Error: A problem on your computer is preventing updates from being downloaded

Posted by Mitch on Nov 26, 2007 under Windows Tips, Windows XP Tips | 262 Comments

You get an error message when trying to install Windows Updates on your Windows XP or Windows 2000 computer.

Problem: A problem on your computer is preventing updates from being downloaded or installed.

Here’s how to solve the problem:

1. Click Start > Run and type regsvr32 wuapi.dll

2. When you receive the message that the DLL has been registered, click OK and perform the same steps for each of the following commands under Start > Run:

regsvr32 wuaueng1.dll
regsvr32 wuaueng.dll
regsvr32 wucltui.dll
regsvr32 wups2.dll
regsvr32 wups.dll
regsvr32 wuweb.dll

262 Responses to “Error: A problem on your computer is preventing updates from being downloaded”

valery says:

April 29, 2010 at 12:40 pm

Did everything you said but it still gibes the same message *A problem on your computer is preventing updates from being downloaded or installed. Any other suggestions?

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Janos Marki says:

December 10, 2009 at 9:13 am

Thanks Simon,

your info did it for me, too – all the other stuff (renaming the SoftwareDistribution dir with the services stopped, re-registering the update .dll-s did not work for me). The problem was an update (KB, which -once done manually, actually GAVE an error message- failed to backup one of the .dll-s (no idea why). Once that step was skipped, it applied that patch, and since then, the updates worked fine.

Best regards,
Janos

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