Windows Update error 0x80072EFD, possible solution.

First the solution:

1) Go to Internet Options (either through the control panel or { Tools /
Options } in Internet Explorer. Go to the Connections tab and click the
Lan Settings button at the bottom. Uncheck "Automatically detect
settings."

2) Go to Start / Run... and type "proxycfg -d" and press Enter.


Why this works:
If your computer is connected to a large network such as at a university
or large corporation then there may be one or more proxy servers on that
network that are not meant for you to use. If "Automatically detect
settings" is checked then Windows will find that proxy server even if you
are not meant to use it. This can cause several problems. If that proxy
server is configured to block certain sites or is not configured properly
for certain activities such as Windows Update, then those sites or
services will not work for you. It is even possible to not be able to
connect to any of Microsoft's web site with Internet Explorer but still
be able to do so using Firefox. Unfortunately, Microsoft always assumes
that everyone is on an all-Microsoft network and that any proxy servers
that exist are there for you to use. This is why most of the Microsoft
documentation about this error tells you to make sure the "Automatically
detect settings" option is enabled if you don't know if there even is a
proxy server.

A second mistake on Microsoft's part is to take whatever proxy server
Windows finds and store it in the Registry where you can't see it. If you
uncheck the "Automatically detect settings" option then Internet
Explorer will not look for or attempt to use a proxy server. However,
Windows update will still continue to use the proxy server stored in the
Registry. The only way to remove this setting is to edit the registry
directly or to use the proxycfg.exe command line tool.


I spent hours last night looking for the solution to this problem. I had
just installed a new PC with Windows XP Media Center Edition and had
gotten all of many Office programs installed before I went to run the
updates. I thought I had messed up the install somehow so I started the
installation from scratch several times before I finally hit on this
solution. Oddly, it was not mentioned once in all the web pages I found.
Most only repeated Microsoft recommendations using other words. I'm
telling you, for a bunch of geniuses, Microsoft sure can do some idiotic
things sometimes.