[German]I have come across a report that the February 2025 update KB5051987 can cause problems during installation. The update cannot be installed in Windows 11 24H2 and aborts with the error code 0x800F0838. The cause is probably a missing Servicing Stack Update (SSU). Here are a few information about this issue and how to fix it.
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Reports about installation error 0x800F0838
Cumulative update KB5051987 for Windows 11 Version 24H2 was released on February 11, 2025 (see Patchday: Windows Server-Updates (February 11, 2025)). On patchmanagement.org I found the thread Windows 11 24H2 – KB5051987 – 0x800f0838 Failure All Machines on February 12, 2025.
An administrator complains that the cumulative update KB5051987 for all his Windows 11 24H2 clients fails during installation with the error 0x800F0838. He asks the group whether there are others affected.
One participant confirmed that he had already seen this installation error on Windows 11 24H2 clients in January 2025. The error is also mentioned in the MS Answers forum post Errors when installing update KB5051987 – (0x800f0838, 0x800f0993).
In the Microsoft Answers community there is the thread Error 0x800f0838 when trying to install February Patch Tuesday using .MSU file, which also complains about the error – but already gives me a clue with the keyword MSU file.
Error code 0x800F0838 and the root cause
The error code 0x800F0838 means that Windows Update could not access a folder required by the package during installation or could not find certain files. Specifically, dependencies on the servicing stack are not fulfilled.
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And that brings us to the Checkpoint Cumulative Updates, which were introduced in fall 2024 for Windows 11 24H2 and Windows Server 2025. In the blog post Windows 11 23H2 is now generally available – new "Checkpoint" updates announced, I briefly mentioned that Microsoft had announced the introduction of the so-called "Checkpoint Cumulative Updates" for the end of 2024 in Windows 11 24H2 and Windows Server 2025.
In the blog post Windows 11 24H2; Server 2025: msu update install error "Operation is not supported" explained, I then pointed out that there could be problems with the MSU update installation due to faulty updates in October 2024. Therefore, the above thread Error 0x800f0838 when trying to install February Patch Tuesday using .MSU file "rang a bell".
There are various reports, such as here and here, that the checkpoint update KB5043080 from September 10, 2024 is required to install further subsequent updates. So if you encounter the error, you should try to install the mentioned update from an MSU file.
In the patchmanagement.org list I found the note "If you update manually, KB5043080 msu file must be present next to KB5043080 msu file". In the MS Answers forum thread Errors when installing update KB5051987 – (0x800f0838, 0x800f0993) it is suggested to obtain both updates KB5043080 and KB5051987 as .msu files:
- windows11.0-kb5051987-x64_199ed7806a74fe78e3b0ef4f2073760000f71972.msu
- windows11.0-kb5043080-x64_953449672073f8fb99badb4cc6d5d7849b9c83e8.msu
from the Microsoft Update Catalog and then copy it into a folder such as C:\Updates and then execute the following PowerShell command:
Add-WindowsPackage -Online -PackagePath "C:\Updates\windows11.0-kb5051987-x64_199ed7806a74fe78e3b0ef4f2073760000f71972.msu"
This usually means that the February 2025 update can be installed.
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