Windows update failure

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I am running a Lenovo Thinkpad with 64 bit Windows 7 Pro and have been doing regular monthly updates for sevearl years. The last update was done on January 4th while I was on holiday. I tried to update on February 11th but gave up after Windows searched for 45 minutes and never found any updates. Today I have tried again and once again the search failed.

I downloaded and installed the latest Windows Update Agent without any improvement.

I ran Windows Update Troubleshooter and it reported that all problems were fixed but he service registration was missing or corrupt so I ran net bit and net wuauserv from the command line. On checking both services were started but bit was set to manual so I changed this to automatic. This resulted in no improvement.

On searching the web I found another suggestion and cleared the Windows/Software Distribution folder but this did not help.

I ran the troubleshooter again and it now said the services were fixed but gave an error 0x8007003. On searching this error Microsoft’s suggested solution was to run the Troubleshooter again. I did this and then rebooted before trying Update yet again but with the same negative result.

Finally I tried turning off Zone Alarm and Avast AV (which I have run for several years0 but still no result.

The only other solution I have found is do to a complete reinstall of Windows but I am naturally averse to this solution and place my hopes on someone in the Lounge having the experience to sort this out.

Here’s hoping!

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There are two other MS tools that you can try and they for Resetting Windows Update Components and the System Update Readiness Tool (SURT)

SURT produces a log which can be found in C:WindowsLogs then double click on the Checksur one which will open in Notepad.

SURT is a little a 500MB download so can take a little while, so before you try that one, run a command prompt as an admin and enter sfc /scannow to see what that reports.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/kb/971058

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-gb/windows7/what-is-the-system-update-readiness-tool

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Thank you for the advice. Following my post I discovered I had done a Windows System Image in November and so restored this image and tried Update again with the same negative result. I slept on he problem overnight and then tried the desperation step of doing a full reinstall of Windows.

The first significant event was that early on it asks whether it should check for updates to the installation. I agreed to this but to my dismay this updater did the same thing and kept searching for 40 mins. I stopped this and repeated the process but skipped the updating step and the installation went without a hitch, including activation. Did this solve the problem – No!

I rebooted again and ran the Windows Update Troubleshooter again. It passed everything but reported an error 0x8024402C. I researched this on the Web but all suggestions seemed to be about trouble with Proxies and I have none. Microsoft said the error occurs because an incorrect character exists in the proxy override setting and offered a fix but when I ran this it said that this fix was not for my set up – presumably either Win 7 or perhaps because there are no proxies.

I found another post which suggested Control Panel/Troubleshooting/Windows Update and this ran as far as displaying “Searching for updates on-line” and stayed there for half an hour!

Finally I downloaded (very slowly) the SURT mentioned and the installer which gets as far as “Searching for updates on this computer” and has stayed there for abour 45 mins.

I see there are several other people in this thread and others describing a similar situation and in view of the episodes mentioned above I am wondering whether there is not a problem at the other end and not on my computer. I have now spent many hours on this problem and am still faced with a notebook that will come under increasing risk while on-line so, Please can someone with the necessary knowledge sort this out.

My thanks are here in anticipation!

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I’m having the same problem. On 3/8/16 my 64 bit W7 found the updates at approx. 10:15 am but I tried my 32 bit W7 computer in the afternoon and this morning and it just continues to search for updates.
I thought that maybe there is a problem with KB3138612 ( that is supposed to help WU ) so I uninstalled that and rebooted. No luck whatsoever.
I opened task manager and tried to stop WU but it just continues to run in the background with svc for windows services using 50% constantly. Seems like the only way to stop WU is to shut down the computer.
Maybe this is MS’s way of getting rid of updates for W7?

I just ran sfc /sannow and it found no problems.

Don't take yourself so seriously, no one else does
All W10 Pro at 22H2,(2 Desktops, 1 Laptop).

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I tried running chkdsk /f and then WU with no change. Then I tried the WU “Fixit” and it found a couple of problems and fixed them but no joy with WU.
So now I am going to D/L all the KBs from the MS Update catalog site and just install them manually.
I think that something has happened/changed with the WU site. Hopefully it is temporary.

I could only get 3 updates to update manually since they changed the process for the “Windows Standalone Installer”. It just keeps searching “this computer”.

Don't take yourself so seriously, no one else does
All W10 Pro at 22H2,(2 Desktops, 1 Laptop).

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If you have not updated in awhile, it may take awhile for WU to find your updates. Especially after deleting the contents of the Windows/Software Distribution folder. The fix for error 80070003 is to delete the contents of the Data Store and Downloads folder in that directory. Doing this goes smoothly, when you try to do the whole folder you will get some access violations. Did you disable WU in services first?

I have seen WU misbehaving since last summer on more than 1 machine. Long searches and no indication of download progress. Also no notification that new patches are available. I personally think MS is trying to pi$$ off people so they will switch to WinX.

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If you have not updated in awhile, it may take awhile for WU to find your updates

I was fully patched up until the most recent WU’s.
KenWA hasn’t responded to his post, wonder if it’s working for him yet.

Don't take yourself so seriously, no one else does
All W10 Pro at 22H2,(2 Desktops, 1 Laptop).

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My 64 bit W7 computers found the updates fairly quickly but my 1- 32 bit computer has been checking for updates for hours now.
This was in the newsletter this morning from Susan:

This month, if you click Check for updates in Windows Update on a Win7 machine, you’ll probably find that the process takes an enormous amount of time.
Even if you install this month’s Windows Update client patch, KB 3138612, the scan will be a bit faster but still slow. (Install KB 3138612 and be patient

Update:
After 3 hrs. my 32 bit W7 found the updates. Conclusion, it’s the WU site.

Don't take yourself so seriously, no one else does
All W10 Pro at 22H2,(2 Desktops, 1 Laptop).

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It looks as though my suspicions may be right. What will Microsoft not do to try to persuade Win 7 users to downgrade to Win 10?

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It looks as though my suspicions may be right. What will Microsoft not do to try to persuade Win 7 users to downgrade to Win 10?

Agreed
I went through all kinds of stuff yesterday like running the WU fixit etc. ( nothing compared to what you did though, LOL ) and all it turned out to be is MS.

