Can't connect to Windows Update - Windows Security Center errors

Hi, hope I'm in the correct section:

Can't connect to Windows Update - Windows Security Center errors

To the best of my knowledge, my system is not infected. I run Anti-Malwarebytes nightly and scan the system with the free version of AVG nightly. I'm the only user on the system and I try to download only from reputable sites. In general the system is running very well, I haven't noticed any slowdowns or odd behavior other than this problem.

I'm running Windows 7 SP 1 Ultimate, 6 Gig Ram, lots of hard drive space. Until recently I could say that all updates were installed but now I'm unable to connect to the Windows Update server. Going to Control Panel / Windows Update / Check for Updates returns an error code of 80072EFD. In my reading of tech sites it seems that this problem is not uncommon and causes problems for many users.

I'm seeing lots of the following Errors:
In the Application log, EventID 1001 'Windows Error Reporting' (See attached Item A)
In the System log, EventID 10016 'DistributedCOM' (See attached Item B)
In the System log, EventID 7000 'Service Control Manager' pointing to the Security Center (See attached Item C)

I've been reading and following various tech sites to no avail. It seems that many just assume an infection instead of diagnosing the problem. Can you help me, please?

Thanks in advance,

J. R. Fetty

Attached Files

	Item A.txt (2.1 KB)
	Item B.txt (1.9 KB)
	Item C.txt (1.2 KB)