Error Code 0x80072F8F when searching for available updates on Windows Update and Microsoft Update sites

Microsoft Article ID: 929458

When you search for available updates on the Microsoft Windows Update Web site, you see the 0x80072F8F error in Microsoft Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, or Windows Vista.

Note The error code for Windows Vista will appear as (80072f8f)

CAUSE

This error may occur if the date and time on your computer varies too much from the valid date and time of the SSL certificates that are used by the Windows Update Web site. This causes the scan process to fail. Make sure that you verify that the time and date are accurate on your computer.

RESOLUTION

Windows Vista

To resolve this issue in Windows Vista: Change Date and Time in Windows Vista

Windows 2000, Windows XP, or Windows Server 2003

To resolve this issue in Windows 2000, in Windows XP, or in Windows Server 2003, use the following methods.

Check your date and time settings

1.	Click Start, click Settings, and then click Control Panel.
2.	Double-click the Date/Time icon.
3.	Set the date and time to the correct values if it is necessary.

Click to clear the "Check for server certificate revocation" option

1.	Start Internet Explorer.
2.	On the Tools menu, click Internet Options.
3.	Click the Advance tab.
4.	Browse down to the Security section.
5.	Click to clear Check for server certificate revocation, and then click OK.
6.	Restart the computer.

Advanced user steps: Register Softpub.dll, Wintrust.dll, Initpki.dll, and Mssip32.dl

Click Start, click Run, type regsvr32 Softpub.dll, and then click OK.

Repeat step 1 for the following files:

•	Wintrust.dll
•	Initpki.dll
•	Mssip32.dll

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