Don't take yourself so seriously, no one else does
All W10 Pro at 22H2,(2 Desktops, 1 Laptop).

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It looks as though my suspicions may be right. What will Microsoft not do to try to persuade Win 7 users to downgrade to Win 10?

That’s funny. I have Windows 10Pro installed and have problems with CUMULATIVE updates only. Not one Cumulative update has worked on my PC but other updates install just fine. I have tried all solutions found and still have the same problem. I guess what I’m saying is that updating to Windows 10 did Not solve all update problems.

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I continued to search through various Forums looking for help and found an identical problem in Windows Answers

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-update/windows-update-remains-at-checking-for-updates/ff3c442e-79a6-40d3-ac35-29e130cebef1

and a possible solution provided by Jim Morley. This seemed to work for several people and I was tempted but did not like the idea of having to do a complete reinstall again so I tried following all the steps but omitting the re installation.

To my delight Windows Update found 218 Important updates within 15 minutes (I was not sitting at the PC at the time but it was more than 5 minutes which was when I moved away. My Thinkpad is busy downloading 215 of these (selected by WU, not by me) but being an elderly notebook this will take several hours to complete. I will report back later (possibly tomorrow!) if all goes well but it seems the main problem has been solved.

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I have just run my Thinkpad updater overnight but it still doesn’t find any updates.

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Update KB3102810 was released to ease the problem of slow/hanging Check for updates but that was already installed on this laptop to no avail.

I have recently run the Windows Repair program from http://www.tweaking.com on both machines (twice on this machine), which included a WU fix but because this includes clearing the SoftwareDistribution folder, it emulates a fresh install or factory reset where it seems never ending checking for updates.

I eventually cancelled the scan, got on with my life and waited for MS to send them out, which it did and now both laptops are up to date after vetting this month’s updates.

Sometimes changing the DNS servers in the computer can help, depending upon what the problem is.

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Update KB3102810 was released to ease the problem of slow/hanging Check for updates but that was already installed on this laptop to no avail.

KB3138612 was supposed to help also but it didn’t on my computers.

Don't take yourself so seriously, no one else does
All W10 Pro at 22H2,(2 Desktops, 1 Laptop).

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The problem with all this is that you never know anymore whether it’s your computer or if MS has got the WU site screwed up again.:mad:

Don't take yourself so seriously, no one else does
All W10 Pro at 22H2,(2 Desktops, 1 Laptop).

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The problem with all this is that you never know anymore whether it’s your computer or if MS has got the WU site screwed up again.:mad:

Indeed. I am having what I think is the same problem – the updates show up (I am set to check for updates but not automatically download them), but an attempt to download & install them is stuck at 0%. I can’t find any references to the MS server problem except on this forum, so I guess the only way to know when the problem is fixed is if people on this forum report their status. For my report, it’s 9:00 am PST and I am still unable to download. If anyone has better success please post the info here.

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After the glacial pace of connecting to WU, I installed KB 3138612 on one of our Win7 (Home) pcs. I started that pc alongside another Win7 (Pro) pc at the same time. The pc without 3138612 was able to check for updates in 15 minutes; the one with 3138612 installed took almost an hour (I had checked for WU earlier in the day on that pc). Until 3138612, I had resisted installing WU Client updates.

Individual Win7 updates generally now take forever as well on all 3 of my pc’s although we have a fast internet connection. After getting Susan Bradley’s Patch Watch, I used to be able to update all 3 in a couple of hours. No longer.

As earlier posts mentioned, MS must be tightening access to its servers for Win 7 folks. It does not seem to matter if I do updating at 8am or 8pm. I have no reason to upgrade to Win10 as the Win7’s work reasonably well except with WU; Win10 will probably introduce a new host of problems to deal with.

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What speed! I have just run Windows update overnight and it was still searching for updates the following morning.

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What speed! I have just run Windows update overnight and it was still searching for updates the following morning.

I’ve seen that a few times and left the computers running overnight then was pleasantly surprised the updates started the install when I next time I checked Windows Updates.

Before you wonder "Am I doing things right," ask "Am I doing the right things?"

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I also had similar problems with Windows Update on my Windows 7 64bit home laptop last week. I tried various Fixits and nothing worked. I eventually looked back on the March 10th Windows Newsletter (529) and Susan Bradley’s article named “Using IE 11 to promote Wind10 Upgrading”. Later in the article in a section called “A Shower of Windows/Office non security fixes”. She refers to KB 3138612. I clicked on it and downloaded it, then installed it. After it finished and I restarted the computer, Windows Update worked properly.

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Thank goodness I found this thread.
Can’t update Windows on 7 or 8.1.
Had problems with 7 for a couple of months.
I now trust that it is an MS ‘problem’ so will leave well alone.

Wanted to update one machine (8.1) to Windows 10 but need to ‘Windows update’ a 7 machine first!!!!! Catch 22????:D

PS. Presumably people who turn on PCs as and when they need them will get no updates….particularly if they are set to automatically download….or will Windows 10 simply load itself!?

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Today, I installed 7 updates around 9am and the download took about 1 minute.

I installed 6 more updates around 11am and the download did not start for a good 15 minutes and took about 3 minutes to complete.

I installed another 3 updates around 2:30pm and the download did not start for about 5 minutes, but took only a minute to complete.

My observation is that the delays seem to be dependent on the load on the Microsoft servers at the time. It is extremely variable.

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Hmmm, for some reason my W10 laptop doesn’t seem to take long to update but my W7 computers seem to take forever to find the updates. There must be an explanation but it certainly isn’t coming from MS.

Today, I installed 7 updates around 9am and the download took about 1 minute.

I installed 6 more updates around 11am and the download did not start for a good 15 minutes and took about 3 minutes to complete.

I installed another 3 updates around 2:30pm and the download did not start for about 5 minutes, but took only a minute to complete.

Those times are not bad considering the 3 hrs. it took for my 32 bit W7 to find the updates. My 64 bit W7 computers were more in the range of 15/20 mins to find the updates.
Once found, the D/L time was about the same as always.

Don't take yourself so seriously, no one else does
All W10 Pro at 22H2,(2 Desktops, 1 Laptop).

