Windows 10 Update KB5012599 stalls with install error 0x8024200B and 0x800F0831

[German]As of April 12, 2022, Microsoft has released security updates for Windows 10 and Windows Server. I have received information via user comments that the update KB5012599 for Windows 10 version 20H2-21H2 causes problems with some installations. The installation aborts with error code 0x800F0831 or error code 0x8024200B. In the meantime, I have done some research and summarized the issue in the following article.

Windows 10 Update KB5012599

Cumulative Update KB5012599 is available for Windows 10 version 20H2 – 21H2, and contains security fixes but no new operating system features. The update can be downloaded and installed automatically from Windows Update, but is also available from the Microsoft Update Catalog and via WSUS and WUfB. I had pointed out the update in the blog post Patchday: Windows 10 updates (April 12, 2022).

Issue: Install error 0x8024200B

Regarding the update KB5012599, however, there are various user reports that it cannot be installed, but is aborted with the error code 0x8024200B.

First mention here in the blog

The first report about this installation error I became aware of, can be found in my German blog in this comment. Blog reader Dayst writes about it:

I can't install update KB5012599 get error 0x8024200b in ReportingEvents.log….does anyone have the same problem?

and adds in a follow up comment to my note to have the component store repaired:

Hi Günter, I already did that with SFC /scannow did not help.

In the CBS.log you can find errors like Duplicated Manifest etc..

Stupid is that just over 800 clients can not install the update :-/

In the repository for the relevant components is probably a required manifest multiple available. Dayst has posted an excerpt from the log file in this thread at the colleagues of deskmodder.de. The log file contains one entry:

0x800f080f – CBS_E_MANIFEST_VALIDATION_DUPLICATE_ELEMENT

The discussion at the colleagues also brings no real explanation for the inconsistency in the manifest files – but another user reports with the same error. In the discussion there is also the hint that it was a clean installation of Windows 10 20H2 via MECM, which was then updated to 21H2 with the activation package in December 2021. The last cumulative updates from March 2022 still ran through without errors.

Thread at reddit.com

While searching, I then came across this thread on reddit.com discussing Microsoft's April 2022 updates for Windows.  There, user Ram419 also confirms that he also has 0x8024200B. In his case, the install issue affects several Windows 10 Enterprise 20H2 clients that are supplied with updates via SCCM.

The user has opened a ticket at Microsoft – but has not heard back as of April 21, 2022. Within the thread, more users confirming this error on clients running Windows 10 Enterprise 20H2 – in most cases SCCM is involved.

Problem: Installation error 0x800f0831

In the Microsoft Answers forum, there is this thread, where a user complains about installation error 0x800f0831. The error 0x800f0831 stands for CBS_E_STORE_CORRUPTION, and can have several causes. One cause, according to Microsoft, is that Windows has lost access to the Microsoft update servers (because, for example, a VPN, proxy or virus scanner blocks this access).

According to this Microsoft document, the error can also occur if a manifest for the update to be installed is corrupted or if the files available in Windows' update store do not match. There, it is suggested to manually download the update from the Microsoft Update Catalog and try the installation again.

However, this approach will only help if the manifest of the update to be installed is corrupted. If there are inconsistencies with the update store, downloading the package and installing it manually will not help. Usually, one tries to perform the approaches I described in more detail in the blog post Check and repair Windows system files and component store and/or clean the update store under C:/Windows/SoftwareDistribution (see also Windows 10 V1709: Store broken (wrong manifest layout).

A possible fix?

After reviewing posts from affected people, I came across a possible solution in a post dated April 20, 2022 in the Microsoft Answers forum in this thread.

Some users suspect .NET 4.8 updates like KB4486153 etc. as the cause because this was installed on all affected client. Also, all affected machines are upgrades from previous Windows 10 versions.

A first hint

User Chuck Kapigian outlines a solution to the 0x800f0831 installation error in this thread on the Microsoft Answers forum:

Find all the instances of this reg key and change the current state of all of them to 0

Example:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Component Based Servicing\Packages\Package_18_for_KB4486153~31bf3856ad364e35~amd64~~10.0.1.3106

Or run this powershell script

CD HKLM:\
Get-ChildItem 'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Component Based Servicing\Packages\' | Where-Object { $_.Name -like  "*Package_*_for_KB4486153~31bf3856ad364e35~amd64~~10.0.1.3106*' } | foreach { Set-ItemProperty $($_.Name+"*") -Name CurrentState -Value 0 }

However, the feedback from various users is that this does not work. However, this may be because the users simply corrected the wrong entries.

Customized PowerShell script

In this reddit.com thread, user TemporaryUsed outlines his solution approach. In his case, the entries regarding the update package that failed when it was initialized were probably slightly different in cbs.log. So he adjusted the name of the failed package in the above PowerShell script accordingly.

Then he had to make several runs, because several packages were affected. On each run, the name of the affected package in the Where-Object {…} parameter had to be adjusted accordingly. After six runs, most of his clients were repaired and could install the update KB5012599.

Ticket status as of April 25: Open

The current status as of April 25, 2022, on tickets administrators have opened at Microsoft is actually that the installation issue with an error abort (0x800f0831 or 0x8024200B) has not been resolved yet. It looks like Microsoft needs to get on this – though I'm not aware of any proposed solutions on a support ticket so far.  But maybe you can help with the above hints.

Vollow up article: Windows Update KB5012599: Microsoft plans fix for install error 0x8024200B and 0x800F0831