AstroSkipper

@Dave-H Due to the fact we have to check what else you have missed check following items: Tls 1.2.reg was applied successfully. Important is reg key [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\WinHttp] "DefaultSecureProtocols"=dword:00000a80 Check if still correct patched wuaueng.dll version exists in both folder system32 and system32\dllcache. If you have SFC enabled Windows is able to swap it by an other one. In my system SFC is disabled. Be absolutely sure you have taken the suitable config.ini for HTTPSProxy. I have provided two of them, one for HTTPSProxy and one for ProxHTTPSProxy. Check Trusted Zone if only the three provided urls related to Microsoft exist. That's very important. I've already mentioned this several times but no statement from you. Check your Internet Zone too, maybe lower restrictions i.e. lower security level. I've already mentioned this several times but no statement from you. Clear SSL State and Personal information once again. I've already mentioned it above. Did you try to access MU by disabling MalwareBytes and firewall completely? I've already mentioned this but no statement from you. I do this list for you to be sure you haven't missed one of them. When you reply to this do it in the way item 1 checked and so on. So I know what is done and what has to be done. If none of necessary steps was missed you would be able to access MU without any problems. So what the hell is missing? Check it!

I think you mean registry key it isn't a directory. But thanks for tip! We have to check all again and again and again....

Now do this once again: And what is about your time server?

Newer browsers do not need HTTPSProxy or ProxhttpsProxy. I use these tools only for accessing web sites using IE or IE engine. Some programs use IE looking for updates or providing other services. Same for email clients. Most of the time HTTPSProxy is disabled in my system.

Of course but I don't trust such features anyway and in case of Malwarebytes Premium for Windows 3.5.1.2522 even more. Your log looks fine until warning and error code 0x801901f6 appears, a cold comfort unfortunately. Please check if my provided config.ini is used and check Trusted Zone if only the three provided urls related to Microsoft exist. Check your Internet Zone too, maybe lower restrictions i.e. lower security level.

@Dave-H Ok, sill same error. The good news error code 0x80072f8f solved the bad you stay at error code 0x801901f6. In which way did you disable Malwarebytes? Can you restart computer without any modules in RAM related to Malwarebytes? Just to exclude that Malwarebytes is not involved. You can do that with Sysinternals Autostarts.

@Dave-H Ok, thanks for more details! But I don't know your last received error code. You didn't mention. One thing is clear. Your system has become more similar to mine which can be seen in your log: 2022-01-30 18:12:42:328 1864 cd8 Misc = Module: D:\WIN-NT\system32\wuaueng.dll 2022-01-30 18:12:42:328 1864 cd8 Service ************* 2022-01-30 18:12:42:328 1864 cd8 Service ** START ** Service: Service startup 2022-01-30 18:12:42:328 1864 cd8 Service ********* 2022-01-30 18:12:42:343 1864 cd8 Agent * WU client version 7.6.7600.256 2022-01-30 18:12:42:343 1864 cd8 Agent * Base directory: D:\WIN-NT\SoftwareDistribution 2022-01-30 18:12:42:343 1864 cd8 Agent * Access type: No proxy 2022-01-30 18:12:42:343 1864 cd8 Agent * Network state: Connected But here is your problem: 2022-01-30 18:14:23:468 576 65c Misc WARNING: DownloadFileInternal failed for https://www.update.microsoft.com/v11/3/legacy/windowsupdate/selfupdate/wuident.cab: error 0x801901f6 So your error code still seems to be 0x801901f6. My guess is that something interferes the download of wuident.cab. Disable Malwarebytes and your internal firewall before accessing MU. Then provide error code and log! I think we are close to solve it.

@Dave-H Ok, reading instructions and manuals before using a new program is mandatory. In program folder of HTTPSProxy you have to pull HTTPSProxy.exe on top of launcher.exe using left mouse button to start program in SysTray. And I hope you have installed only one HTTPSProxy CA and cleaned up your Certs folder. Furthermore update cacert.pem by clicking entry in SysTray menu. But I need more answers. I asked you a lot. What about your firewall?. Check out all!. Your screenshot of proxycfg looks as it should be. That's fine. What's going on with your Windows Update Log file? And so on. Inform me completely if you want get rid of these errors! And please upload a readable log file!

@Dave-H I found a comment to error code 0x801901F6 I think you have connection errors due to proxy misconfiguration or incorrect use. Try following after command line prompt: proxycfg If HTTPSProxy is disabled it should look like this: https://imgur.com/od7GPHJ "Direktzugriff <kein Proxyserver>" means "Direct access <no proxy server>". If it doesn't look like that then enter proxycfg -u And check your HOSTS file to make sure you don't have any static IP entries for the Microsoft/Windows Update web site listed in the file. Here what Germans say if they get in trouble translated for you: It always gets worse before it gets better.