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7 updates in 1 minute is wonderful – from my perspective anyway. Even a 15 min. delay is not bad. For me, once the download starts, the actual file download is very fast. It is just “checking for updates” and getting the download started that is painfully slow.

Maybe South Florida has slower WU connection times than Boston.

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7 updates in 1 minute is wonderful – from my perspective anyway. Even a 15 min. delay is not bad. For me, once the download starts, the actual file download is very fast. It is just “checking for updates” and getting the download started that is painfully slow.

Maybe South Florida has slower WU connection times than Boston.

Hmmmmm. I’m still totally stopped. I have selected only the Security Essentials update and it is still 0% downloaded after 15 minutes. I’ve tried Microsoft’s repair tool and it found no errors. I’ve seen some articles about clearing the update cache and will give that a try. I’ll report back as to whether it helps.

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Hmmmmm. I’m still totally stopped. I have selected only the Security Essentials update and it is still 0% downloaded after 15 minutes. I’ve tried Microsoft’s repair tool and it found no errors. I’ve seen some articles about clearing the update cache and will give that a try. I’ll report back as to whether it helps.

Clearing the update cache didn’t seem to help, but I tried letting the Security Essentials update run and it finally installed after 3 hours. I was beginning to think something was wrong with my system, but it appears that the Microsoft server is just VERY slow.

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Win7 Pro 64bit w/ all WU patches until last week’s ‘patch Tuesday’. WU is set to ‘Check for updates but let me decide…’ and ‘Give me recommended updates the same way…’ is unticked.

I clicked on “Check for updates” in Windows Update this morning at 8:57AM, and it was ‘Checking for updates’ until 10:28AM (1hr 31min).

After downloading/installing the ‘Important’ updates and rebooting I again clicked on “Check for updates” in WU at 10:42AM, and it was ‘Checking for updates’ until 11:43AM (1hr 1min).

This afternoon I ran WU on a Vista system; started ‘Checking for updates’ 3:19PM, finished 7:02PM (3hr 43min?).

Yet checking for updates in Win10 Insider Preview on another desktop PC takes only two-to-three minutes.

Clearly M$ has set their WU servers to give highest priority to Win10, lower priority to Win8/8.1, even lower priority to Win7, and Vista is at the bottom of the heap.

During the past fortnight I have experienced the same behaviour w/ two customers’ Vista systems – both took more than three hours to check for updates.

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Hello All,
This is a very interesting thread for me.
Yesterday I ran WU on my Toshiba Qosmio running Win7 Pro 64 bit and all updates downloaded and installed flawlessly in minimal time.
Then, I attempted to update my Lenovo SL410 Thinkpad running (again) Win7 Pro 64 bit, and, as KenWA found – – – NO JOY!
It found the (16?) updates but, after about four hours last night, had succeeded in downloading “0” of them.
I ran WU again today while I worked from the Qosmio and, again, NOTHING.
BTW- I am SO TIRED of M$ trying to cram Win10 down my throat and having to do detective work ON EVERY UPDATE to be sure it is also not just another M$ ploy to “give” me Win10 . . .
Anyway, I have vented and, based on this thread, I believe my issue is caused by good ole M$.
KenWA: Is there something unique to the Thinkpad perhaps?
Regards,
Bob
UPDATE: As I finished writing this post, FYI, I defragged the Lenovo’s C: drive (I have the hard drive partitioned). Then, I set it up to download and install all updates and – as I write this, all updates in fact did download and install . . . Go figure!
Thanks to all!
Again Regards,
Bob

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I have had slow updating the last two months, but especially this month, on my two Win7 computers. Previously, the one running x64 updated slower than the one running x86. The opposite was the case these past two months. In all cases, downloads were slower but not excessively so, but install was stuck on zero. The x64 computer updated in about an hour, or slightly less. When the x86 computer remained stuck for longer, I tried both the MS FixIt and MS Update Troubleshooter, with the latter also stuck, seemingly eternally. When I stopped out of that, Windows update wouldn’t even run, so I loaded a system image made earlier in the day, prior to running Windows Update- something I always do, BTW. I knew it would DEFINITELY take longer, as after such a process< WU acts as if it had never been run, and has to search the entire database to find needed updates. Once it had done so, it did finally install everything I wanted to install, but that process took almost two hours to complete.

After reviewing all the comments above, I agree that the problem is with Microsoft. However, I do find interesting the experience of one poster who updated in batches, rather than all at once, and found that some patches installed far more quickly than others. Did anyone who ended up installing the patches one-by-one find that any particular patch or patches took longer than others? I wouldn't put it past MS to throttle updates on non-Win10 computers, but I wonder if the poor construction of one or more of the patches themselves might be the source of the problem? If so, MS may be paying less attention to crafting the patches for OS's older than Win10, in which case it may pay not to even install SECURITY patches immediately, until Susan Bradley runs her tests on them, as well.

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Glad it worked for you but it may the random “fast” WU that you hit.
As to the article you posted, on my W7 64 bit the wuapi.dll, wuapp.exe, wuaclt.exe and wuaeng.dll are newer than what the poster ( Ken Morley ) described. Mine are 7.6.7601.19116 dated 2/25/16 which I believe must be from KB3138612. My W7 64 bit didn’t take all that long to find the updates BUT my W7 32 bit also had KB3138612 on it and it took 3 hrs. to find updates.
It could be that since we are 8 days away from WU day the slow servers aren’t so crowded right now.

Don't take yourself so seriously, no one else does
All W10 Pro at 22H2,(2 Desktops, 1 Laptop).

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Win 10 has been known to self install, but prior to it being available, with WU set to auto install, when you went to shut a machine down you would have the alert on the Shut Down button where they would auto install.

With Win 10, some have had no control and have come back to find their machines in the middle of the upgrade.

At which point do the updates baulk on your Win 7 machine ?

It’s possible it could have other problems which the Windows Repair program from http://www.tweaking.com could highlight/repair.

If the Pre-Scan in Option 2 of the program finds problems, they may be the cause.

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‘Checking for updates’ simply runs….will let it run for a few hours then see tomorrow!
I always use ‘Inform me to download and install’

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What does Task Manager/Performance show for the CPU and Memory usage when it’s checking for updates ?

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CPU spiking from 50% to 96%.
Memory very steady 1.93GB…….4 installed.

