How to fix
Windows update error 0x8007012a
on Windows

Hello. I received a new update but I cannot install it. It says "Updates failed" and it gives me an install error 0x8007012a. What can I do about this?

Windows updates are important because they are meant to fix various system bugs, security issues, and introduce new functions. When users fail to install the updates it can be quite frustrating because they could be missing out on important things. Recently, users started receiving a Windows update error 0x8007012a.

There are different ways to go about this. If it is just a simple bug, an automatic built-in Windows troubleshooter should help you. If not, there are many different things that could have gone wrong. Windows is an extremely complicated system that relies on thousands of processes running in the background to keep it running smoothly.

Windows updates could be failing to install because the OS is missing some files required by Windows Update to perform it. When an error code 0x8007012a appears, Windows cannot finish updating the operating system. Other common reasons may include incorrect user input and accidentally deleted files from the registry that now cause system malfunctions.

Another thing that could be at fault here is the Windows Update services. Sometimes they stop running properly and have to be restarted. As there are many possibilities that could be causing Windows update errors, we have a lengthy list of possible solutions. We are sure that you should be able to get it fixed with our help.

If you do not want to go through all the troubleshooting process yourself, we recommend a repair tool [d1] that can fix various Windows errors, registry[ref en-1] issues, corrupted files, BSoDs[ref en-2] automatically. It will also clear your browsers from cookies and cache[ref en-3] so you should notice an improvement in performance.

If you want to solve the Windows update error 0x8007012a manually, you can follow our guide posted below. Make sure to follow all the steps correctly.

Method 1. Run the Update Troubleshooter

• Press the Windows + X keys and go to Settings
• Go to Update and Security
• Click Troubleshooter
• Select Additional troubleshooters

• Run the Update troubleshooter
• Restart

Method 2. Check Background Intelligent Transfer services

• Press Windows + R to open the Run box
• Type in services.msc and press OK
• Double-click Background Intelligent Transfer Service
• If the Startup status lists Stopped, click Start and then click OK
• If the status is Running, right-click then select Restart

• Locate Windows Update service and double-click it
• If the Startup status lists Stopped, click Start and OK. If the status is Running, right-click, then select Restart

Method 3. Repair Corrupted System Files

Use Command Prompt commands to repair system file corruption:

• Open Command Prompt as administrator
• Use the following command and press Enter:
  sfc /scannow

• Reboot your system
• If SFC returned an error, then use the following command lines, pressing Enter after each:
  DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /CheckHealth
  DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth
  DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

Method 4. Check Disk

• Ensure that your disk is not damaged. You can perform checks using Administrative Command Prompt:
• If you are using an HDD as your main driver (where your operating system is installed - C: by default), use the following command and press Enter:
  chkdsk c: /f
• If you are using SSD, use this command:
  chkdsk c: /f /r /x
• If you receive an error, type in Y and hit Enter

• Restart your device to perform the check

Method 5. Reset every Windows Update Component

• Open Command Prompt as administrator again
• Copy and paste the following commands, pressing Enter after each:
  net stop bits
  net stop wuauserv
  net stop appidsvc
  net stop cryptsvc
  Del “%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\\Application Data\\Microsoft\\Network\\Downloader\\*.*”
  rmdir %systemroot%\\SoftwareDistribution /S /Q
  rmdir %systemroot%\\system32\\catroot2 /S /Q
  regsvr32.exe /s atl.dll
  regsvr32.exe /s urlmon.dll
  regsvr32.exe /s mshtml.dll
  netsh winsock reset
  netsh winsock reset proxy
  net start bits
  net start wuauserv
  net start appidsvc
  net start cryptsvc

• Restart your PC

Method 6. Download the Updates Manually

Whenever Windows updates fail to install automatically, you can always try doing it manually. First, you need to find out which KB number is relevant to you.

• Right-click Start button and pick Settings
• Go to Update & Security
• On the right, locate and click View update history

• From the list, note the KB number that fails to install with the error code
• Go to Microsoft Update Catalog page, type in the KB number and press Search

• Download the update and install it manually

(Note: if you are dealing with a Windows upgrade issue, make sure you also download KB4498524 and KB4515384 updates as well)

Method 7. Update via Media Creation Tool

• Download Windows 10 installation media from the official website
• Open the tool once it installed
• Agree to license terms
• Choose Upgrade this PC now

• Wait for the update to be installed