How to Fix Error 80072F8F on Windows 11/10/8.1/7?

The general cause for Windows Update Error 80072f8f is the date and time settings being in error.

This could be due to a faulty CMOS battery or a bad RAM or buggy hardware.

The first fix to solve code 80072f8f in Windows 11 or 10 or 8.1 or 7, is to sync your time with an Internet server like time.windows.com.

Before that you should replace your failing CMOS battery. 

The Windows Update problem and the solution to the code 80072ee2 error is already seen.

Today we shall see the troubleshooting steps and solution to a different kind of error – code 80072f8f.  

This occurs when we do Windows 8.1 or 8 or  7 updates from Microsoft.

How to Fix Error Code 0x80072f8f in Windows 11

If you are using Windows 11 and you encounter an error code 0x80072f8f when you try to update, activate, or install apps from the Microsoft Store, you may be wondering what causes this issue and how to fix it.

What Causes Error Code 0x80072f8f in Windows 11?

Error code 0x80072f8f is a common notification that indicates a problem with your connection to the Windows servers. This may happen due to various factors, such as:

• Incorrect date and time settings on your PC
• Malfunctioning or missing DLL files
• Outdated or corrupted root certificates
• Overprotective Windows Firewall or antivirus software
• Network issues or proxy settings

Depending on the cause of the error, you may try different methods to fix it. Here are some of the most effective ones:

Method 1: Check and Adjust Date and Time Settings

One of the simplest and most common solutions for error code 0x80072f8f is to check and adjust your date and time settings on your PC. If they are incorrect or out of sync with the Windows servers, you may face issues with updating, activating, or installing apps. To check and adjust your date and time settings, follow these steps:

• Right-click on the clock icon on the taskbar and select Adjust date/time.
• Make sure the Set time automatically and Set time zone automatically options are turned on. If not, turn them on and wait for a few seconds for your PC to sync with the Windows servers.
• If the options are already turned on, you may turn them off and then back on again to force a sync.
• Alternatively, you may also click on Sync now under Synchronize your clock to manually sync your PC with the Windows servers.
• After adjusting your date and time settings, restart your PC and try to update, activate, or install apps again.

Method 2: Re-register DLL Files

Another possible solution for error code 0x80072f8f is to re-register some DLL files that are related to your connection to the Windows servers. DLL files are dynamic link library files that contain code and data that are used by various programs. Sometimes, these files may get corrupted or missing, causing errors. To re-register these files, follow these steps:

• Press Windows + R keys to open the Run dialog box.
• Type cmd and press Ctrl + Shift + Enter keys to run Command Prompt as an administrator.
• In the Command Prompt window, type the following commands one by one and press Enter after each:

regsvr32 softpub.dll /s
regsvr32 wintrust.dll /s
regsvr32 initpki.dll /s
regsvr32 mssip32.dll /s

• After running these commands, close the Command Prompt window and restart your PC.
• Try to update, activate, or install apps again and see if the error is fixed.

Method 3: Install Root Certificate Update

Another possible reason for error code 0x80072f8f is that your root certificates are outdated or corrupted. Root certificates are digital certificates that are used to verify the identity and authenticity of websites and servers. If they are not updated or valid, you may face issues with connecting to the Windows servers. To install root certificate update, follow these steps:

• Go to Microsoft Update Catalog website.
• Type Root Certificate Update in the search box and click Search.
• Find the version that matches your PC and click Download.
• Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation of the update.
• Restart your PC and try to update, activate, or install apps again.

Method 4: Turn off Firewall or Antivirus Temporarily

Sometimes, your Windows Firewall or antivirus software may be too overprotective and block your connection to the Windows servers.

This may cause error code 0x80072f8f when you try to update, activate, or install apps.

To rule out this possibility, you may try to temporarily turn off your Firewall or antivirus software and see if that helps. To turn off Windows Firewall, follow these steps:

• Click on the Start menu and type firewall. Select Windows Defender Firewall from the results.
• Click on Turn Windows Defender Firewall on or off from the left pane.
• Select Turn off Windows Defender Firewall (not recommended) for both private and public network settings.
• Click OK to save the changes.
• Alternatively, you can click on Allow an app or feature through Windows Defender Firewall from the left pane.
• Click on Change settings and scroll down to find Media Creation Tool. Check both private and public boxes next to it.
• Click OK to save the changes.
• If you have any third-party antivirus software installed, you need to disable it as well. You can do this by right-clicking on its icon on the taskbar and selecting Disable or Exit.
• Restart your computer and try to run Windows Update again.

How to Fix Error 80072F8F on Windows 10

If you are trying to update your Windows 10 system, you may encounter an error code 80072F8F.

This error indicates that there is a problem with the SSL connection between your computer and the Microsoft server.