@Dave-H Here two screenshots how HTTPSProxy has to look if it is switched on: https://imgur.com/UhVxB46 https://imgur.com/t1dtyPZ Does it look like that?

Try it! And clear SSL cache and personal information once again! And I can't read your WindowsUpdate.log. Check it and upload it again! There is something misconfigured either in config.ini (do you use my provided config.ini for HTTPSProxy?) or in IE. Why is your WindowsUpdate.log unreadable? p.s.: Use a taskmanager to check if nothing interferes your connection to MU. I use Process Hacker, in my opinion the best.

Just to clarify Microsoft Update Search doesn't work in your Windows XP system due to never ending process. Is that right?

In the past I had similar problems but thinking the search is forever never getting a result is in most cases wrong. Such searches can last more than an hour. But no one wants to wait for such a long time so they will be abandoned by user. My tip often helps to avoid such long searches.

Thanks for your tip! In my system no interfering or problems detected. By the way did my tip help you?

@Dave-H Here are my advanced IE settings. Please check! https://imgur.com/83qHpbd And check if HTTPSProxy and IE are not blocked by Malwarebytes Premium and your firewall. Make exclusions or better disable them temporarily when accessing MU. By the way which firewall do you use? Built-in or a firewall software? My security combination is Avast Premier and Windows 10 Firewall Control XP. The firewall feature in Avast is not installed. Web protection temporarily disabled. Malwarebytes Premium for Windows 3.5.1.2522 (official last version for XP) didn't work properly in my system (very buggy!) so I went back to Malwarebytes Anti-Malware 2.2.1.1043 for on demand scan which works fine.

Thanks! Good find. Works flawlessly.

@Dave-H Although our ProxHTTPSProxy versions are different here are the equivalent lines of my Windows Update Log if ProxHTTPSProxy is doing its job: 2022-01-29 19:24:30:015 1128 b1c Misc =========== Logging initialized (build: 7.6.7600.256, tz: +0100) =========== 2022-01-29 19:24:30:140 1128 b1c Misc = Process: C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe 2022-01-29 19:24:30:140 1128 b1c Misc = Module: C:\WINDOWS\system32\wuaueng.dll 2022-01-29 19:24:30:015 1128 b1c Service ************* 2022-01-29 19:24:30:140 1128 b1c Service ** START ** Service: Service startup 2022-01-29 19:24:30:140 1128 b1c Service ********* 2022-01-29 19:24:30:875 1128 b1c Agent * WU client version 7.6.7600.256 2022-01-29 19:24:30:875 1128 b1c Agent * Base directory: C:\WINDOWS\SoftwareDistribution 2022-01-29 19:24:30:890 1128 b1c Agent * Access type: No proxy 2022-01-29 19:24:31:078 1128 b1c Agent * Network state: Connected And you can see MU recognized No proxy.

I want to compare your system to mine. Without HTTPSProxy I can't do that. AFAIK your connection error is related to synchronizaton and you've got other setting than me. We have to do trial and error. For comparing systems they have to have same structure. And our logs speak a clear language. We have different proxy settings. Beyond that MU is connecting to a https version of fe2.update.microsoft.com although you've loaded http version. You can see this in the log. If you want to solve your problem perform the steps above. And you know you can have installed both HTTPSProxy and ProxHTTPSProxy. They have different certificates and both are portable. None of them will harm your system. I use both and they are working properly. The only thing you have to take notice of is not runnig both in RAM at once. Due to the fact that I have installed ProxHTTPSProxy Rev 3d we can't compare these versions and my test partition has still to be installed.

