How to Fix Windows Update Error 80246001

Are you getting an 80246001 error code whilst trying to install the latest Windows Update?

Microsoft rolls out updates on their Windows operating system every now and then. While this is an excellent feature for an operating system to have regular updates, it can also cause problems when the update procedure doesn’t go smoothly. 

There have been reports from both Windows 10 and Windows 7 users that they are experiencing an 80246001 error code while updating their operating system. Now, there could be a few reasons as to why this kind of issue occurs — broken Windows update components, malware, system corruption, or even problems relating to the actual update. 

Today, we are going to show you a few methods that you can perform to try and fix the Windows update error 80246001 on your computer.

Let’s get started. 

• 1. Run the Windows Update Troubleshooter. 
• 2. Perform an SFC Scan on Your Computer. 
• 3. Run DISM Scan on Your Computer. 
• 4. Install Windows Update Manually. 
• 5. Run Microsoft Safety Scanner.
• 6. Reset All Windows Update Components.

1. Run the Windows Update Troubleshooter. 

The first thing that you can do when you are having issues updating the current version of Windows is to use its built-in troubleshooting tool. 

With the increasing reports of various problems occurring for users, Microsoft has since then added a ‘Windows Update Troubleshooter’ feature that can help users in fixing issues related to Windows updates. 

To use the Windows update troubleshooter, check out the steps below:

1. On your computer, press on the Windows Key + R to open the Run Command Box.
2. After that, type control.exe /name Microsoft.Troubleshooting and click OK.

3. Next, inside the Troubleshooting tab, scroll down and click on Windows Update to expand its options menu.
4. Lastly, click on Run the troubleshooter and follow the on-screen prompts to start the scan.

Now, after the scan has completed, click on the Apply this Fix button if the troubleshooter has come up with a viable solution to the problem. After applying the fix, try updating your Windows operating system once again to see if the error code 80246001 would still occur. 

However, if the error code still occurs when you try to update Windows, you can proceed to the next method below to try and fix the issue. 

2. Perform an SFC Scan on Your Computer. 

When you are having problems installing updates on Windows, it is possible that some of the system files may have some problems. 

If Windows system files are corrupted, particularly files related to Windows update function, then it is likely that you would encounter errors when performing a system update. 

To fix this, you can try using the SFC tool on Windows, which effectively scans for any problems relating to system files and automatically repairs it for you.

1. First, press on the Windows Key + S on your computer and type Command Prompt. 
2. After that, click on Run as an Administrator to open the Command Prompt with administrative permissions. 

3. Lastly, inside the CMD, type sfc /scannow and hit Enter to initiate the scan.

Now, wait for the system file check to complete and restart your computer. After restarting your computer, try installing the Windows update once again to see if the error code would still occur on your system. 

3. Run DISM Scan on Your Computer.

DISM scan is another built-in tool that comes with Windows that is useful in repairing broken and corrupt system files on your computer. 

However, instead of actually repairing the broken files, the DISM tool downloads another copy of the file and replaces the corrupted one. Now one thing worth mentioning is that it is important that you have a working internet connection before proceeding with the DISM scan on your computer, as this will help the tool to effectively lookup the working copies of the files to be replaced.

To use the DISM scan tool on your computer, follow the steps below:

1. On your computer, press on the Windows Key + R to open the Run Command Box.
2. After that, type CMD and hit Enter to open Command Prompt. 

3. Lastly, inside the Command Prompt, type DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth and hit Enter to start the process.

Once the scan is finished, restart your computer and try updating Windows once again to see if the Windows update error 80246001 would still occur. 

4. Install Windows Update Manually. 

If you are having problems updating Windows using the built-in update tool inside Windows settings, you can always try installing the Windows update manually. To do this, you would need to download the update file manually and install it yourself. 

Check out the steps below to guide you through the process:

1. On your computer, open your browser and go to Microsoft Update Catalog’s website.
2. Next, search for the update number that you are having problems installing on your computer. 
3. After that, download the update from the website and wait for it to finish. 
4. Now, go to your Downloads folder and open the folder containing the Windows update.
5. Lastly, right-click on the DFU.inf file and click on Install. 

Wait for the installation to complete and restart your computer. Now, use if for a couple of minutes and observe if your system is working normally after manually updating it. 

However, if you are still encountering the error code even when manually updating your operating system, you can try doing the next method below. 

5. Run Microsoft Safety Scanner. 

Another method that you can do to try and fix the issue with updating your operating system is to use the Microsoft Safety Scanner. 

It is possible that some of your system files that are related to the Windows update function got infected by viruses and malware. In this case, you can use Microsoft Safety Scanner which is effective at removing malware from Windows files and components. 

You can follow the step-by-step procedure below to guide you through the process:

1. On your keyboard, press on the Windows Key to open the Start menu. 
2. After that, click on the Power button to open the Power Options menu. 
3. While holding down the Shift key on your keyboard, click on the Restart button to force your computer to boot in the Recovery menu.

4. Now, wait for your computer to restart and show the Recovery menu.
5. Inside the Recovery menu, click on Troubleshoot.

6. Once you’re inside the Troubleshoot tab, click on Advanced Options.
7. Next, click on Startup Settings and press F5 on your keyboard to boot Windows in Safe Mode with Networking.
8. After booting into Safe Mode with Networking, go to Microsoft’s Official Download site and download the Microsoft Safety Scanner on your computer.

9. Wait for the download to complete, go to the Downloads folder, and open the MSERT.exe file. Now, click on Yes to grant administrative access to the scan tool.
10. Lastly, follow the on-screen prompts to begin the scan process on your system files.

After running the Safety Scanner, reboot your computer normally and try updating your operating system to see if the Windows update error 80246001 would still occur on your computer. 

6. Reset All Windows Update Components. 

If none of the methods above worked in fixing the issue with Windows update, it is possible that system components related to Windows update got corrupted or encountered a temporary glitch which causes the error code when updating Windows. 

To fix this, you can try manually restarting all Windows update components on your computer. Check out the steps below to guide you through the process. 

1. On your computer, press on the Windows Key + R to open the Run Command Box.
2. After that, type CMD and hit Enter to open Command Prompt. 
3. Now, enter the following commands inside the Command Prompt. 
   • net stop wuauserv and hit Enter.
   • net stop cryptSvc and hit Enter.
   • net stop bits and hit Enter. 
   • net stop msiserver and hit Enter. 
4. Once you’re done entering the commands above, type ren C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution SoftwareDistribution.old and hit Enter. 
5. Next, type ren C:\Windows\System32\catroot2 Catroot2.old and hit Enter. 
6. Lastly, restart the Windows update components by entering the following commands.
   • net start wuauserv and hit Enter.
   • net start cryptSvc and hit Enter.
   • net start bits and hit Enter. 
   • net start msiserver and hit Enter. 

After restarting Windows update components, reboot your computer and try updating Windows once again to see if the issue would still occur on your computer. 

This ends our guide on how to fix the Windows update error 80246001. If you come across other methods on how to solve this kind of issue on the Windows operating system, kindly share it in the comment section below, and we would be glad to give you credit once we update this article. 

If this guide helped you, please share it. 🙂