Windows 8.1 install error 0x80070002

I tried to install Windows 8.1 from the Windows Store and got the error 0x80070002. It seems that this error means that the download was not completed.

I tried to restart the installation
I tried to clear the windows store cache
I tried to delete every thing in the C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download folder
I tried to do a clean boot

It always fails with the same error.

As a workaround, is there a way to download windows 8.1 from somewhere else than the windows store?

Benoit_Plante

Posted 2013-10-18T16:06:28.680

Reputation: 183

3You have to have a MSDN Subscription to download the ISO files. Other than this, you will need to obtain a retail copy of Windows. The Windows Store is typically the only way to upgrade for most users. – kobaltz – 2013-10-18T16:07:38.720

Which is not very practical when the Windows Store fails. – Benoit_Plante – 2013-10-18T16:26:20.167

@cmoibenlepro - Between the answers http://superuser.com/questions/661261/windows-8-1-fresh-install-with-windows-8-licence and http://superuser.com/questions/650019/how-to-use-windows-8-1-rtm-with-8-0-key/650055#650055 you are able to get the .iso from Microsoft, burn it, then install it.

– Ramhound – 2013-10-18T16:51:02.870

I read those 2 threads, but I can't download an .iso since I do not have a MSDN subscription. – Benoit_Plante – 2013-10-18T19:04:02.697

1Do you have multi-bootable partitions? If yes, mark your Windows partition as "Active". That did the trick for me... – None – 2013-10-20T00:42:30.060

@rlyeh Thank you! This is the right answer and it solved my problem. I had a partition with linux, and it seems that this caused issues with the windows 8.1 installer. By the way, you should have put that as an answer instead of a comment. – Benoit_Plante – 2013-10-20T06:39:28.950

Answers

Do you have multi-bootable partitions? If yes, mark your Windows partition as "Active". That did the trick for me... – rlyeh

after trying several solutions found on the web (deleting dowload folders, desactivating antivirus...), The solution above just worked fine. Not even necessary to reboot. Thanks

Agafous

Posted 2013-10-18T16:06:28.680

Reputation: 56

Agafous's solution was spot on. It seems to be that in Windows 8.1 upgrades, it freaks out if you have your primary hard disk partitioned in such a way that your primary boot partition isn't necessarily your first partition on the disk - this is the case with large vendor desktop PC's from the likes of HP and Dell who tend to have 'recovery' partitions on the disk.

I ran into this same problem on my Dell E9900SF desktop PC but didn't have an issue whatsoever on my ASUS laptop. I found this page and the solution worked.

If you want to know how to make a partition active, here is a write-up on how to do it in Vista: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-au/windows-vista/mark-a-partition-as-active

Win 8 is very similar - go to Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Administrative Tools and select "Computer Management" to find where you need to be, then follow the instructions from the link above from there. You'll be fine.

Aaron Holesgrove

Posted 2013-10-18T16:06:28.680

Reputation: 21

There's a folder C:\$Windows.~BT where the update is downloaded. Deleting this folder lets you start the download process again in the windows store.

Update 1: it lets you download the update again, but the installation still doesn't work.

Update 2: from the setuperr.log in C:\$Windows.~BT\Sources\Panther

SetupMgr: Error reading Store SQM registry data. Data = [StoreSetupDownloadPause], HRESULT = [0x80070002]    
SPGetCurrentOSGuid: BCD Open failed. Error: 0x00000002[gle=0x00000002]
Cannot get the current OS GUID. Error: 0x80070002[gle=0x00000002]
CSetupPlatform::ResurrectNewSystem: Failure: Win32Exception: 
\\?\C:\$Windows.~BT\Sources\newsystem.dat: The system cannot find the file specified. 
[0x00000002] __cdecl UnBCL::FileStream::FileStream(const class UnBCL::String *,enum UnBCL::FileMode,enum UnBCL::FileAccess,enum UnBCL::FileShare,unsigned long)[gle=0x00000002]

nickvane

Posted 2013-10-18T16:06:28.680

Reputation: 323

Tried that, the download restart, but the installation still fails with same error 80070002. – Benoit_Plante – 2013-10-19T16:15:15.437