The most common cause is that the RPC service is not running or is being blocked by a firewall; other causes include misconfigured DCOM permissions, network connectivity issues, or disabled necessary services. This error can also occur during certificate enrollment, system image restoration, or when syncing iCloud with Outlook, all of which rely on RPC communication. In this article, we will discuss different ways to solve this error.
1. Set Update Services to Automatic
This fix ensures that essential update-related services are configured to start with Windows. If any of them are set to manual or disabled, RPC-dependent operations may fail during update processing. 3. Restart your system and try updating again.
2. Reset Windows Update Components
This method flushes out old update data and resets core update services. It’s particularly useful when cached files or incomplete downloads are causing communication issues with Microsoft servers. 3. Reboot your system once all commands complete.
3. Use PowerShell to Manually Trigger Updates
This older method attempts to manually initiate the update check process. While it’s deprecated on modern Windows builds, it may still work in older systems or enterprise environments that use legacy infrastructure. 3. Restart your PC after executing the command.
4. Run Windows Update Troubleshooter
Microsoft includes a dedicated troubleshooter that automatically detects and resolves known update-related errors. It also verifies the integrity of essential services and checks for common misconfigurations.
5. Repair System Files with SFC and DISM
System file corruption can silently block RPC services and update components. This dual-step process uses built-in repair tools to fix file integrity issues that could be preventing updates from installing. 3. After that, run the following DISM commands one by one: 4. Restart the system after both scans are completed.
6. Temporarily Disable Third-Party Antivirus
Overprotective security tools can block Windows Update access or prevent RPC-related services from starting. Disabling them temporarily helps verify whether the antivirus is the root of the issue.
7. Edit Group Policy Settings
This method removes potentially restrictive update policies set via Local Group Policy Editor. It’s effective when corporate update policies interfere with RPC or background service operations.