@Dave-H I have compared your log to mine. In your log you can see: 2022-01-29 12:28:25:312 1860 cc4 Misc =========== Logging initialized (build: 7.6.7600.256, tz: -0000) =========== 2022-01-29 12:28:25:312 1860 cc4 Misc = Process: D:\WIN-NT\System32\svchost.exe 2022-01-29 12:28:25:312 1860 cc4 Misc = Module: D:\WIN-NT\system32\wuaueng.dll 2022-01-29 12:28:25:312 1860 cc4 Service ************* 2022-01-29 12:28:25:312 1860 cc4 Service ** START ** Service: Service startup 2022-01-29 12:28:25:312 1860 cc4 Service ********* 2022-01-29 12:28:25:343 1860 cc4 Agent * WU client version 7.6.7600.256 2022-01-29 12:28:25:343 1860 cc4 Agent * Base directory: D:\WIN-NT\SoftwareDistribution 2022-01-29 12:28:25:343 1860 cc4 Agent * Access type: Named proxy 2022-01-29 12:28:25:343 1860 cc4 Agent * Default proxy: https=127.0.0.1:8079 2022-01-29 12:28:25:343 1860 cc4 Agent * Default proxy bypass: <local> 2022-01-29 12:28:25:343 1860 cc4 Agent * Network state: Connected In my log you see a difference: 2022-01-29 14:26:34:093 1128 b38 Misc =========== Logging initialized (build: 7.6.7600.256, tz: +0100) =========== 2022-01-29 14:26:34:109 1128 b38 Misc = Process: C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe 2022-01-29 14:26:34:109 1128 b38 Misc = Module: C:\WINDOWS\system32\wuaueng.dll 2022-01-29 14:26:34:093 1128 b38 Service ************* 2022-01-29 14:26:34:109 1128 b38 Service ** START ** Service: Service startup 2022-01-29 14:26:34:109 1128 b38 Service ********* 2022-01-29 14:26:35:140 1128 b38 Agent * WU client version 7.6.7600.256 2022-01-29 14:26:35:140 1128 b38 Agent * Base directory: C:\WINDOWS\SoftwareDistribution 2022-01-29 14:26:35:234 1128 b38 Agent * Access type: No proxy 2022-01-29 14:26:35:578 1128 b38 Agent * Network state: Connected Here are my IE LAN-Settings: HTTPSProxy switched off: https://imgur.com/TRquakL HTTPSProxy switched on: https://imgur.com/w19OXo2 https://imgur.com/iuu80if So switch to HTTPSProxy and do the same settings. You can do it by clicking Inet_CurUser_ProxySettings.reg Switching on and off by SysTray icon. Important first screenshot. Automatic Configuration both options are unchecked. And check your hosts file if it is clean related to MU. And in background ProxHTTPSProxy may not be loaded. Post your Windows Update Log once again.

@Dave-H Well, now we are at the same time and your Windows update Agent works as it should be. Microsoft Update error code 0x80072F8F means ERROR_INTERNET_SECURE_FAILURE ErrorClockWrong. Maybe this can help you: Check in your registry if the key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate doesn't exist otherwise delete it. Open system panel, click Automatic Updates and check if it is not greyed out. Then select Turn off Automatic Updates. Open Internet Explorer on the Tools menu, click Internet Options. Under Advanced check if check for server certificate revocation is unselected. Then click the Content tab. Under Certificates, click Clear SSL State. Click OK when you receive the message that the SSL cache was successfully cleared. Under Personal information, click AutoComplete. Under Clear AutoComplete history, click Clear Forms. Click OK when you are prompted to confirm the operation. Click Clear Passwords. Click OK when you are prompted to clear all previously saved passwords, and then click OK two more times. Close Internet Explorer. Start ProxHTTPSProxy and then Internet Explorer. Try to access Microsoft Update one more time. Post your Windows Update Log again.

Yeah, in your posted link there is a second link to a Microsoft site https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/archive/blogs/win7/windows-update-error-80072f8f and setting "time.windows.com" as time server was the recommendation. Anyway try Windows time service for a next short time and try other time servers. I use "ptbtime2.ptb.de" or use one located in your country. Your log shows you have synchronization errors. The good news your WU Agent works properly we have fixed it. The "WARNING: Unable to establish connection to the service. (hr=80004002)" is blown away.

@Dave-H Damn! Quick view of your Windows Update Log shows your Windows Update Agent is working correctly now. That's fine. Ok, which time server do you use for time synchronization? And is your computer part of a domain?

Here you can have a look: https://ryanvm.net/forum/viewforum.php?f=25&sid=56abd568c7cb0f44bc3764c209527f9a

Hi, try looking for old Windows Update Packs for Windows XP and extract them. Maybe some of these updates are included. I have nearly all updates since Service Pack SP3 but only for German version of Windows XP. Some of your requested updates are very old so I don't think they are offered via Microsoft Update but. you can give it a try:

@Dave-H After performing all steps from post do the following steps: 13. Install Restore_WU_XP_2003 again. No reboot at this time. 14. Do following steps of Restore_WU_XP_2003's install.cmd manually: adding registry entries by importing via reg file if necessary and injecting wuaueng.dll in the case you find wrong version in folders system32 or system32\dllcache. 15. Reboot your computer. 16. Switch on ProxHTTPSProxy. 17. Try accessing MU again. 18. Post your Windows Update Log. Hope it will work at last.