Hello, I've been a member since the WinMag days and I learned so much over the years that I rarely visit with problems.

Ever since the .net 3.5/ 4.8 win 10 update (ver 2004 x64) I made in July, all of my windows 10 related updates have failed. I get an 0x800f081f error. I have gone down many paths to correct it.

One of these paths has me rename the SoftwareDistribution folder and catroot2 folder after stopping several processes including cryptsvc. This is where I find an issue. catroot2 will not allow change because "the folder is open in another program". I drill down to a file and that cannot be changed because "is opened in Cryptographic Services".

I stopped cryptsvc successfully in running cmd as admin. I made sure that it shows stopped in Services.

The three updates in catroot2 are all dated 7-15-2020 which includes:

1) .net 3.5 4.8 update
2) intel graphic driver update
3) adobe flash update

I have removed the driver by uninstalling the intel adapter
I have uninstalled adobe flash
I tried to manually update .net 3.5 4.8 update to the new one and I get an error that it is already updated. I haven't found any instructions on how to remove or uninstall prior Win 10 updates. I can only "disable" .net 3.5/4.8 - which I did.

I am thinking that the files erroneously have been set to open and will not close for new updates to install. The error code description is:

This error code can occur when an alternative installation source is specified and one of the following conditions is true:
• The location that is specified by the path does not contain the files that are required to install the feature.
• The user who tries to install the feature does not have at least READ access to the location and to the files.
• The set of installation files is corrupted, incomplete, or invalid for the version of Windows that you are running.
• To fix this problem, make sure that the full path of the source is correct (x:\sources\sxs) and that you have at least Read access to the location. To do this, try to access the source directly from the affected computer. Verify that the installation source contains a valid and complete set of files. If the problem persists, try to use a different installation source.

I don't think access can be obtained as it is set to open even when the cryptsvc is turned off.

BTW, none of the folders or files in the catroot2 directory are encrypted nor compressed.

I have also run the system file checker with no problems.

Any other ideas?

TIA

Have you tried the Windows Update Troubleshooter? Steps in pictures below.

If that doesn't work, try the Windows Update Assistant.
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/3159635/windows-10-update-assistant

Hi TTech,

That's for the info. I downloaded the Update Tool earlier, but the file name scared me from execution: Windows10Upgrade

I don't know why they didn't name it Update.

Anyway, held my breath and launched it. It took about an hour - which scared me even more. I just knew I was getting a clean install with my data files intact.

But, that seems to have forced the 2H20 update without changing anything - time will tell on that one.

An update to .net 3.5/4.8 was required after that. I think that update in July was the problem.

Thanks again for getting back to me and making me take a second look at the update tool.

:) Priscilla