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Does the CPU settle down when you aren’t checking for updates and in a quiescent state.

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If I come out of WU and disconnect from the internet the activity stays the same!
Reboot PC, and internet, CPU 25% to 65%.
Memory steady around 1.2Gb (34%)

After 5 mins CPU running 25 to 100%

Check for updates CPU 50% plus.
Memory 1.9 (51%)

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The reason I asked was because I prematurely thought I’d updated my other Win 7 laptop but was having the same check for updates problem.

In my case the CPU was locking at 100% and found it was a Service Host (svchost.exe) running at about 97% and it was extremely difficult to open any programs.

I factory reset it with an OEM Recovery disk and in its bare state the CPU graph was still going daft but not locking at 100%

As I’d gone as far as I could with it, I took it in under extended warranty for a Health and Hardware check and was informed of a fault on the HDD was the cause and that it would be replaced.

I found this puzzling as HDSentinel gave it a 100% Health and Performance rating.

I’ve had that laptop since 2010 so I suppose something had to be wearing out – just wish I knew what PC World use for their hardware testing.

If you create an external system image and have a System Repair disk, perhaps you should consider factory resetting your Win 7 machine to see if your CPU is still spiking, which could confirm or not if it could be your HDD that is the cause of your Windows Update problem.

Prior to the factory reset, my msconfig was devoid of any Startup items so I knew there was very little running in the background and I’d also tried it while disconnected from the ‘net.

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Interesting article submitted by a reader that did some testing of WU. Submitted to AskWoody.
https://www.askwoody.com/2016/the-windows-update-takes-forever-problem/

His conclusion is that the slowness is intentional:

This must be intentional. It must be intended to aggravate or penalize people who do updates manually, and make people with older systems – worst, those with 1 core – suffer the most. My Xeon-based workstation is stupid fast, so waiting through 45 minutes of tight loop CPU time before even seeing the updates is an amazing, incredible, gargantuan waste of resources. During that time there was no significant disk activity at all, and none of what little there was didn’t seem related to anything to do with Windows Update!

There are many interesting reply’s to his conclusion also.

Don't take yourself so seriously, no one else does
All W10 Pro at 22H2,(2 Desktops, 1 Laptop).

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Just tried a full virus scan with my F-Secure suite….CPU goes to 100% and after 7% scanned in 45 minutes I gave up at that stage.
On my other PCs (albeit with SSDs) the scan takes 2 to 4 minutes!
Last updates were in December so I will try a system restore before that as the laptop was running OK at that time.

That took a long time and made no difference.

There is a ‘System Image Restore Point’ from Dec 2013 when it was new….I’ll try that unless advised against!

Thank You all so far….now feel guilty having high jacked this thread…not something I normally do:o:

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I suppose I could have saved you some time if I’d added that I’d tried restoring with system images from 25th Feb and then 30th Jan which also had no effect except that I had a hell of a job updating Norton with the January image.

You could try downloading Seatools for Windows or create a bootable Seatools for DOS disk to check out your HDD.

Click on the drive to be checked and then on Basic Test to run either the Short or Long Test.

The Help file gives you some info on those, but not sure if the error codes just relate to Seagate HDDs.

I don’t know if you have your own burner such as Nero but you can use ImgBurn to create the bootable disk from the ISO.

I’m not sure if ImgBurn burn now carries some PuPs with it so look for any boxes to uncheck before going ahead with the download/install.

http://www.seagate.com/gb/en/support/downloads/item/seatools-win-master/

http://www.seagate.com/sg/en/support/downloads/item/seatools-dos-master/

I didn’t have to download anything extra to run the DOS version.

http://filehippo.com/download_imgburn/

I suppose that perhaps you should have created your own thread – but you are here now

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Currently saving a Windows image to an external HDD. I do have available full backup abilities etc but don’t feel able to use that route at the moment.
It’s an HP laptop and I think I may try the 2013 image before I get much deeper. My F-Secure suite has a problem since my system restore from January.
Want to get things sorted but need to allow plenty of thinking time!

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AV programs don’t like being out of date with their Definitions which is always a problem when restoring from a much earlier image – this is why I had so much trouble with Norton and the Jan image.

HP machines have their own built in Diagnostics which you could run if you don’t want to use the Seatools programs, but 3rd party programs can be more robust.

http://www8.hp.com/us/en/campaigns/hpsupportassistant/pc-diags.html?jumpid=va_r602_us/en/any/pps/pl_ot_ob_ds_pd/HP_PC_Hardware_Diagnostics_cc/dt

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Yes, did run some of the HP items but no joy.

I am coming to the opinion that the fault is a corrupted file (to put it simply) and not an MS update problem. Had a 100% CPU problem more than a few years ago on a PC….don’t know how it was resolved!

My two Windows 8.1 desktops are OK.

Trouble is the older I get the less I know….frustrating;):D

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I believe HP has a factory reset option where it doesn’t touch your personal stuff or installed programs.

You could run the Pre-Scan in Step 2 of http://www.tweaking.com as missing or corrupt Package files can cause update problems.

If it reports any of those then register and open a thread on the WR support forum in the Cat and Mum File Requests section, posting a copy of the log.

You don’t need to run the program in Safe Mode for that scan, but the main repairs includes one for Windows Updates which may or not resolve, but something is causing the CPU to spike when idle.

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Couldn’t find that particular restore option but it isn’t an important option….just a nice one!
Ran the Tweak!
Package files….OK
Reparse Points..OK
Environment…..not OK
Used the repair tool and all ‘apply buttons’ reported ‘failed to write’.

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Can you run a command prompt as an admin by going Start – type cmd then right click on cmd and select Run as administrator – accept the UAC and enter chkdsk /f

You will be prompted to enter y for it to run on the next restart, do that then enter shutdown /r /t 00 and wait for it to do its thing.

This scan doesn’t take long and if you sit and watch it, you can see if it has found anything to repair in the volume and if it has found any KBs in bad sectors.

However, if you don’t get to read it all before the machine reboots, you can read the log in Event Viewer.

Go Start – type eventvwr and press enter.

When it has read the data, expand Windows Logs – click on the name Application – Action – Find then type chkdsk or wininit into the Find box and press enter.

Cancel the Find box and read the report in the scrollable window.

