This thread is a little bit confusing especially for people looking for help. So I have made a complete guide with all tips and steps which have to be performed to restore access to Microsoft Update web site and are working for me. Of course at your own risk without any guarantee!
And just to clarify: I am not the author or contributor of these patches and tools. I am a user and have examined my problems while restoring MU in Windows XP. This guide is the result of my examinations to help other users. Of course I did some modifications due to the fact that some patches don't work properly or something is missing. If you want improvements of these tools and patches, please contact the authors!
Complete guide for restoring Microsoft Update in IE
To be successful in restoring of access to MU web site, you have to keep the order of following steps. Please, do not change this order!
1. Check BIOS and Windows date and time incl. correct time zone. Perform a time sync!
2. If you have used "WSUS server" in combination with "WUMT" in the past remove it completely by "Remove_wsus.cmd". This batch file does not work properly, so you have to remove this registry key manually: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate. You can let "Remove_wsus.cmd" perform this by adding following line (without quotes): "reg delete "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate" /f". Start Automatic Update service. In system panel Automatic Update may not be shown greyed out.
3. Go to Windows Services. Three system services are absolutely important for MU: bits, wuauserv and cryptsvc. These services should have been started and set to automatic.
4. Configure Internet Explorer. Internet Zone to standard, Trusted Zone to high with only these three urls related to MU: http://www.update.microsoft.com, https://www.update.microsoft.com and http://update.microsoft.com. Credits to @maile3241 and @AstroSkipper. Go to Internet Explorer Options, Advanced. Check if TLS 1.2 is enabled. Uncheck entry "Check for server certificate revocation".
5. Before installing updates apply "PosReady.reg" if not already done.
6. Install these four updates KB4467770, KB4019276, KB4493435, KB942288-V3. Credits to @maile3241.
7. Apply "Tls 1.2.reg". Credits to @maile3241
8. Execute "rootsupd.exe".
9. Install the latest Windows Update Agent 7.6. It's version 7.6.7600.256. Download link:
http://download.windowsupdate.com/windowsupdate/redist/standalone/7.6.7600.320/WindowsUpdateAgent-7.6-x86.exe
10. Install "ProxHTTPSProxy". Download link: https://i430vx.net/files/XP/ProxHTTPSProxyMII_REV3d_PY344.7z, credits to @heinoganda.
Here you have to edit the config file "config.ini". Under section [SSL No-Verify] I added fe2.update.microsoft.com and deleted update.microsoft.com under sections [SSL Pass-Thru] and [BYPASS URL]. This is working for me.
11. Download and install one of these packages:
an English all in one version, credits to @Windows7fan from MDL, @xpandvistafan, @maile3241 and @AstroSkipper from MSFN: https://drive.google.com/u/0/uc?id=1z5NGORov8OS7iBkoFVsvWOTOE1_LCjoQ&export=download
or a German all in one version, based on version above, modified and updated by @AstroSkipper: https://www.mediafire.com/file/0y1zmwv8z4lch9s/Restore_WU_XP_DE.7z/file. Credits to @Windows7fan from MDL, of course.
Here you have to check if "install.cmd" did its job properly i.e. all commands in "install.cmd" should have been performed completely. Additionally you have to verify the existence of patched "wuaueng.dll" in both folders system32 and system32\dllcache in form of a binary comparison.. Be aware of SFC which tries to restore an original old version of this file! After patching restart your computer and recheck! Verify if really all registry entries have been added.i
All bold files mentioned here are in these all in one versions included. They can be installed manually (all registry entries of "install.cmd" have to be added manually too) or automatically by applying "install.cmd".
12. If you have problems in configuring ProxHTTPSProxy, or you get error code 0x80072f8f while trying to access MU web site, have a look in my thread:
13. Use "CAupdater" or "Certificate Updater 1.6" to update your root certificates. Download link of Certificate Updater 1.6 can be found here:
14. If the button "Check for updates" doesn't work on MU, close Internet Explorer, open MU from Start Menu again and in most cases it will load successfully.
15. If you have a fresh installation or a reinstallation of Windows XP, it seems to be necessary to install MU ActiveX Control manually because it won't be downloaded automatically any longer. Without any confirmation by me (no opportunity to check it), here is a guide how you can do that. Credits to @maile3241:
16. If on MU web page error code 0x80072F78 appears, turn off your firewall temporarily. If MU is working now, add the program "wuauClt.exe" into the exception list of your firewall and turn your firewall back on. In any case ProxHTTPSProxy or HTTPSProxy must not be blocked by your firewall. Same for Internet Explorer, of course.
If on MU web page other error codes appear, rename the windows folder "SoftwareDistribution" to "SoftwareDistribution.old" and let MU generate a fresh one. Maybe you have to disable a "HTTPS scanning" feature of your security software temporarily or make exclusions for MU related sites.
17. Do not use the same "DataStore.edb" in "SoftwareDistribution" for WSUS server/WUMT and MU web version. I have two DataStore.edb files, one for WSUS server and one for MU. One for all doesn't work in my system.
18. Use only http-links to open MU in IE. Direct link is http://fe2.update.microsoft.com/microsoftupdate/v6/default.aspx?ln=en or http://fe2.update.microsoft.com/microsoftupdate/v6/default.aspx?ln=en&g_sconsumersite=1
19. MU is only working if ProxHTTPSProxy is enabled.
20. For testing I add a link of my working ProxHTTPSProxy's config.ini: https://www.mediafire.com/file/vr1klatuzjh6v5c/ProxHTTPSProxy_-_config.ini/file
21. If completing all of these steps didn't help you at all, even after repeated execution, you may have a rather general problem relating to MU in your Windows XP installation. In this case you can try to manually reset Windows Update components. Here is my post how you can do that:
After that kind of reset I recommend to perform all steps once again (from step 1 to 20 inclusive). Of course, some steps won't be necessary any more but checking which to perform or not will cost a lot of time, therefore senseless. Although I am not a friend of automatisms, I also offer a tool here to perform this reset of Microsoft or Windows Update automatically. Anyway, I recommend to backup your system partition completely at first.
This tool called Reset Windows Update Tool (Script) is said to be working properly, but it has not been tested by me, so no guarantee of success and use at your own risk.
The last XP compatible version is 10.5.3.7:
https://www.mediafire.com/file/k48ll6e41eypogy/ResetWUEng10.5.3.7.zip/file
and a less recent version 10.5.3.4 with a help file included:
https://www.mediafire.com/file/wl0yrq98me8dfkj/ResetWUEng10.5.3.4.zip/file
22. If unfortunately none of all these 21 steps helped you, then you should presumably think about a complete reinstallation of Windows XP.
I did all these steps (except steps 21 and 22) and for me MU is working flawlessly in my Windows XP Professional system.
For further detailed instructions and missing files perform a search in this thread and enjoy the screenshots we all have uploaded!
If you enjoyed this guide or maybe you found it interesting and helpful, I would be pleased about any reaction by liking or upvoting.
Greetings from Germany,
AstroSkipper
PS: This guide will no longer be maintained. It will stay here just for historical purpose. The new, maintained and up-to-date version can be found here: