Windows Update failed with error code 0x80004005

Since weeks one windows machine wasn't able to install the latest "Monthly Rollups", but other updates work. After reboot the installer starts until 86% and undone the update. Internet search did not bring much, except some users with an alternative bootloader who have the same problem. But this machine has no other bootloader. The Windows Update log did not have any helpful details, which also makes sense since it had to give for the installation of the update its own log. I remembered the CBS.log, which I used in another problem and what should I say ... there was the error code 80004005 - with helpfull details.

[...]
Error      [0x018009] CSI    00000052 (F) Done with generic command 5; CreateProcess returned 0, CPAW returned S_OK
    Process exit code 112 (0x00000070) resulted in success? FALSE
    Process output: [l:8995 [4096]"BFSVC: BfspCopyFile(C:\Windows\boot\PCAT\bootmgr, \\?\GLOBALROOT\Device\HarddiskVolume1\Boot\bootmgr) failed! (Attempt 1 of 60) Last Error = 0x70
BFSVC: BfspCopyFile(C:\Windows\boot\PCAT\bootmgr, \\?\GLOBALROOT\Device\HarddiskVolume1\Boot\bootmgr) failed! (Attempt 2 of 60) Last Error = 0x70
[...]
BFSVC: BfspCopyFile(C:\Windows\boot\PCAT\bootmgr, \\?\GLOBALROOT\Device\HarddiskVolume1\Boot\bootmgr) failed! (Attempt 10 of 60) Last Error = 0x70
BFSVC: BfspCopyFile(C:\Windows\boot\PCAT\bootmgr, \\?\GLOBALROOT\Device\HarddiskVolume1\Boot\bootmgr) failed! (Attempt 11 of 60) Last Error = 0x70
BFSVC: BfspCopyFile(C:\Windows\boot\PCAT\bootmgr, \\?\GLOBALROOT\Device\HarddiskVolume1\Boot\bootmgr) failed! (Attempt 12 of 60) Last Error = 0x70
BFSVC: BfspCopyFile(C:\Windows\boot\PCAT\bootmgr, \\?\GLOBALROOT\Device\Harddis[gle=0x80004005]
[...]

It was not possible to write parts of the bootloader. I assign a drive letter to \HarddiskVolume1 with diskpart and i see the problem. The drive was out of space. Only 12Kb free, but lots of garbage. The drive is also used for Recovery (WinRE). Then I recognized the cause. The disk was cloned from a HDD to a SSD with lower capacity. After resize the HarddiskVolume1 to original size, the update works without any problem.

13 thoughts on “Windows Update failed with error code 0x80004005”

  1. Hi,

    Can you please provide the steps to resize the Harddiskvolume1 and make it updates are success.
    I am also facing the same issue with KB4474419.

    Thanks in advance,
    BR,
    Surendra

  2. I assume SBC.log is a simple typo and should have been CBS.log
    At least that’s where that information was on my Windows 7 system.

    Thanks for the information, it was very helpful in determining the issue (I also cloned my HDD to SSD and had similar issues)

  3. 2 questions….First, you stated you recognized the drive was cloned…was that something you were able to see in logs? If so, how would I do the same? And second, can you provide some details on how you assigned the drive letter etc. to the \harddiskvolume1. Diskpart is not something I’m all that familiar with and don’t want to potentially nuke a system because I did something wrong. If you’ve got that process documented in another post I’d be glad to check it out if you have a link handy.

    1. Hello, Brant,

      Thank you very much for the questions.

      – Why could I see that this is a cloned drive? I could see that the special partition was too small, usually they have about 100MB or more. Then I remember that the hard drive was cloned from a larger to a smaller one. I used Acronis in the default settings, which means that every partition, including this special Windows partition, is resized to fit the new drive.
      – Brief introduction to Diskpart: Open the CMD and type “diskpart” there. After DiskPart is loaded, type “help”. There you will see all commands. You have to select the disk and then the volume with “select disk xyz” and “select volume xyz” and then assign a drive letter with “assign”.

      Feel free to ask more.

      Regards
      Fabian

  4. Would you mind terribly outlining the process for assigning drive letter in diskpart? And how did you figure out the drive had been cloned, is that something that can be determined in logs somewhere?

  5. Okay. So I’m a bit confused here. Let us assume your original drive was 256GB and your new SSD is 128GB. You mentioned you cloned a larger HDD to a smaller SSD. Does this mean to fix your problem you somehow resized the 128GB SSD to 256GB to match the original HDD you cloned from?

    1. Maybe. The problem was the first small partition. If you clone and „grow“ it to the larger drive it should work.

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