If you want, you can copy & paste its report into the reply box by clicking on Copy/Copy details as text in the lower right pane then right click in the reply box and select Paste.

For some reason which I’ve never understood, it produces the report in duplicate which you could edit before submitting.

As far as I know, if the Environment Variables cannot be repaired, then you could be looking at a factory reset, although you could register on the Tweaking.com forum and open a thread, posting the details of the report and your problems.

You can copy & paste the report by right clicking in it – Select all – right click and select Copy then Paste into the reply box, but you may have to wait for a couple of days for a definitive response as the owner of the site has his own computer repair business to service.

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Will try and catch up tomorrow….thanks:D

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Okay – you may as well enjoy what’s left of the weekend

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Did a check disc and the results are below.
It hasn’t stopped the CPU 50 to 100% running.
Will do a factory reset to hopefully resolve the problem.
The laptop, thank goodness, is only used for storing images when we are away and for it’s internet connection!
Will certainly post back with the result when I have plucked up the courage to continue.
Thank You:D

Log Name: Application
Source: Microsoft-Windows-Wininit
Date: 21/03/2016 11:11:13
Event ID: 1001
Task Category: None
Level: Information
Keywords: Classic
User: N/A
Computer: EJB-HP
Description:


Checking file system on C:
The type of the file system is NTFS.


A disk check has been scheduled.
Windows will now check the disk.

CHKDSK is verifying files (stage 1 of 3)…
164352 file recordsprocessed.
File verification completed.
666 large filerecords processed.
0 bad file recordsprocessed.
0 EA recordsprocessed.
45 reparse recordsprocessed.
CHKDSK is verifying indexes (stage 2 of 3)…
214778 index entriesprocessed.
Index verification completed.
0 unindexed filesscanned.
0 unindexed filesrecovered.
CHKDSK is verifying security descriptors (stage 3 of 3)…
164352 file SDs/SIDsprocessed.
Cleaning up 1639 unused index entries from index $SII offile 0x9.
Cleaning up 1639 unused index entries from index $SDH offile 0x9.
Cleaning up 1639 unused security descriptors.
Security descriptor verification completed.
25214 data filesprocessed.
CHKDSK is verifying Usn Journal…
35036128 USN bytesprocessed.
Usn Journal verification completed.
CHKDSK discovered free space marked as allocated in the
master file table (MFT) bitmap.
CHKDSK discovered free space marked as allocated in thevolume bitmap.
Windows has made corrections to the file system.

467516415 KB totaldisk space.
65292556 KB in128984 files.
77860 KB in 25215indexes.
0 KB in badsectors.
281531 KB in useby the system.
65536 KB occupiedby the log file.
401864468 KBavailable on disk.

4096 bytes ineach allocation unit.
116879103 totalallocation units on disk.
100466117 allocationunits available on disk.

Internal Info:
00 82 02 00 63 5a 02 00 91 4d 04 00 00 00 00 00 ….cZ…M……
28 14 00 00 2d 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 (…-………..
90 92 20 00 50 01 1f 00 50 01 1f 00 00 00 1f 00 .. .P…P…….

Windows has finished checking your disk.
Please wait while your computer restarts.

Event Xml:



1001
0
4
0
0
0x80000000000000

41689


Application
EJB-HP

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Check out #14 and #15 here, it has worked fine on two machines here since those posts were made.

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Check out #14 and #15 here, it has worked fine on two machines here since those posts were made.

Thanks Andy, but EJB hasn’t reported getting any error codes but corrupt Environment Variables as found after running the WR Pre-Scan, will affect Windows Update.

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Neither of the machines here had any error codes either, both had excessive CPU/memory usage, and the service host for WU was top of the heap and WU was taking forever, hours > days, over the last few weeks since a fresh install.

EJB, can we take a look at your Environment variables and errors, etc? Run MSINFO32, click on each + and on each subcategory until they’re all populated (main section turns white and has output, a few might not turn white but should have an error message like ‘Can’t Collect Information’). Once done, save it as the default .nfo file type and zip it, attach the zip to a reply.

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I’ll try that!

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I opened ‘System Information’.
Clicked/opened all the + signs on the left.
All the information on the right side is the normal computer info starting with ‘OS Name’

Is this correct?

PS. I think not as that is just the PC info…..don’t see how to populate all the items?

Un and Reinstalled my security this morning because it wasn’t updating….it is now OK. (This happened after a system restore…already mentioned)

Had seen that post before…but, with the CPU running at 50 to 100% all the time it can’t be only that I assume!?

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You click on each of the items under the + categories and your Environment Variables can be found under Software Environment.

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Sorry…not been there before.
So..click on System Drivers then copy and paste the details to the right…….then all the others?

Or.. click on Environment Variables and just save that page?

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I’m not sure just how much Satrow wants you to upload.

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All of it, save it as the default MSInfo32.nfo, zip it and attach the zip.

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satrow, sorry but I simply don’t get this at all.
Obviously I’m missing a vital step.

I can create a folder and export each page to it….otherwise I don’t know!

Please don’t let me waste your time any further as I am quite prepared to do a factory reset if required.

I am certainly grateful for your efforts:D

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Once you’ve checked that the MSInfo32 contents are populated, use the main menu and save the whole thing, File > Save

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I hope this is what you require….never used the ‘upload manager’ before, it’s always been a simple ‘attach’ button….here’s hoping;)

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Comparison below with my W7 x64 rig:

EJB986, W7 HP: Path C:Program FilesCommon FilesMicrosoft SharedWindows Live;C:Program FilesBroadcomBroadcom 802.11Driver;;C:Program FilesAMD APPbinx86;%SystemRoot%system32;%SystemRoot%;%SystemRoot%System32Wbem;%SYSTEMROOT%System32WindowsPowerShellv1.0;C:Program FilesWindows LiveShared;C:Program FilesATI TechnologiesATI.ACECore-Static;C:Program FilesWIDCOMMBluetooth Software;C:Program FilesBroadcomWHL

satrow W7 Pro: Path C:Windowssystem32;C:Windows;C:WindowsSystem32Wbem;C:WindowsSystem32WindowsPowerShellv1.0;C:Program Files (x86)NVIDIA CorporationPhysXCommon;C:Program Files (x86)Windows Kits8.1Windows Performance Toolkit;C:Program Files (x86)Windows Kits10Windows Performance Toolkit;C:Program Files (x86)QuickTimeQTSystem

Something odd happening inside the MSInfo32 > Software Environment > Running Tasks section that I’ve not noticed before – an awful lot of “Not Available” in the path column, normally there might be 4-10, here there are ~70! Other sections show paths as I would expect.

