Windows 10: Windows update error 0x80073701 and .Net Framework broken

Last August I built a pc and I used the Windows 10 Educational license that my college provided. Everything was fine until a month later when it tried to perform an update. When starting the pc it attempts to update but fails, so it restarts the pc and retries the update. Because it keeps failing, it does this fun boot loop thing between 3 and 6 times before giving up and letting me actually use the computer. This sometimes took up to 30 minutes.

I can't even remember if I did something to fix it or if it just gave up, but it no longer attempts to update on shutdown. In Settings>Update & Security, I can see that the update is still there, it just says "Updates failed" with error 0x80073701. When I click retry it just fails again with the same error code every time. This however wasn't really a problem for me as the computer was now usable.

Last week, .NET Framework broke. When I try to open applications that require it, it just gives an error message saying that I have to install .NET Framework. When looking in the menu to "Turn Windows features on or off", .NET Environment was still enabled (I couldn't find .NET Framework so I assumed this was it). I disabled it and rebooted as prompted. Here's the kicker. When I reenabled it and rebooted again it attempts to install it via Windows update, causing the install to fail because Windows update is broken.

I suppose the problem is similar or the same as in this recent post kb4560960 - 0x80073701


TLDR:
Windows update broke - Error 0x80073701
.NET Framework broke but can't be reinstalled because Windows update is broken.


Windows details:
The PC is currently running Windows 10 Education, version 1903, OS build 18362.295.
In the update settings, it's attempting to install "2020-06 Cumulative Update for Windows 10 Version 1906 for x64-based Systems (KB4560960)".


Things I've tried:
.NET Framework .exe installer:
Does nothing besides giving a message to use "Turn Windows features on or off" instead.

.NET Framework repair tool:
The things it tried are "Reregister Windows Installer service" and "Restart Windows Installer service". It attempts this but does not fix it. It did output a .cab file that I'll include.

Windows Update Troubleshooter:
An unexpected error has occurred

I tried to force an update via the Media Cration Tool:
Bootable USB:
The installer prompts that an update should be performed directly from the Media Creation Tool and not via a bootable USB.

Directly from the Media Creation Tool:
"Sorry, we're having trouble determining if your PC can run Windows 10. Please close the Setup and try again"


This is as far as my knowledge in Windows troubleshooting goes so I started to look up some fixes for error 0x80073701.

net stop wuauserv
net stop cryptSvc
net stop bits
net stop msiserver
ren C:\\Windows\\SoftwareDistribution SoftwareDistribution.old
ren C:\\Windows\\System32\\catroot2 Catroot2.old
net start wuauserv
net start cryptSvc
net start bits
net start msiserver
Result:
Did not work

sfc /scannow
Result:
Windows Resource Protection did not find any integrity violations.
Did not work

Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image
Result:
Error: 87
An error occurred while processing the command.
Ensure that the command-line arguments are valid. For more information, review the log file. (2020-07-03 17:09:11, Info DISM PID=2380 TID=1776 Scratch dire - Pastebin.com)

Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth
Result:
The component store is repairable.
The operation completed successfully.
Did not work

SetupDiag.exe
Result:
Requires .Net Framework. Nice


Any help with this would be greatly appreciated.

:)

 

uninstall .net framework 3.5 Error code: 0x80073701

Thank you for attempting to help me, but what I really wanted was written into the title of this problem.

uninstall .net framework 3.5 Error code: 0x80073701
As far as I can tell, the root of the problem is I can't uninstall .net framework 3.5 due to error code 0x80073701. If I can uninstall the .net framework, then reinstall it, my research shows windows update will start working.

So far, you have been trying to fix the end result rather than the cause. It is the end result I someday want, but my own work shows the .net framework 3.5 refusing to uninstall is the root of all the update and repair problems this machine has.

 

.NET Framework 3.5 error 0x80073701


So i'm getting error 0x80073701 when i'm trying to install .net framework 3.5 throught install. When i'm trying to install offline(throught windows disk), i'm getting same error text as installing normally. Here it is :

The referenced assembly could not be found.
Offline installer error : 14081

I tried it many times, always the SAME error.

Help me please *Wink

 

uninstall .net framework 3.5 Error code: 0x80073701

Initially, I noticed:

2019-12 Cumulative Update for Windows 10 Version 1909 for x64-based Systems (KB4530684)

was failing to install:

There were problems installing some updates, but we'll try again later.

2019-12 Cumulative Update for Windows 10 Version 1909 for x64-based Systems (KB4530684) - Error 0x800f0831

My attempts to fix this problem have all failed. These are the steps I've taken so far:

C:\WINDOWS\system32>sfc /scannow

Beginning system scan. This process will take some time.

Beginning verification phase of system scan.

Verification 100% complete.

Windows Resource Protection did not find any integrity violations.

C:\WINDOWS\system32>dism /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth

Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool

Version: 10.0.18362.1

Image Version: 10.0.18363.476

[==========================100.0%==========================]

Error: 0x800f081f

The source files could not be found.

Use the "Source" option to specify the location of the files that are required to restore the feature. For more information on specifying a source location, see Configure a Windows Repair Source.

The DISM log file can be found at C:\WINDOWS\Logs\DISM\dism.log

I confirmed .net framework 3.5 was installed, and I then installed all the parts of 3.5. This worked too, and instead of a black checkbox, it became a black checkmark in the .net framework 3.5.

I also confirmed .net framework 4.8 was installed.

After days of trying various fix methods, I stumbled upon an article that suggested:

1. uninstalling .net framework 4.8

2. uninstalling .net framework 3.5

3. installing .net framework 3.5

4. installing .net framework 4.8

I uninstalled .net framework 4.8, but when I tried to uninstall .net framework 3.5, I get an error:

Windows couldn't complete the requested changes.

The referenced assembly could not be found.

Error code: 0x80073701

Tell me how to solve this problem

Nothing I look for talks about how to fix this error when UNInstalling .net framework 3.5 -- they all talk about installing, and lay out careful instructions about where to get the .net framework 3.5 to install... but, the problem is I can't uninstall it,
and I suspect this means I can't install it either because it's already installed.

What else can I do?