Windows 10 Update Error (0x8000ffff)

That is a generic error code.
Go to Settings>System>About.
Please tell us the build number with decimals in the next reply.

1. Is this a feature update to 1809 or some KB update? To know this -
To verify whether these are installed or not - Windows Key+I to invoke Settings > Update & Security > See which updates are getting installed. If this information is not available here > Click View installed update history to see which updates have been installed.

A. If this is a feature update to 1809 - Don't worry. You are not missing something. This is a simple matter of 1809 being not available for anybody as of now.

It was rolled out earlier but had few bugs. Windows feature update 1809 has been paused by Microsoft and currently it is being tested by Windows Insiders community.

You should not try to install 1809 at this juncture unless Microsoft re-releases it. Keep an eye on Windows Blogs to know when it will be released.

https://blogs.windows.com/

B. If this is a regular KB update - Make a note of KB number of this update.

2. Right click on Windows Start > Windows Powershell (Admin)
Type following (or copy and paste following) one by one and Enter

net stop wuauserv
net stop cryptSvc
net stop bits
net stop msiserver
Ren C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution SoftwareDistribution.old
Ren C:\Windows\System32\catroot2 Catroot2.old
net start wuauserv
net start cryptSvc
net start bits
net start msiserver

3. Type following in Windows Start Search box and hit Enter %systemroot%\Logs\CBS > Rename CBS.Log to something else.
If it doesn't allow you to rename - Type services in Windows Start Search box > Click Services > Scroll down to find the Windows Modules Installer service and double-click on it > Set its startup type to Manual > Reboot your computer
Go to C:\Windows\Logs\CBS > Rename CBS.Log > Reboot your computer > Then go back into the Services App and set Windows Modules Installer Service back to Automatic Startup (Note CBS log files contain information about windows update, SFC etc)

(Source - https://partnersupport.microsoft.com/en-us/par_...)

3. If this is a normal KB update -
You can download the updates from Microsoft Catalog and update manually. Switch off your internet before you start updating. Disable any third party antivirus which you should enable after the update. Search for relevant KB in the Catalog.

Microsoft Catalog - https://www.catalog.update.microsoft.com/Home.aspx

Hello,

See if this fix helps you:

https://www.kapilarya.com/there-were-some-probl...

Let us know if this helps!

Note: Included link(s) in this reply refers to non-Microsoft website(s). The page(s) appears to be providing accurate, legitimate and safe information. Watch out for ads on the site(s) that may advertise products frequently classified as a PUP (Potentially Unwanted Products). Thoroughly research any product advertised on the site before you decide to download and install it.

That is a generic error code.
Go to Settings>System>About.
Please tell us the build number with decimals in the next reply.

17134.228, 17134.345, and 17763.55.

1. Is this a feature update to 1809 or some KB update? To know this -
To verify whether these are installed or not - Windows Key+I to invoke Settings > Update & Security > See which updates are getting installed. If this information is not available here > Click View installed update history to see which updates have been installed.

A. If this is a feature update to 1809 - Don't worry. You are not missing something. This is a simple matter of 1809 being not available for anybody as of now.

It was rolled out earlier but had few bugs. Windows feature update 1809 has been paused by Microsoft and currently it is being tested by Windows Insiders community.

You should not try to install 1809 at this juncture unless Microsoft re-releases it. Keep an eye on Windows Blogs to know when it will be released.

https://blogs.windows.com/

B. If this is a regular KB update - Make a note of KB number of this update.

2. Right click on Windows Start > Windows Powershell (Admin)
Type following (or copy and paste following) one by one and Enter

net stop wuauserv
net stop cryptSvc
net stop bits
net stop msiserver
Ren C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution SoftwareDistribution.old
Ren C:\Windows\System32\catroot2 Catroot2.old
net start wuauserv
net start cryptSvc
net start bits
net start msiserver

3. Type following in Windows Start Search box and hit Enter %systemroot%\Logs\CBS > Rename CBS.Log to something else.
If it doesn't allow you to rename - Type services in Windows Start Search box > Click Services > Scroll down to find the Windows Modules Installer service and double-click on it > Set its startup type to Manual > Reboot your computer
Go to C:\Windows\Logs\CBS > Rename CBS.Log > Reboot your computer > Then go back into the Services App and set Windows Modules Installer Service back to Automatic Startup (Note CBS log files contain information about windows update, SFC etc)

(Source - https://partnersupport.microsoft.com/en-us/par_...)

4. If this is a normal KB update -
You can download the updates from Microsoft Catalog and update manually. Switch off your internet before you start updating. Disable any third party antivirus which you should enable after the update. Search for relevant KB in the Catalog.

Microsoft Catalog - https://www.catalog.update.microsoft.com/Home.aspx

1. Neither, this occurs almost immediately in 1803 and 1809 while checking for updates, before any update is found, downloaded, or installed.

2. Done, issue persists.

3. Done, issue persists and link doesn't work.

4. This is not a KB update (see #1).

Hello,

See if this fix helps you:

https://www.kapilarya.com/there-were-some-probl...

Let us know if this helps!

Note: Included link(s) in this reply refers to non-Microsoft website(s). The page(s) appears to be providing accurate, legitimate and safe information. Watch out for ads on the site(s) that may advertise products frequently classified as a PUP (Potentially Unwanted Products). Thoroughly research any product advertised on the site before you decide to download and install it.

Done, didn't help.

Fixed by disabling the "Turn off auto-restart for updates during active hours" group policy (which was enabled with the standard range 8-17) in Computer Configuration > Policies > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows Update and sometimes additionally changing active hours directly on the affected computer so as not to include the current time (thus effectively disabling it).

We had the same error 0x8000ffff when checking for updates on Windows 10 1709 domain laptops that where setup with the policy

Update Power Policy for Cart Restarts = Enabled.

As soon as we disabled above policy, check for updates run successfully.