So I've been struggling with this particular issue for about a week. As a new Technology Assistant with a local library one of my first challenges has been to fix servers that were not updating. One was a simple certificate issue related to Server 2000. This one is a Server 2003 R2 machine.
So some details relevant to the error...
Firewall: Nothing third party; Symantec Endpoint was installed but has since been uninstalled and wiped using their utility in an attempt to solve this error
My efforts have taken me through both Knowledge Base articles I could find related to the error. I've gone as far as re-registering the DLLs in one article, along with all of the steps found here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/836941/en-us
No dice.
I've run the TDSS utility from Kaspersky to find rootkits that typically cause this issue. I've renamed "Software Distribution" with .old after disabling the Automatic Updates service as part of that process. I've deleted the folder entirely. At some point I updated the update agent itself as well. None of this proved successful.
Naturally it won't automatically update and I've been using the actual update website. I can get as far as clicking on Express or Custom before the update website quickly delivers the error message.
I can post Windows Update logs as needed and any other information that any helpful posters might wish from me. The entire Technology Department here is stumped and have left it to me to figure out. It was suggested to go straight here, and I used it once before when I was younger and doing some Windows Seven upgrades. Hopefully there's a solution floating around out there!
Here's hoping this was the right place to post.