Windows Update Error - Code 80073712
Archived
Written in August 2010. Kept as it was, so versions, links and details may be out of date.
My main desktop PC was dormant for some time and I recently just got it back up. When I tried to install all the Windows Updates that had accumulated I started to receive error Code 80073712. After trying to install them multiple times I Googled the error code but found the solutions did not help. This fix didn’t help since I didn’t have the pending.xml file on my system.
After some more searching I found a free tool from Microsoft that fixed my problems. Microsoft Fix it 50202 will reset your Windows Update components. I ran the default fix but you can also run an Aggressive mode too. I had to search for new updates a couple times after running it but eventually I was able to install all the Windows Updates.