The WER section, if we disregard the WU failures, has been pretty quiet until a spike the last ~3 days, is this because you’ve been doing ‘different’ things during that time span?

The number of loaded modules from the F-Secure security suite feels high, combined with the OEM HP software running, I’m guessing System resources are being pushed, certainly higher than I’d want to see during normal usage. Can you start Task Manager and post a screenshot like the below for comparison?

43980-TaskManPerf

I’m away for a while (I have a notebook with 16 0x19 bugchecks in the last 22 days to visit), if anyone can find something odd going on, please feel free to contribute

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It’s a small laptop that I use occasionally.
Normally when away for a few days or holidays….for storing images and the internet connection.
Prior to each trip I switch on and ensure that everything is updated.
Not used much over the winter although did try a few updates seemingly with little success.

After a system restore, some days ago, I had to uninstall and reinstall my F-Secure as it wouldn’t update itself…it’s OK now.

The HP software is all over the place and I try not to activate it as I prefer my own maintenance habits……because it’s an occasional PC I have never removed any of it.
43982-Z-Task-manager-running.
The image indicates how it is running all the time.

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Ok, that explains why the WER looked like it had gaps in the errors reported.

The CPU usage looks like WU’s recent MO, try those 2 KB’s I pointed out earlier. Handles used are higher than I like to see after only 3 hours uptime, Processes are a higher count than is usually necessary as well, I’d remove any HP pre-installed (and any other) software that you don’t use on a regular basis.

I’d also remove F-Secure (It might be part of the reason WU isn’t functioning, use their tool/method to fully remove it) and install something more lightweight during testing, MSE or Panda Cloud, and ensure that the Windows firewall is re-enabled.

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I use F-Secure on all my PCs, and have done for many years, so will uninstall as a temporary measure….I do use the F-Secure uninstall tool.
Will try the KBs and remove what I can of HPs bloatware.

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That sounds good

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Info…the two KBs (KB3083710 and KB3102810) are not installed and are not on the WU list waiting to be downloaded and installed…..there are 90 listed at the moment.

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They weren’t installed/offered by WU on the 2 machines here either.

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As there are now updates waiting to be downloaded/installed, it looks like it was F-Secure baulking things, but wonder what caused the fail to overwrite the Environment Variables error when that scan was done in Safe Mode.

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3rd party security drivers do sometimes load up even in Safe Mode, I watched one scroll on screen during boot and pointed it out to the notebook owner earlier today. A Clean Boot might be the only way, short of a full uninstall, to block them from loading.

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I’ve noticed my Norton items loading during a Safe Boot but have also gotten an error message after to turn on Windows Firewall.

That would disappear as I assume it was a bit slow in activating as it’s supposed to do in Safe Mode with Networking.

Norton auto reinstates itself in msconfig as soon as you hit the Apply button – as does the Pro version of Bitdefender – not sure if F-Secure reacts that way though.

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Since my last post I have uninstalled F-Secure then I installed Panda…I clicked the wrong button and got a trial version.
Removed it after an hour then downloaded the Cloud version.
After quite a few attempts it simply would not install…I then spent the next couple of hours and finally uninstalled it.

For info the update list appeared some time ago….before yesterday…obviously before I uninstalled F-Secure.

Throughout the whole operation, and for more than the last week or so, the CPU usage has been remarkable consistent between 50 and 100%.

I have reinstalled F-Secure and will decide my position tomorrow.

PS. Have never started in safe mode during this procedure.

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The Safe Mode that was referred to was when you ran Windows Repair Pre-Scan.

Can you run the Pre-Scan again to see if you still get the Environment Variable error that cannot be fixed.

Did you check the CPU usage with F-Secure uninstalled ?

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I check the CPU usage after and before virtually every action….in fact it’s getting a bit obsessive as I see that as the whole problem.

Will read back and try the pre scan again.

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I know it can be a bit of a chew, but if you still get the error, can you run it again with F-Secure uninstalled ?

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43996-Z-With-F-Secure43997-Z-After-F-Secure.

The pre scan was identical to the first run.

Images……1. With two graphs is with F-Secure.
2. With one graph is after F-Secure was uninstalled with the correct uninstall tool.
For info…The group of three spikes, near the middle, on the single graph record the moment I turned off the wireless connection…..just to see!;)

Also tried Windows update and it seemed to make only a small difference to the usage……but not on those two graphs!

Have to get back to life until later.

So grateful for your time:D

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How did you get it to display just the one core ?

I have Dual Core on this laptop and it only ever displays both.

The left display seems to be the high end whereas the right display while having a base line of ~50% appears to be the most stable.

In Task Manager/Processes, when you click on the name Memory it will sort them into the highest user first, but click on Show all processes first.

Which seems to be the highest user and is there much fluctuation on the others ?

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Windows 7…Task manager…Performance…View…CPU History.
Windows 8.1…Task manager…Performance…Right click on graph…Change graph to.

Processes:-
Highest for a couple of minutes….Trustedinstaller.exe

Then…svchost.exe (netsvcs) PID 1024

Services:-
wuauserv PID 1024

Throughout laptop not connected to the internet.

All other process activity is only 1 to 4% whereas the mentioned items is at least a steady 50%.

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Thanks – I remember that now.

Those may have been related to the Windows Updates.

Have you done a robust antimalware scan with something like the free version of MBAM using the Rootkit Mode ?

http://filehippo.com/download_malwarebytes_anti_malware/

You can find that via Settings/Detection and Protection and check the box for the Rootkit scan.

It’s also best to use the dropdowns to treat PuPs and PuMs as malware.

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Will have a go in the morning.

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Had to download malwarebytes on another machine and transfer it to the laptop….download was too slow when the CPU was 99%.

Ran the programme as suggested.
Up to and including ‘Scan file system’……. detections zero.
After heuristic analysis there were 4 detections.

