At an SBS 2011 site, workstations were recently updated with the latest Windows Update Agent (version 7.6.7600.256). When I attempted to run Windows Update from the workstations, it generated the following error message: Code 800B0001 windows Update encountered an unknown error
This error occurred on Windows 7 SP1 workstations both 32-bit and 64-bit versions. I tried following the posted suggestion to run the System Update Readiness tool as well as suggested “Fixit” solution, but that did not resolve the situation.
Note that the error with windows Update would only occur when trying to connect to the SBS/WSUS server. WU would work if I selected the “check online for updates from Microsoft”.
It turns out that the SBS/WSUS server needs to be updated as well. The solution is to download and install KB 2720211 on the SBS server.
No reboot is required, and no services need to be restarted. After installing the patch, workstations successfully connected to the SBS/WSUS server.