Microsoft explains why Windows Update did not work on January 29, 2019

[harlan4096]

Windows users and administrators reported that Windows Update was broken for them on January 29, 2019. Affected systems received an "error encountered" error message when Windows Update was used to search for updates.

The full error message read:

Error encountered. We couldn’t connect to the update service. We’ll try again later, or you can check now. If it still doesn’t work, make sure that you‘re connected to the Internet.

The message revealed that connection issues prevented the operating system from connecting to the update service. The message implied that it was an issue on the user's end; turns out, it was not.

Users discovered quickly that the issue was somehow related to the DNS service provider configured on the device. A workaround suggested to change the DNS server to a public one, e.g. from Cloudflare orGoogle, and doing so did resolve the issue on affected devices.

Microsoft responded quickly. The company stated that it was aware of the issue and that it affected some customers.

We are aware of a service-side issue where some customers are still unable to connect or download updates from the Windows Update service. We are actively investigating this issue. Thank you for your patience.

Full reading: https://www.ghacks.net/2019/02/05/micros...y-29-2019/