HKLM/Software/MS/IE etc
Ditto.
HKU/S-1-5-21…etc.
Ditto.

The scan took 36 mins and the CPU was running at around 95%
F-Secure was loaded throughout.

After the scan and the detected items were removed the Laptop is running at a steady 60%.

Went to Windows Update and after 60 mins it remained on 0% downloaded…..but a consistent CPU still at 60%.
Will leave it running on WU for a much longer period this evening.

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Can you attach the scan results log, please?

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Did the rest of the HKU/ have these numbers – HKUS-1-5-21-1390067357-854245

That is a Trojan, or MBAM has detected something that has the Heuristics of it.

60% is still high, so depending what Satrow finds in the logs, it may be worth running an additional scan with the ESET Free Online Scanner, but more about that later if required.

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44023-Scan-log-file

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Hmm, Ask Search engine crapware or some remnants of, doesn’t seem like it should be a root cause here. Sudo?

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I agree – I wonder if it’s worth resetting the Hosts File should something be phoning home ?

https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/kb/972034

I think I’ve seen that MS/IE associated with a browser redirect but that obviously isn’t the case here, but could have been related to the ASK Toolbar.

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Reset IE from the Control Panel as well as resetting the hosts file. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/923737

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Will do those in the morning…Thank you both.

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Last evening 5 hours running downloaded and installed 69 (79?) updates.
They were installing with CPU at 100%.

Today ran the two suggestions above and there is a glimmer of light:-
No change after the first suggestion.

44033-Connect-to-internet

The main peaks on the left record my connection to the internet!

Seems to be idling in single figures.

Will check for the next 24 hours and then hopefully sign things off!:D:D

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There must have been either a dodgy add-on or some remnant of the ASK Toolbar and resetting IE to defaults has gotten rid of it – but it’s looking good

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The reset seems to have resolved the problem.
The graphs were run on ‘Low Speed’ the first 0 to 7 mins and the second 7 to 14 mins approximately from when the laptop was switched on and connected to the internet.

Thank you both for so much time and effort.:D

44039-Low-speed-0-to-7-mins44040-Low-speed-7-to-14-mins.

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Good to see it running better now!

That E-450 APU isn’t very powerful, I’d be looking seriously at reducing any unneeded strain on it by removing all startups that aren’t needed, that should reduce boot time a little and allow the CPU% to settle down quicker and at a lower % level, allowing you to have a more responsive machine. Start here

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Yes, thanks for that it does get a little frustrating at times.
Both our desktops, which are used daily, are games machines with SSDs and built to our own specs!:D

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I had posted slowness of Win7 updates/checking after March patch Tuesday. Tried periodically since then; no change – still slow. Tried last Sat morning checking for updates: one on a laptop on which I had installed KB3138612 and on a desktop on which it was not installed. The laptop w/ the WU update patch took 30+ minutes; the one w/o the patch took about 15 minutes; so much for 3138612.

I then installed GWX Control Panel on all 3 pcs; all found no trace of Win10 but it was enabled to be installed. Changed these to “No” Win 10. Then ran WU update checks; they were done in a couple of minutes! This has not happened in months.

Either it was using GWX to block Win10 checking or it is far from patch Tuesday. But why did it take so long last Sat am before GWX install to check for updates and a couple of minutes the same day after GWX install? Strange! Fortunately, I never had excess CPU usage on any of the pc’s during WU checks.

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Looks like WU for W7 is still a slow process. Tried for an hour this morning and gave up. Evidently W10 has priority since my W10 laptop updated immediately.

Don't take yourself so seriously, no one else does
All W10 Pro at 22H2,(2 Desktops, 1 Laptop).

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I’d love to hear from Susan Bradley about this “slowdown”.

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I just tried again and in 45 mins it found the updates. Last month I followed Susan’s advice and installed KB3138612 to speed up WU’s but it obviously didn’t help. I see that there is a “New/Revised” KB3138612 in this months updates so I installed that to see if it helps next month, LOL.

Don't take yourself so seriously, no one else does
All W10 Pro at 22H2,(2 Desktops, 1 Laptop).

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If you update during the night, it is faster.

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If you update during the night, it is faster.

Depends where in the world you are “during the night” mate.

Here (Queensland, Australia) I try to schedule updates to run about mid-afternoon our time when most of the “rest of the world” is asleep.

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Depends where in the world you are “during the night” mate.

Here (Queensland, Australia) I try to schedule updates to run about mid-afternoon our time when most of the “rest of the world” is asleep.

Wow, you are lucky to live in Australia !

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I’ve had a frustrating weekend, wasted loads of time, trying to figure this one out, then I read Tracey Capen’s article “Potential problems with recent Windows updates” of 19 April.

It’s a weird issue, tried all the online MS tools and fixes with no luck. What fixed it eventually for me is to follow the above advice from Capen / Bradley and go and find on MS website KB3145739 and install it manually. You may need to stop the Windows Update process on your PC is already running endlessly without success, before you download and click to install this one KB. Once you install this KB, reboot and within 15 minutes all the other updates were offered.

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I’ve had a frustrating weekend, wasted loads of time, trying to figure this one out, then I read Tracey Capen’s article “Potential problems with recent Windows updates” of 19 April.

It’s a weird issue, tried all the online MS tools and fixes with no luck. What fixed it eventually for me is to follow the above advice from Capen / Bradley and go and find on MS website KB3145739 and install it manually. You may need to stop the Windows Update process on your PC is already running endlessly without success, before you download and click to install this one KB. Once you install this KB, reboot and within 15 minutes all the other updates were offered.

Interesting, as KB3145739 has nothing to do with WU from the description by MS. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3145739

Don't take yourself so seriously, no one else does
All W10 Pro at 22H2,(2 Desktops, 1 Laptop).

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I’ve had a frustrating weekend, wasted loads of time, trying to figure this one out, then I read Tracey Capen’s article “Potential problems with recent Windows updates” of 19 April.

It’s a weird issue, tried all the online MS tools and fixes with no luck. What fixed it eventually for me is to follow the above advice from Capen / Bradley and go and find on MS website KB3145739 and install it manually. You may need to stop the Windows Update process on your PC is already running endlessly without success, before you download and click to install this one KB. Once you install this KB, reboot and within 15 minutes all the other updates were offered.

