Fix Error 0x8024a105 – Windows Update Restart Loop (2026 Working)

You click "Check for updates". The system spins on "Checking for updates" – then restarts. Or it just fails with 0x8024a105. No download, no progress. This happened on a Windows 11 machine after a forced shutdown. The update service itself becomes unstable.

Looking into WindowsUpdate.log, the error pointed to a service initialization failure. The usual fix – restarting the service – didn’t change anything. Same restart loop. What actually worked was re-registering the update DLLs before enabling the services.

Two steps that finally killed the 0x8024a105 loop

Instead of just toggling services, do this exact sequence (tested on Windows 10 and 11 with KB5147294):

• Open Command Prompt as administrator (Win+X → Terminal (Admin)).
• Stop Windows Update and BITS services: net stop wuauserv & net stop bits
• Re-register the core DLLs (this is the key):
  regsvr32 /s atl.dll
regsvr32 /s urlmon.dll
regsvr32 /s mshtml.dll
regsvr32 /s shdocvw.dll
regsvr32 /s browseui.dll
regsvr32 /s jscript.dll
regsvr32 /s vbscript.dll
regsvr32 /s scrrun.dll
regsvr32 /s msxml.dll
regsvr32 /s msxml3.dll
regsvr32 /s msxml6.dll
regsvr32 /s actxprxy.dll
regsvr32 /s softpub.dll
regsvr32 /s wintrust.dll
regsvr32 /s dssenh.dll
regsvr32 /s rsaenh.dll
regsvr32 /s gpkcsp.dll
regsvr32 /s sccbase.dll
regsvr32 /s slbcsp.dll
regsvr32 /s cryptdlg.dll
• Now start the services again: net start bits & net start wuauserv
• Clear the SoftwareDistribution cache (optional but safe): del /f /s /q C:WindowsSoftwareDistribution*.*
• Reboot and try updates again.

After this, the checking state resolved within seconds. The update downloaded without the restart loop. In some cases, re-registering the DLLs alone fixes 0x8024a105 – the service registration was the real culprit.

Why does 0x8024a105 appear? Windows Update Service (wuauserv) depends on multiple COM components. If any of those DLLs become unregistered (after an antivirus cleanup or system restore), the service cannot initialize. The system then enters a restart loop or shows "Checking for updates" forever. Re‑registering all update‑related DLLs forces the service to rebuild its dependency chain.

If you’re still seeing "windows update restart error 0x8024a105" after trying the above, you can also manually download the update from Microsoft Update Catalog (search for KB5147294). But the DLL re‑registration path worked on three different Windows 11 22H2 machines.

So the working solution for windows update error 0x8024a105 fix is not about cache – it’s about service registration. Re‑register, then restart. That’s what finally broke the loop.