What is Error 8000FFFF when I try to install a Windows Vista Update?

Read the article that everyone's commenting on.
Subscribe to the RSS Feed for comments on this article.

I have the exact same problem, and no clue on how to fix it.

Before removing my RAM which is not a big deal
I tried to uninstall the update and then reinstall it. This worked flawlessly
Thanks for the great tip that worked
KUDOS Aval

Disable windows defender, firewall, automatic updates. Turn off system restore. Run disk clean up. reboot. manually run windows update. after all updates have completed, enable defender, firewall, automatic updates.

I got a computer from someone with Vista Home Premium pre-installed. I've been running the gambit of update error codes, too, starting with 80073712 and now 8000FFFF. I followed the various instructions to try to remedy the 80073712, and when all said and done I end up with 8000FFFF. So, from what Leo says, I went from a rather specific error code (which I couldn't find much info about on the net) to a generic error code. They have a hotfix for Ultimate and Business version to correct something like this. I tried d/l'ing it to see if it would take on Home Premium. Nope. It's smart enough to tell which version you're running, so even if it was the same fix, because I'm not using Ultimate or Business, I get shut out. Apparently Home Premium users (or folks on lesser versions) aren't considered high priority, because folks on the net have been hollering about this issue for some time now.

Hey, I have a laptop and have been trying to install the updates required and keep getting the Error 8000FFFF when I click on help it gives me alot of information that I can't understand and I have looked on my Trend Micro PC-cillian and it is saying that the secruity patches need to be installed I try to do that also and it keeps coming up with Error 8000FFFF what can I do to fix this apart from taking it back to the retailer that we brought it from? Thanks for any information you can provdie for me.

Windows Updates fails refuses to get the newest updates. i have a error code 80073712. I need help to resovle my windows upates in windows vista home premuim edition. my computer a custiom built. please help me out. thank you

When will Microsoft fix the 8000FFFF error. -- Should we wait or take Vista off the computer. ??

Some notes on the error here:
http://taurarian.mvps.org/WU_Vista/8000ffff.htm
8000FFFF - Generic Unexpected error.

I have had the same error since August 2007 when running Windows Update. I submitted an email with the Window Update log attached via Microsoft online support.Microsoft support responded with an email detailing two suggestions for fixing the problem. It worked for me. Please see below for detai:

After checking the Windows Update log which was attached when submitting the case, I found the error code 0x8000FFFF.

This issue can be caused by one of the following factors:

1. Corrupted Windows Update Temporary folder

2. Some registry keys are corrupt.

In order to narrow down the cause of this issue and resolve it, please refer to the following steps. After completing each step, please check the result again on the Windows Update website.

NOTE: Some third party programs can affect the Windows Update service. If you are running any third party applications such as Spyblocker, Internet or web accelerators, programs designed to boost the speed of the Internet connection, security or anti-virus programs (Norton, McAfee, etc.) I recommend we temporarily disable or shut them down and then try accessing Windows Update later. Please understand that we are disabling these programs only for the purpose of troubleshooting and we can re-enable them after we finish troubleshooting.

Suggestion 1: Rename the Windows Update Softwaredistribution folder

=====================================================

This problem may occur if the Windows Update Software distribution folder has been corrupted. We can refer to the following steps to rename this folder. Please note that the folder will be re-created the next time we visit the Windows Update site.

1. Close all the open windows.

2. Click the "Start" Button, click "All programs", and click "Accessories".

3. Right-click "Command Prompt" and click "Run as administrator".

4. In "Administrator: Command Prompt" window, type in "net stop WuAuServ" (without the quotes) and press Enter.

Note: Please look at the cmd window and make sure it says that it was successfully stopped before renaming the folder. However, if it fails, please let me know before performing any further steps and include any error messages you may have received.

5. Click the "Start" Button, in the "Start Search" box, type in "%windir%" (without the quotes) and press Enter.

6. In the opened folder, look for the folder named "SoftwareDistribution".

7. Right-click on the folder, select Rename and type "SDold" (without the quotes) to rename this folder.

8. While still in the "Administrator: Command Prompt" window, type the command "net start WuAuServ" (without the quotes) in the opened window to restart the Windows Updates service.

Note: Please look at the cmd window and make sure it says that it was successfully started. However, if it failed, please let me know before performing any further steps and include any error messages you may have received.

After that, let's access the Windows Update website to check if we are able to get updates this time. If not, let's proceed to Suggestion 2.

Suggestion 2: Remove the incorrect COMPONENTS key

=========================================

Before we go any further, let's backup the registry key first.

1. Click "Start", type REGEDIT in the Start Search bar and press Enter.

2. Select "My Computer" (the root node) on the left pane, under the "File" menu, click "Export", under Export, choose "All Export" range, and select "Desktop" in the Save in box and type "backup" as the File Name. Click "Save".

Please Note: If any unexpected issue happens, we can restore the registry key simply by double-clicking the backup.reg file.

3. Still in "Registry Editor", locate the following Registry batches by clicking the PLUS (+) sign

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\COMPONENTS

4. Check if these three values exist under the COMPONENTS key:

PendingXmldentifier

NextQueueEntryIndex

AdvancedInstallersNeedResolving

5. If so, delete them.

6. Quit "Registry Editor".

After completing the above steps, please restart the computer and try to run Windows Update again.

it's not that you have 4 gigs of memory, I have two gigs and get the same error

my guess is another update is still downloading or vista thinks it's still downloading and windows won't search for future updates until the one that download is resolved

further, I am guessing again this is a windows defender update problem

To post a comment on "What is Error 8000FFFF when I try to install a Windows Vista Update?", please return to that article's main page.