Update Web site or to the Microsoft Update Web site, you may receive the following error code:

0xC80001FE

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This issue may occur if the Windows Update database is corrupted. Or, it may occur if the McAfee antivirus application is configured to scan the %Windir%\SoftwareDistribution directory. When the McAfee antivirus application scans the .edb file, the antivirus application locks the file. Therefore, Windows Update or Microsoft Update cannot access the file.

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WORKAROUND

To work around this issue, use one of the following methods:

Method 1: Make sure that the McAfee antivirus application does not scan certain files

Make sure that the McAfee antivirus application does not scan the files in the %windir% \SoftwareDistribution directory on any computer on which the Windows Update Agent is installed.

For computers that are running Windows Server 2003, Microsoft Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Windows Server 2008, do not scan the following files and folders.

Note These files are not at risk of infection. If you scan these files, serious performance problems may occur because some files may be locked. If a specific set of files is identified by name, exclude only those files instead of the whole folder. Sometimes, the whole folder must be excluded. Do not exclude any of these items based on the file name extension. For example, do not exclude all files that have a .dit extension. Microsoft has no control over other files that may use the same extensions as these files.

Files that are related to Microsoft Windows Update or to Automatic Update
The Windows Update database file or the Automatic Update database file

Note This file (Datastore.edb) is located in the following directory:
%windir%\SoftwareDistribution\Datastore
The transaction log files

Note These files are located in the following folder:
%windir%\SoftwareDistribution\Datastore\Logs
Exclude the following files:
- Edb*.log
  
  Note The wildcard character indicates that there may be several files.
- Res1.log
- Res2.log
- Edb.chk
- Tmp.edb

Method 2: Rename the Software Distribution folder

To rename the Windows Update temporary SoftwareDistribution directory, follow the steps that are appropriate for your operating system:

Important The following issues occur when you do this:

Updates that are currently downloaded but that have not yet been installed have to be downloaded again by using Windows Update or Microsoft Update.
When you delete the Software Distribution folder, your download history is removed.
If you currently receive updates from Microsoft Update and from Windows Update, you will have to re-select this option from the Windows Update Web site.

For computers that are running Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003

Click Start, click Run, type notepad, and then click OK.
Copy and then paste the following commands into Notepad.
net stop wuauserv
cd %systemroot%
ren SoftwareDistribution SoftwareDistribution.old
net start wuauserv
Save the Notepad file on the Desktop as rename.bat. To do this, follow these steps:
1. In Notepad, click File, click Save As, and then type rename.bat.
2. In the Save in list, click Desktop.
3. In the Save as type list, click All Files, and then click Save.
On the Desktop, double-click the rename.bat file to register the Windows Update files.
Try to install updates again.
If the issue is resolved, delete the rename.bat file that you created in these steps.

Note If the issue is resolved and you can successfully download and install updates, you can safely delete the SoftwareDistribution.old directory to recover disk space.

For computers that are running Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008

Click Start
Collapse this imageExpand this image
, and then type notepad in the Start Search box.
Click Notepad from the Programs list.
Copy and then paste the following commands into Notepad:
net stop wuauserv
cd %systemroot%
ren SoftwareDistribution SoftwareDistribution.old
net start wuauserv
Save the Notepad file on the Desktop as rename.bat. To do this, follow these steps:
1. In Notepad, click File, click Save As, and then type rename.bat.
2. In the Save in list, click Desktop.
3. In the Save as type list, click All Files, and then click Save.
On the Desktop, right-click the rename.bat file, and then click Run as administrator.

Collapse this imageExpand this image
If you are prompted for an administrator password or for confirmation, type the password, or click Continue.
Try to install updates again
If the issue is resolved, delete the rename.bat file that you created in these steps.

Note If the issue is resolved and you can successfully download and install updates, you can safely delete the SoftwareDistribution.old directory to recover disk space.

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MORE INFORMATION

For more information about virus scanning recommendations for computers that are running Windows Server 2003, Windows 2000, Windows XP or Windows Vista, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

822158

(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/822158/ )

Virus scanning recommendations for computers that are running Windows Server 2003, Windows 2000, Windows XP, or Windows Vista

For more information about McAfee antivirus, refer to the McAfee antivirus documentation.

For information about how to contact McAfee, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://support.microsoft.com/gp/vendors

(http://support.microsoft.com/gp/vendors)

The third-party products that this article discusses are manufactured by companies that are independent of Microsoft. Microsoft makes no warranty, implied or otherwise, about the performance or reliability of these products.

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