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I just noticed that nearly all of my Windows updates have been failing since 4/17/2022:

failed Windows updates

Just a few exceptions succeeded:

successful Windows updates

I tried following the suggestions at:
https://www.800error.com/KB2962409-windows-update-error-knowledge-kb-ms-security-fail

  1. Stopping the Windows Update service and clearing
    C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\DataStore
     (then restarting the service, of course) didn't help
  2. When I tried running
    C:\Windows\system32>sfc/scannow
     I got this message:
    Beginning system scan. This process will take some time. Windows Resource Protection could not perform the requested operation.
  3. I looked at the Registry but found that
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate
     had neither WUServer nor WIStatusServer

When I tried to run Windows Update again, it just keeps checking endlessly.

Upgrading to Windows 10 (or 11) isn't at all an option now, so I would truly appreciate help getting the updates for 8.1 working.

What else could I do to get all those updates applied?

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    If you want our help you will have to provide the Windows Update log. I would prefer not to have to sort through 2 months of logs, so perhaps clear the history and then attempt the installation of a patch to provide a minimal amount of data. Your inability to run SFC or DISM suggests a repair install of Windows 8.1 might be the best way forward. An ability to run SFC suggest sever system corruption (or simply the require service isn't running).
    – Ramhound
    Commented Jun 15, 2022 at 20:24
  • I assume you're talking about logs from this folder: C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\DataStore\Logs ? If so, which / how many files should I upload?
    – Eliezer
    Commented Jun 15, 2022 at 20:30
  • I am not. The logs in that directory have nothing to do with Windows Update. You have to run a documented command to convert the Windows Update (ETL) logs into a text document. However, I just realized the command, only supports Windows 10. All that means is that without detail information on what is failing exactly, I can't diagnose the issue, so my suggestion of performing a repair install seems like the best way forward.
    – Ramhound
    Commented Jun 15, 2022 at 20:31
  • I verified the Windows Modules Installer service was running and set to Manual startup. I tried stopping the service which failed; restarting it seemed to succeed. But when I reran the SFC check, I got the same message. Is the Startup Repair tool (optionally run upon system start) the same as doing a repair install?
    – Eliezer
    Commented Jun 15, 2022 at 20:44
  • No; Startup Repair Tool is not the same as doing a repair install.
    – Ramhound
    Commented Jun 15, 2022 at 22:26

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