Windows Updates won't install - Error 0x80072EFD

Question

Question 
Windows Updates won’t install.  I’m receiving Error 0x80072EFD.  What can I do to solve this?
Answer 
This particular error means that your computer was not able to connect to the Internet when it tried to install updates.  First, check your Internet connection and then try again. If that doesn’t work, try the methods below.
Method A: Make sure that Windows Firewall is turned on, and temporarily disable third-party firewalls
Warning This workaround may make a computer or a network more vulnerable to attack by malicious users or by malicious software such as viruses. We do not recommend this workaround but are providing this information so that you can implement this workaround at your own discretion. Use this workaround at your own risk.
To complete this method, follow these steps.
Step 1: Make sure that Windows Firewall is turned on
To open Windows Firewall, click the Start button, and then click Control Panel. In the search box, type firewall, and then click Windows Firewall.
Click Turn Windows Firewall on or off.
Click On (recommended), and then click OK.
Step 2: Temporarily disable third-party firewalls
Click the Start button, click Control Panel, and then, under System and Security, click Review your computer's status.
Click the arrow button next to Security to expand the section.
Under Firewall, read the firewall status note. This information will indicate which, if any, firewall is installed and whether the firewall is turned on. For example, for ZoneAlarm, the notice will say ZoneAlarm Firewall is currently ON.
Open the third-party firewall application that is listed in the firewall status note, and temporarily disable the firewall. If necessary, refer to the firewall application documentation, or contact the application vendor for more information about how to temporarily disable the application.
Step 3: Try to install the updates again
If this method resolved your issue, follow the steps in Method B, step 2 to re-enable your third-party firewall. You might want to also check for and install any necessary updates to your third-party firewall.
If this method did not resolve your issue, continue with Method B.
Method B: Temporarily disable third-party antivirus software
Warning This workaround may make a computer or a network more vulnerable to attack by malicious users or by malicious software such as viruses. We do not recommend this workaround but are providing this information so that you can implement this workaround at your own discretion. Use this workaround at your own risk.
Note If your third-party firewall is still disabled from Method A, do not open e-mail messages, surf the Web, or use instant messenger at this point.
Step 1: Locate and temporarily disable your third-party antivirus software
Note Windows does not detect all antivirus software, and some antivirus software doesn't report its status to Windows. If your antivirus software is not displayed in Windows Security Center, and you're not sure how to find it, try any of the following:
Look for the antivirus software in the list of programs on the Start menu.
Type the name of the software or the publisher in the Search box on the Start menu.
Look for the software in Action Center:
Click the Start button, click Control Panel, and then, under System and Security, click Review your computer's status.
Click the arrow button next to Security to expand the section.
If Windows can detect your antivirus software, it will be listed under Virus protection.
If the software is turned on, check the Help documentation that was included with the software for information about how to disable it.
Note You may have to look in the application documentation to determine how to do this.
Step 2: Check for Windows Updates
As soon as the antivirus software is temporarily disabled, visit the Windows Update or Microsoft Update site again, and try to download and install updates.
If this method resolved your issue, and you were able to install the updates successfully, you should re-enable your third-party antivirus software.
If this method did not resolve your issue, continue with Method C.
Method C: Disable software accelerator programs
Disable any software accelerator programs that may be running. Some examples of these programs are file download accelerators and Internet speed accelerators.
Note If your third-party firewall is still disabled from Method B, do not open e-mail messages, surf the Web, or use instant messenger at this point.
Step 1: Disable software accelerator programs
To do this, select from the following options:
See the documentation that was included with the program.
View the Help files for your program.
Contact the program vendor. For information about how to contact the program vendor, visit the following Microsoft Web site:
http://support.microsoft.com/gp/vendors
Step 2: Install Updates
As soon as the software accelerator program is disabled, visit the Windows Update or Microsoft Update site again, and try to download and install updates.
If this method resolved your issue, you should enable the software accelerator programs that you disabled in Step 1.
If this method did not resolve your issue, continue with Method E.
Method D: Add the Windows Update Web site and the Microsoft Update Web site to the Trusted Sites list
Note If your third-party firewall is still disabled from Method A, do not open e-mail messages, surf the Web, or use instant messenger at this point.
To add the Windows Update Web site and the Microsoft Update Web site to the Trusted Sites list, follow these steps:
Start Windows Internet Explorer.
On the Tools menu, click Internet Options.
Note If you are using Internet Explorer 7, and the menu is not available, press the ALT key on your keyboard to access the Internet Explorer Menu.
Click the Security tab, and then click Trusted Sites.
Click Sites, and then click to clear the Require server verification (https for all sites in this zone check box.
In the Add this Web site to the zone box, type the following addresses, and then click Add after you type each address:
http://update.microsoft.com
http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com
Click OK two times.
Try to install the updates again.
If this method resolved your issue and you were able to install updates successfully, you should re-enable your third-party firewall if it is still disabled. To do this, see step 2 in Method A.
For more methods and advanced troubleshooting techniques, see You may encounter temporary connection-related errors when you use Windows Update or Microsoft Update to install updates.

Answer 1

Mark, I've just been through this update issue with two installations.  In my case, it seemed intertwined with authentification and indexing not working, either.    Upon a transfer of my system disk to new hardware I got hit with the issue and couldn't fix it.  Which is why I did a clean install of Win7 ultimate 64bit on my T61p.  The install (including update) worked great until I ran the intel matrix storage manager update.  This broke windows update.  If you surf the web, and include "intel rapid storage manager" or "intel matrix storage manager" and "Windows update fails", you'll see that a lot of folks feel that the intel driver (or how windows handles it) is what breaks update.  I tracked this down to a driver, iastor.sys, in windows\system32\drivers.    I was able to fix my Window Update by copying an iastor.sys from another recently built machine (should be exactly the same, but this was my wife's T510, but still Win 7 Pro 64) to overwrite the iastor.sys that the intel update changed.  To be clear: I couldn't get windows update or indexing to work.  I overwrote* the "bad" iastor.sys with one that worked on another computer.  Rebooted.  Update worked. I just wanted to point out that instead of blindly installing updates to fix problems, folks should be aware that sometimes the update is the problem. Especially as these systems are off warranty and the drivers are not being updated.  I've asked elsewhere, so let me ask here: Where is the System Interface Driver for t61p?  Not listed anywhere on site, links on the web referring to it are all broken.  Is the System Interface Driver now part of another driver program?  Thanks! Jim T61p, Win 7 Ultimate 64bit, and T510, Win 7 Pro 64bit