How to fix Windows update error 0x8024a10a

The Windows Update Troubleshooter is a powerful tool that is developed by the Microsoft team with the aim to help you fix many Windows errors, among them being Windows update error 0x8024a10a. All you would need to do is to run the troubleshooter, and let it do its magic.

To run the troubleshooter, and fix this error, do follow the steps below:

1. Go to Settings and click on Update & Security;
2. Click on Troubleshoot and then on Windows Update Troubleshooter;
3. Run the tool and follow the on-screen instructions.
   
   

The currently set firewall and antivirus settings on your computer may interfere with how the Windows operating system works, or with other file(s) that are closely connected with Windows. You can start with disabling the firewall and antivirus temporarily and see if that would change anything. If the error 0x8024a10a didn't appear, open the firewall and the antivirus and reconfigure them, following respective help articles found online, if you are not sure how to reconfigure them.

To deactivate the Windows Firewall:

1. Go to the start menu and type Windows Firewall;
2. Click on Windows Firewall and then Turn Windows Firewall on or off;
3. Click on Turn off Windows Firewall (not Recommended) under Private and Public networks:
   
   

To enable the Windows Firewall:

1. Go to the start menu and type Windows Firewall;
2. Click on Windows Firewall and then Turn Windows Firewall on or off;
3. Click on Turn on Windows Firewall for both Private and Public networks;
   
   

Windows system files are under constant risk of being damaged by harmful software, unless they are protected well. As a result of such intrusions and damages, many errors, including this error can appear. Running the System File Checker tool is one way how to fix error 0x8024a10a. The SFC tool is a powerful tool developed by Microsoft that will scan and repair all the system files, provided that they can be repaired.  

To run the SFC tool, do follow the steps mentioned below:

1. Click on the start menu and type command prompt;
2. Right click on it and select Run as Administrator;
3. In the command prompt type the following command:
   sfc /scannow
   
   
4. Wait for the process to complete.

To fix error 0x8024a10a, you can fix the Windows Update components, one or some of which may be the root cause of this problem.

To reset the components, make sure that you follow the steps below, carefully:

1. Go to the start menu and type command prompt. Once it appears, right-click on it and select Run as Administrator (and type the Administrator's password, if asked).
   
   
2. Type the following commands in the same order as displayed here and press enter after you type each command:
   
   
   • net stop bits
   • net stop wuauserv
   • net stop appidsvc
   • net stop cryptsvc
     
     
3. Type the following command and then press Enter, in order to delete the qmgr*.dat files:
   
   Del "%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Application Data\Microsoft\Network\Downloader\qmgr*.dat"
   
    
4. Type the following command and press Enter:
   
   cd /d %windir%\system32
   
   
5. Type the following commands in the same order as below in order to reregister the Windows Update files and press Enter after you type each command:
   
   
   • regsvr32.exe atl.dll
   • regsvr32.exe urlmon.dll
   • regsvr32.exe mshtml.dll
   • regsvr32.exe shdocvw.dll
   • regsvr32.exe browseui.dll
   • regsvr32.exe jscript.dll
   • regsvr32.exe vbscript.dll
   • regsvr32.exe scrrun.dll
   • regsvr32.exe msxml.dll
   • regsvr32.exe msxml3.dll
   • regsvr32.exe msxml6.dll
   • regsvr32.exe actxprxy.dll
   • regsvr32.exe softpub.dll
   • regsvr32.exe wintrust.dll
   • regsvr32.exe dssenh.dll
   • regsvr32.exe rsaenh.dll
   • regsvr32.exe gpkcsp.dll
   • regsvr32.exe sccbase.dll
   • regsvr32.exe slbcsp.dll
   • regsvr32.exe cryptdlg.dll
   • regsvr32.exe oleaut32.dll
   • regsvr32.exe ole32.dll
   • regsvr32.exe shell32.dll
   • regsvr32.exe initpki.dll
   • regsvr32.exe wuapi.dll
   • regsvr32.exe wuaueng.dll
   • regsvr32.exe wuaueng1.dll
   • regsvr32.exe wucltui.dll
   • regsvr32.exe wups.dll
   • regsvr32.exe wups2.dll
   • regsvr32.exe wuweb.dll
   • regsvr32.exe qmgr.dll
   • regsvr32.exe qmgrprxy.dll
   • regsvr32.exe wucltux.dll
   • regsvr32.exe muweb.dll
   • regsvr32.exe wuwebv.dll
     
