Quick note: The client had removed WSUS from their SBS 2011 server – don’t ask!
When trying to run Windows Update after removing WSUS from their SBS 2011 Server, our client received the following error in Windows Update: 80072EFD.
The 80072EFD error is a “network issue” error – ie, the server cannot find the update server. This is obvious considering the client removed WSUS from their SBS 2011 Server but the uninstall of WSUS did not remove stale registry entries.
A quick look in the system registry found that the server was indeed pointing to itself for automatic updates – aha!
** BEFORE PROCEEDING, MAKE SURE TO BACKUP THE FOLLOWING KEY “HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate” **
To fix the 80072EFD error on SBS 2008 / SBS 2011, do the following:
- Click Start, then RUN, type regedit and hit ok
- Browse to the following key: “HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate” **
- Delete the entire key.
- Click start again, then run and this time type services.msc and hit ok.
- Scroll down to the bottom and right click on “Windows Update” and hit restart.
- Check for automatic updates again
- Windows updates should be working again.
If the above method does not fix your 80072EFD error on Windows Update, please feel free to contact us further on 014852222 for further assistance.