I've just reinstalled my main home-office workstation and Windows Update started to fail after I installed Microsoft Office. The specific error-code is 8024402F.
I tried all sorts of suggested fixes online:
- reboot (MANY times!)
- ran WindowsUpdateDiagnostics tool
- ran System File Checker (SFC)
- Reset the content of the Catroot2 folder
There were other more-involved fixes, too, but I wanted to avoid them if at all possible. I mean- this was a brand-new install so how could any system files have gotten corrupted? I hadn't had crashes or other errors before this point.
Solution
The key was that Windows Update was configured for both Windows and Microsoft app updates. I went into 'Change Settings' and unchecked the option to update Microsoft apps -- i.e., Office -- and the problem went away. Honestly, the only Microsoft app I have installed is Outlook 2003 so I'm not expecting any updates. And, apparently, there's something about how Office 2003 registered itself that confused/broke that Microsoft Update feature.
