Windows updates fail to install on XP SP3 with error 0x8007001F

I have an XP SP3 workstation where windows update seems to have stopped working properly.

Going to "update history" in windows update shows that the error is:

Installation Failure 

Error Code: 0x8007001F

I have run malwarebytes and Microsoft Security Essentials scans, which have come up clean.

I attempted to use microsoft's "fix it" tool for windows update, but that didn't appear to do anything (the "loading" progress bar was displayed, then it disappeared). I also tried the manual reset instructions, but that was unsuccessful as well.

Any other suggestions?

The key here is the error code.

error: 0x8007001f, A device is not functioning

MS has a specific fix for this error in how it relates to a video capture card. Just pointing out how that error code is not specific and limited to just your issue.

Either this was you, or someone else had this SAME problem, and posted about it Yesterday at Microsoft's Answers site. They got advice, but there is no confirmation that the advice worked. So, you might not be alone in this issue.

Here is a long thread about someone who lost sound AND had your issue.. and there is some very detailed repair work that is suggested

Here is someone who is getting this error when they installed a program and tried to use System Restore.

Someone else reports that error with a server installation, when attempting to save specific data.

... and here's a thread about someone with that error code, and a video capture system...

What's my point in mentioning all of that? If they have anything in common, it seems to be related to writing data to a hard drive. No, I'm not saying that your drive is failing, but the error of

error: 0x8007001f, A device is not functioning

seems to point to a device not functioning... or at least, not functioning as it is supposed to for a short amount of time. Whether it is due to an infection, or a drive not being able to write information, or a video capture card hiccuping 1 time out of 10, no one seems to be able to determine yet.

You say this is a workstation. Can you take it out of service long enough for a full Chkdsk, including a surface scan? Not that this would take days... just an hour or so... but you really should try to determine or eliminate the drive as a suspect here.

As a side note, how long has this problem been going on? What happened with the computer before this problem started?

In the end, there is no single fix for that error, because there is apparently no single cause of it. And yes, it might end up that reinstalling XP becomes a viable solution. Just not the first one or next one.