SSL is a security protocol that encrypts the data exchanged between your computer and the server. If the SSL connection is broken or corrupted, Windows Update will fail to download or install updates.

Method 1: Check and Adjust Date and Time Settings

One of the most common reasons for error 80072F8F is that your date and time settings are not synchronized with the Microsoft server. This can cause a mismatch in the SSL certificates and prevent Windows Update from verifying them. To fix this, you need to check and adjust your date and time settings as follows:

• Right-click on the clock icon on the taskbar and select Adjust date/time.
• Make sure that Set time automatically and Set time zone automatically are turned on. If not, toggle them on.
• Alternatively, you can click on Change date and time manually and set the correct date and time according to your region.
• Click on Sync now to synchronize your clock with an online server.
• Restart your computer and try to run Windows Update again.

Method 2: Update or Reinstall Device Drivers

Another possible cause for error 80072F8F is that your device drivers are outdated or incompatible with Windows 10.

Drivers are software components that enable your hardware devices to communicate with your operating system.

If your drivers are not updated or installed properly, they can cause conflicts or errors with Windows Update. To fix this, you need to update or reinstall your device drivers as follows:

• Press Windows + X keys and select Device Manager.
• Expand the categories and look for any devices with a yellow exclamation mark or a red cross. These indicate that there is a problem with the device driver.
• Right-click on the problematic device and select Update driver.
• Choose Search automatically for updated driver software and follow the on-screen instructions to install the latest driver.
• Alternatively, you can choose Uninstall device and then restart your computer. Windows will automatically reinstall the device driver upon reboot.
• Repeat this process for any other devices that have driver issues.
• Restart your computer and try to run Windows Update again.

Method 3: Run System File Checker and DISM Tools

The last method to fix error 80072F8F is to run System File Checker (SFC) and Deployment Image Servicing and Management (DISM) tools. These are built-in tools that scan and repair any corrupted or missing system files that may cause Windows Update errors. To run these tools, you need to follow these steps:

• Press Windows + X keys and select Command Prompt (Admin) or PowerShell (Admin).
• Type sfc /scannow and press Enter. This will scan your system for any corrupted or missing files and try to fix them automatically.
• Wait for the scan to complete. It may take some time depending on the size of your system.
• If you see a message that says “Windows Resource Protection found corrupt files but was unable to fix some of them“, you need to run DISM tool as well.

Why does Windows 7 Update Error 80072f8f occur ?

So you have bought a new Dell or Samsung laptop.

Otherwise, you bought Windows 7 Professional or Ultimate from a Best Buy store and you installed it on your brand new computer and you are ready to go.

Well, for now, everything is fine. After sometime the Windows giant Microsoft decides to release update to your Windows 7 OS (current update is SP1) or XP (current update is SP3).

Now you decide to update to the latest version and fail with an error code of 80072f8f.

What’s the reason?

The main reason is this : [Microsoft Article for Vista]

If you receive Windows Update error 80072f8f while checking for updates, your computer’s date and time might not be the same as the date and time for the online Windows Update service.

Ah, you see, you’ve changed the date and time of your system and that’s why your update is not working. 

Well, in case you are using a non-genuine version of Windows using “old system date”, then also you cannot update to the latest release.

Either you have to get better hack or crack software to make your Windows genuine and sync your date and time service with that of Microsoft.

Troubleshooting Steps

The answer is simple. Just change your date & time to the current period. You can follow the following steps from Microsoft Windows article to serve your purpose.

To change your computer’s date and time

1. Open Date and Time by clicking the Start button, clicking Control Panel, clicking Clock, Language, and Region, and then clicking Date and Time.
2. On the Date and Time tab, make sure that your computer’s date and time are correct. If they’re not, click Change date and time.
3. In the Date and Time Settings dialog box, do the following:
   • To change the date, under Date, click the left or right arrows to find the current month in the calendar, and then click the current date.
   • To change the time, under Time, double-click the hour, minutes, or seconds that you want to change, and then click the arrows to increase or decrease the value.
4. When you have finished changing the time settings, click OK.

Or otherwise, there is a better solution to your Windows Update error 80072f8f problem. Just sync your computer clock with any Internet time server. To do it, just follow the succeeding steps.

1. Click the Start button , click Control Panel, click Clock, Language, and Region, and then click Date and Time.
2. Click the Internet Time tab, and then click Change settings. If the system ask for Administrator password, then you may need to enter it.
3. Click Automatically synchronize with an Internet time server, select a time server, and then click OK.

This solution should work on Windows 7 other Windows OS.

How to Fix 80072f8f Error in Windows 8.1 and 8?

If you observe this video, it’ll be very clear that the above same solution also works for 8 and 8.1. In this video the author has clearly shown why the error is coming up.