     
6. Reset the Winsock by entering the following command and pressing Enter:
   
   netsh winsock reset
   
   
7. Reset the proxy, by typing the following command:
   
   netsh winhttp reset proxy
   
   
8. Type the following commands to start the Windows components, and press Enter after you type each of them:
   
   
   • net start bits
   • net start wuauserv
   • net start appidsvc
   • net start cryptsvc
     
     
9. Update the Windows Update agent to the latest version (read this thread by Microsoft to learn how);
   
   
10. Restart the computer.
    
    

Note: If the method above didn't work, repeat the same procedure, but do the following before proceeding to step 4:

1. Rename the software distribution folders backup copies, by typing the following commands:
   
   Ren %systemroot%\SoftwareDistribution SoftwareDistribution.bak
   Ren %systemroot%\system32\catroot2 catroot2.bak
   
   
2. Reset the Windows Update and BITS services, by typing the following commands:
   
   sc.exe sdset bits D:(A;;CCLCSWRPWPDTLOCRRC;;;SY)(A;;CCDCLCSWRPWPDTLOCRSDRCWDWO;;;BA)(A;;CCLCSWLOCRRC;;;AU)(A;;CCLCSWRPWPDTLOCRRC;;;PU)
   
   sc.exe sdset wuauserv D:(A;;CCLCSWRPWPDTLOCRRC;;;SY)(A;;CCDCLCSWRPWPDTLOCRSDRCWDWO;;;BA)(A;;CCLCSWLOCRRC;;;AU)(A;;CCLCSWRPWPDTLOCRRC;;;PU)

DISM, or Deployment Image & Serving Management, is another way to fix this error. This command will identify, download and restore the corrupt system files automatically, since replacing is a long (and dangerous) process, especially if there are too many files to replace.

To run the DISM command, follow the steps below:

1. Go to the start menu, type command prompt, and once it appears in the search results, right-click on it and select Run as Administrator;
   
2. Type the following command and press Enter:
   
   DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth
   
   
3. Once the process is completed and if files were replaced, restart the computer;
4. Open the command prompt as described in the first step, type the following command and press Enter:
   
   sfc /scannow

Maybe the Windows Update you downloaded was corrupt, due to the Internet connection, or another program or process running on your computer. In order to fix error 0x8024a10a, you can refresh the Windows update. Refreshing the Windows update will start the downloading process from scratch, and attempt to install it again.

To refresh the Windows update, feel free to follow the steps below:

1. Turn on the computer and while turning it on, restart it;
2. An error report will appear and you will be asked to launch the Startup Repair tool. You need to highlight this tool by pressing the arrow up or arrow down buttons, and press Enter. If you do not have the repair tool installed on your computer, you need to install it from the Windows installation DVD. Just insert the DVD, boot it and proceed from there;
3. Once the Startup Repair tool runs, click Cancel;
4. In the dialog box that will show up, click on Don’t Send and then on View advanced options for recovery and support;
5. At the bottom of the window that will open, find the Command Prompt (CMD);
6. In the Command Prompt, type the following commands, pressing enter after typing each one of them:
   
   net stop bits
   net stop wuauserv
   net stop appidsvc
   net stop cryptsvc
   
   

Note: The procedure above can be done via the Safe Mode, too. Feel free to check the don't know how to boot in Safe Mode guide, on how to access the safe mode.

It is possible that a program you installed in your computer prevents Windows from updating, and interferes with the updating process. If this is the case, to fix it, all you need to do is to uninstall the program which is causing this error. While the solution is easy, finding the program that causes this error isn't easy. Think of the program you ran when you got this error message as it might be the one causing it.

If this issue occurs immediately when you turn on the computer, it may be one of the programs which start when Windows starts and in this case you will need to disable all of them in order to identify the culprit, i.e. do a so called "clean boot."

1. Right-click the taskbar (or the start menu icon) and select Task Manager;
   
   

   
   
   

2. Select the Startup tab;
3. Select the program you want to disable and then click on Disable;
   
   

   
   
   

Afterwards, you would need to start the programs one by one, to identify which is the bad one.

Once you identify the program, all you need to do is to remove it from the Control Panel. If you are not sure how to remove it, feel free to consult the don't know how to uninstall a program / an application guide.

If none of the other solutions to fix this issue worked, what you can do is to reinstall Windows, and install the upgrade before you install any other programs.

Before you reinstall Windows, backup all your personal data stored on the computer (photos, music, videos and other invaluable documents) to an external hard drive, or to an online backup solutions like Google Drive, OneDrive, and more, to avoid losing them in the process.

If you feel insecure when it comes to reinstalling Windows, do check out the don't know how to install an operating system guide on how to (re)install your computer's operating system, safely.