You must have Administrator privileges . Log in as an administrator or right-click Command Prompt/PowerShell > "Run as administrator." Method 1: Using Logman (The Official ETW Controller) logman is a built-in Windows command-line tool designed to manage ETW sessions. This is the most surgical and effective method.
This article will dissect exactly what this error means, why it prevents Windows Update from functioning correctly, and provide a step-by-step guide to resolving it permanently. Before attempting any fixes, it is crucial to understand the underlying mechanism. When Windows Update (via the wuaueng.dll or the Update Orchestrator Service) initializes, it attempts to create an Event Tracing for Windows (ETW) session named WindowsUpdateTraceLog .
Introduction Windows Update is the lifeblood of system security and feature stability on Microsoft operating systems. However, it is also notoriously sensitive to corruption, misconfigurations, and resource conflicts. One of the more cryptic errors that administrators and users encounter when digging into the WindowsUpdate.log or the Event Viewer is: "Session "WindowsUpdateTraceLog" failed to start with the following error 0xc0000035." At first glance, this error looks like a critical system failure. The hexadecimal code 0xc0000035 can be intimidating, but it is a well-known status code in the Windows kernel: STATUS_OBJECT_NAME_COLLISION . In plain English, this means "a file, registry key, or object with that name already exists." You must have Administrator privileges
(Optional) Delete the session entirely. To prevent it from reappearing on reboot (if corrupted), remove it:
Stop the offending session. If you see WindowsUpdateTraceLog listed, stop it with: This article will dissect exactly what this error
logman delete "WindowsUpdateTraceLog" -ets Restart the Windows Update service.
Remember: In Windows, 0xc0000035 isn't a death sentence—it's just a collision. Clear the road, and updates will flow again. Introduction Windows Update is the lifeblood of system
A: This indicates a persistent scheduler or task is trying to start the trace session twice. Run schtasks.exe and look for any custom update-related tasks. Also, check for remnants of older Windows Update agents in C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Diagnosis\ETLLogs . Conclusion The error "Session WindowsUpdateTraceLog failed to start with the following error 0xc0000035" is fundamentally a communication breakdown within Windows' own logging infrastructure. While the cryptic error code suggests a deep registry failure, the reality is far more manageable.