Medium Operating Systems ✓ Solution Verified by Community (0+ upvotes)

How to fix error 0x8024a000 in Windows 11

WU_E_AU_NOSERVICE: Automatic Updates service disabled.

✅ 65% success rate
👥 0+ users verified
📅 Updated: 2026-08-12
⏱️ 20 min read
Fix based on community reports and expert analysis. Last verified: 2026-08-12 · How we verify fixes
Error Code0x8024a000
Affected SystemWindows 11 (Microsoft)
DifficultyMedium
Estimated Time20 min
Requires Admin Rights⚠️ Yes
Requires Reboot🔄 Yes

Solution Steps

  1. 1 Press Windows key + R to open the Run dialog. Type 'services.msc' and press Enter. This opens the Services window, which lists all background services on your PC. We need to find the Windows Update service and check its status.
  2. 2 Scroll down to 'Windows Update' (it might be listed as 'Windows Update' or 'wuauserv'). Right-click on it and select 'Properties'. In the 'General' tab, look at the 'Startup type' drop-down. If it's set to 'Disabled', change it to 'Automatic' (or 'Automatic (Delayed Start)' if available). Then click 'Apply' and 'OK'. This tells Windows to start the service automatically every time you boot up.
  3. 3 Now, right-click on 'Windows Update' again and select 'Start'. If the service starts, great. If you get an error, it might be corrupted. In that case, we'll use the command line to fix it.
  4. 4 Press Windows key + X and select 'Terminal (Admin)' or 'Command Prompt (Admin)'. If prompted by User Account Control, click 'Yes'. This opens an elevated command prompt where we can run system repair commands.
  5. 5 Type the following commands one by one, pressing Enter after each: 'net stop wuauserv', 'net stop cryptSvc', 'net stop bits', 'net stop msiserver'. These stop the Windows Update, Cryptographic, Background Intelligent Transfer, and MSI Installer services. We stop them so we can safely rename the update cache folders.
  6. 6 Now, rename the SoftwareDistribution and catroot2 folders. Type: 'ren C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution SoftwareDistribution.old' and press Enter. Then type: 'ren C:\Windows\System32\catroot2 catroot2.old' and press Enter. These folders contain temporary update files. Renaming them forces Windows to create fresh ones, clearing any corrupted data.
  7. 7 Restart the services by typing: 'net start wuauserv', 'net start cryptSvc', 'net start bits', 'net start msiserver'. Press Enter after each. This restarts the services with the new folders.
  8. 8 Restart your PC. After rebooting, go to Settings → Windows Update and try checking for updates again. It should now work.

🔍 Didn't work? Enter your GPU and CPU for hardware-specific advice:

🔧 Still having issues?

Describe your exact problem to Error Buddy and get a personalized fix in seconds.

🛠️ Try Error Buddy — It's Free