Google recently released a new version of Chrome, which is said to be faster yet lighter than ever. The hype about this update was so much that I navigated to the About Google Chrome link to see if I have the update. Unfortunately, my version of the Chrome was not updated to the latest version of Google Chrome yet. However, after few seconds of opening the About Chrome page, the browser started to look for the latest available version. Though the update was available, I was not able to update the Chrome to the latest version. With every refresh, the update used to stop while throwing an error which reads “an error occurred while checking for the update.Update check failed to start (error code 3: 0x80040154 — system level).” Fortunately, I had an idea what is the cause of this error, as I was tinkering with the System services few days ago. However, in case you are facing the same, an error occurred while checking for the update.Update check failed to start (error code 3: 0x80040154 — system level) error then here is how to fix this in Google Chrome. The error mentioned above can occur in different types. Such as: An error occurred while checking for the update.Update check failed to start (error code 3: 0x80040154 — system level). An error occurred while checking for updates: Update check failed to start (error code 3: 0x80080005 — system level). Update failed: Updates are disabled by the administrator. There are quite a few fixes available to fix these errors in Google Chrome. Try anyone of the fix listed below. Relaunch Chrome If you have not tried it, then try it. Save any open tabs in Chrome and close it. Next, relaunch Chrome browser on your PC. Go to About Google Chrome page and see if the error has gone away. Do a Quick Restart At times, the errors in Google Chrome can be temporary and can be fixed with a quick restart. Save any open files or tab sessions and restart your PC. Once the PC restarts, open Google Chrome and check for the available update. If the error persists, the next fix can solve it. Enable Google Updater Service I was able to resolve the error occurred while checking for the update.Update check failed to start (error code 3: 0x80040154 — system level) error by enabling the Google Chrome update services in System Configuration settings. Here is how to do it. Open System Configuration. To do this, press Windows Key R and type msconfig in the run dialogue box and hit enter. Also, read how to create your own custom RUN command in Windows. It will open a new System Configuration dialogue. Click and open the Services tab. In the Service Tab, check the box which tells Hide all Microsoft services. Now scroll down in the services and find Google Update Service and Google Update service (Google updates). Enable both the Google services by checking the box. Refer below image. Click on Apply button and then on OK button to save the Settings. Next, you should be asked whether you want to restart your PC now or exit without restart. Click on Exit without restart button. Now save Google session and do a quick restart. After the restart, Go to Google Chrome update page or copy paste this address in the URL bar to open it. chrome://help/ This time, you should be able to update Google Chrome without the “an error has occurred error while checking updates” error. Enable Google Update in Windows Registry If the above methods did not work, you might need to enable Google update from the Windows registry. This can be done by making a modification to the concerned folder. Here is how to do it. Note: Modification to Windows Registry involves risk. Make sure you take backup of the registry which you will be editing. Login to your PC as administrator. Alternatively, press Windows Key R, type runas /user:Administrator cmd and hit enter. A new command window would open asking you to enter the administrator password. Enter the password. Don’t worry if the password does not show when you type it. The password is not visible while using them on command window or ssh clients. If the entered password is right, the command prompt window will close. Press Windows Key R again, type Regedit and hit enter. It will open Registry Editor window. In the registry editor window, navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Google\. In the right side, double-click on Default and enter 1 in the Value field. Save the settings and close the registry editor. Now open Google Chrome and go to chrome://help/. If everything went right, you should see the Google Chrome updating without any problem. Delete Chrome Application Folder If the above method did not work for you and you are still facing the same “an error occurred while checking for the updates” error, then you may need to make a modification to your Google Chrome application by deleting the entire folder and then reinstall Google Chrome. Here is how to do it. Open Task Manager in your PC. If you are on Windows, right-click on the taskbar and select Task Manager. You can also open it by typing taskmgr in the Run dialogue box. In the task manager kill all the services with Chrome.exe extension. Select any similar service and press End service/process button. Note: To delete any Application folder you should have administrative privilege. If you do not have it, read how to create a new user with administrative rights in Windows 10. Login with administrative rights that is as Administrator. For Windows 32-bit users – Go to C:\Program Files \ Google \ Chrome and delete the Application folder. For Windows 64-bit users – Go to C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome and delete the Application folder. Once deleted, restart your PC and reinstall Google Chrome. After the reinstall, you should be able to get rid of the “An error occurred while checking for updates” error.
