SBS 2008 / 2011 Windows Update Error 80072EFD Automatic Updates

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” **

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Microsoft says no to SBS 2012

Microsoft recently announced that the Windows Server 2012 editions will not be seeing a “Small Business Server Edition” –  they have simplified the licensing.  Basically, there will only be four editions – Datacenter, Standard, Essentials and Foundation. For more details, see Microsoft’s post on the official site and also check out the licensing datasheet.

There is also an FAQ available with most of the common questions answered. Specifically, I would point to Q33 because this will sign the end of an era with Windows Small Business Server.

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