When the computer date and time are set to 2021, he gets the 80072f8f error. But when he changes the time to the current time (i.e Nov 2016), you can see the updates are available.

Before changing the date, even trying several times, to update was a failure.

After correcting the date and time, the problem was resolved.

Other Issues and Fixes

Fix #1

If you are getting Windows update Error 80072f8f  in Windows 8.1, you can try the following commands in  a Command Prompt with (Admin) privileges.

net stop wuauserv
net stop cryptSvc
net stop bits
net stop msiserver
ren C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution SoftwareDistribution.old
ren C:\Windows\System32\catroot2 catroot2.old
net start wuauserv
net start cryptSvc
net start bits
net start msiserver
pause

Exit the command prompt and check if the updates are working again.

[Source : http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows8_1-update/windows-81-error-code-80072f8f/6a5bafd2-013c-4a86-b185-be2d54e3a519]

Fix #2

The above problem could also be due to a bad update. One of the users on Microsoft forums found that KB 2919355 update is giving rise (80072F8F) update problem.  So try uninstalling the recent updates if any, and see if the problem resolves.

Fix #3

You can also fix the Windows 8 update erreur 80072f8f, using the following commands.

w32tm /debug /enable /file:%userprofile%\desktop\time.txt /size:4000000 /entries:0-300

Leave the system for a day or two and check whether the file %userprofile%\desktop\time.txt fills up with data. Try and check for updates meanwhile, to see if any data is recorded in the events. Sometimes, magically, updates start getting downloaded and installed.

Fix #4

One article mentioned on “TechSupportForum” gives different solutions to the above problem. One author tried to implement the SFC /SCANNOW command in an elevated command-prompt window. After completing it you can also create a CBS.log file of the result. This can be posted on different forums and analyzed by various Windows experts.

If you get the following result after the scan, “Windows Resource Protection did not find any integrity violations” it means your scan is successful and the file has been repaired.

Fix #5

You can also try the following command.

DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

If you get the following message:

The restore operation completed successfully. The component store corruption was repaired. The operation completed successfully.

Then your computer is without issues regarding the above problem.

Fix #6

But if you still face problem there are several ways to go. You can stop and restart your Windows Time Service. You can do that from Services or apply the following command.

net stop w32time
W32tm /unregister
W32tm /register
net start w32time
w32tm /resync

Then if you still get any issue, you can see the problem in Event Viewer.

Fix #7

A better way to check is the CMOS battery. One of its purposes is maintain proper date and time of your computer hardware. So using F12 and Del key (depending upon your brand), you can go to your boot options and change the firmware or time over there.

Fix #8

If that fails too, than you can follow this link in Internet Explorer 6.0 or above only and update your root certificates. You need to find the OS (there are root certificates even for Windows 8.1 and 8) and click on Add. Download the update, run it on your PC and restart the computer. This should work out.

Fix #9

It is also important to keep your computer clean from temp files from time to time. For this you can clean out your temp/tmp folders in your Windows drive. You can also use the default clean up (Disk CleanUp) program found in Windows 8.1 or 8 or 7. The path to this program is as follows – Click Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Cləanup. (This for Windows OS  with Start Menu. For 8 or 8.1, you can press Win key and type the program name).

The easiest method of all is to using the FREE CCleaner program available from filehippo.com. You just have to click the “Analyze” button and then “Run Cleaner” so it clears all the cookies, temp and system dump files. Then you can use the “Registry” function to clean any left-over registry entries. This is also a solution, when some other updates are half-installed or the update progress stops in the middle.

Fix #10

You can also reset the Windows Update components. Otherwise, you can also use the Windows Update troubleshooter fix. This can be done using the tools provided by Microsoft itself.

• https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/971058
• https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/12373/windows-update-faq

Otherwise, you can stop and restart the “Windows Update” service in the Services window.

How to Fix 80072f8f Issue in Windows Phone?

This is the solution from “PCAdvisor”.

The date and time are to be set correctly on your phone. This error occurs when Windows attempts to run  Update while your clock is set incorrectly. Simply correcting the date and time usually makes this error go away. The same issue can also occur on desktop PCs when running Windows Update.

This problem was reported by a Nokia Lumia 1020 user, who wanted to update to latest Cyan release of the Windows mobile operating system.

Fix #1

There could be other problems related to Lumia 920 or 520. The error code 80072f8f can also occur if you recently installed the Preview for Developers. In order to solve this, you can use the Windows Phone Recovery Tool and flash the phone. But there is a danger of your data being lost.

****Warning – So better make a backup of your data on the Windows phone. This step is important.

You can also do a “Hard Reset“. You can do this by resetting from Settings >> About. This will also sometimes fix the problem.