This is SO interesting! I had a problem LAST month updating my Lenovo laptop / my other computer updated in a heartbeat. Both run 64 bit Win 7 Pro . . .
This month the same deal – my Toshiba Qosmio updated immediately but on the Lenovo, the progress bar just kept going across and across and, although it “found” 16 important and 1 optional update(s), they would not download or install. Then, as you found, cavehomme, I shut off Windows Update, manually installed KB3145739, rebooted, did another search for updates, and the machine “re-found” all of the updates, downloaded them and they installed with no issue.
I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that M$ “hid” a fix for WU in that “security update for Windows Graphics Component” . . .

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I’ve just restored a Win 7 laptop with a system image and when I went to check if any updates were being offered, it told me to check for updates – which seemed never ending.

I left in on overnight and it found 26 Important and 3 Optional.

I trimmed those down to 19 Important and it has taken the best part of 3 hours for it to show any progress on the Downloading.

I wonder if MS will let us Win 7 users in on the P2P they are using for the Win 10 updates

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My Win7 machine stopped updating several months ago, after several days of searching for a fix I gave up. Next my Win8 laptop did the same thing, and after weeks of seeking a solution I gave up and installed Win10. I recently went back to the Win7 machine and wonder of wonders It was receiving updates again. This still left me doubting Windows integrity and It also had a hard drive issue. Now with a new SSD I have installed a fresh copy of Win7 and after 18 updates I am back where I started from, NO UPDATES, in fact I need at least 143 more to be current. I see no future for Win7, and I don’t like being backed into the Win10 corner. My son-in-law would like me to fix his Win7 but I think I will have to decline. I have yet to find anyone with even half a solution, and that includes the willing folks at Microsoft Community. I am glad Linux is not giving my any problems.

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So can you see the updates trying to download or install or haven’t they been offered yet ?

Have you son-in-law register on the forum and perhaps we can help him to fix his computer, or at least point him in the right direction if it is a hardware issue.

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I received 21 updates and no more. Belarc Advisor says I need another 143. The updates I received took me as far as the service pack and then the latest Update Agent, 320. I tried Microsoft’s various fix-it tools and now Update says I have never updated and the search for updates just sits there returning nothing. This is the same result when I tried to fix the problem months ago, before this attempt with a reload of Win7. I tell myself this is an opportunity to learn but info on fixing is so disjointed with little organization, seems like all I do is waste my time. I just this noon found an organized approach to the problem, but what the hey, this is Microsoft’s doing, not sure I am into wasting more of my life trying to fix there screw-up.. My son-in-law had to re-install Win7 on his lap-top about 9 months ago and is thinking about using his desktop for target practice if I don’t fix it. He is not into wasting his time. I am retired so I guess I will continue wasting time for a day or so.

Thanks for your reply.
Charlie

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The fact that some did download and install shows that the machine can receive updates – it may still be a case of just letting them come on their own.

At least having SP1 is half of the battle.

I think one of the MS Fix its will delete the contents of the SoftwareDistribution folder which will remove your update history, but that isn’t anything to worry about.

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Hi All,

I am having a problem with three sepcific updates which are not installing (they DL no problem). This has been happening since MS started bundling the forced upgrade to Win10 in the security patches.

I’m getting worried as I am perhaps missing out on important security patches. Is there another way to get the security patches sans Win10?

My system is an Asus laptop running Win7 Pro x64 (and I’d like to keep it that way!)

the specific security patches are:

KB3140410
KB3126587
KB3126593

I have serched for solutions but without joy like http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-update/kb3140410-update-installation-failure-80070490/dc7044a2-df0d-466e-8a92-0725565a1347?auth=1.
I have tried installing and running the windows diagnostic fixit. No joy.

Help would be much appreciated!

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What error codes are you getting for their fail ?

You could try running the System Update Readiness Tool (SURT) to see what that reports, but it can take a while to download and run and then check its log.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-gb/windows7/what-is-the-system-update-readiness-tool

The log can be found in C:WindowsLogsCBS then double click on the Checksur one which will open in Notepad.

It may be that there are missing/corrupt Package cat and mum files.

Running the Pre-Scan in Option 2 of the Windows Repair program from http://www.tweaking.com would confirm/eliminate that, but go onto run the program twice in Safe Mode after working your way through the preliminary steps/options as advised if no Package file corruption is reported.

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Thanks for the advice Sudo15. I ran SURT and it did find some problems with cat/mum files. I ran the tweaking windows repair twice and it seemed to fix some things. I was hopeful but windows still can not install those updates (error code 80073701).

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If the Windows Repair Pre-Scan in Option2 is still reporting problems with the Cat and Mum files then register on the forum and open a thread in the Cat and Mum File Requests section and post the Pre-Scan report where you will get help in replacing those.

If the corrupt Cat and Mum files are numbered in the hundreds and you have an Intel based CPU, then downloading the Intel chipset drivers has been found to resolve that, otherwise just open a thread on the support forum.

Have you also been getting error code 80070490 as you had been researching that ?

That error code denotes a corrupt CBS Manifest and this batch file run from an elevated cmd prompt has been found to resolve that –

To avoid any typos, you could copy & paste the cmds to the cmd prompt then reboot to effect.

net stop cryptsvc

esentutl /p

%systemroot%System32catroot2{F750E6C3-38EE-11D1-85E5-00C04FC295EE}catdb

rmdir /s /q %systemroot%system32catroot2.old

md %systemroot%system32catroot2.old

xcopy %systemroot%system32catroot2 %systemroot%system32catroot2.old /s

del /f /q %systemroot%system32catroot2*.*

net start cryptsvc

pause

This has been devised by the author of WR.

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Following your advice, I found a long (700+) list of missing Cat/Mum files and posted a request for help on tweaking.com.
Hopefully that will nail it!

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Did you try those cmds or download the chipset drivers if using Intel ?

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I to was has having “update” problems with my 2 win. 7 home prem. 64 bit. sp1 machines, I have been very careful as to which updates I have taken (do not want win. 10 right now) and look to Susan Bradleys posts in Win. Secrets for that info. I had checked for viruses, malware ware and run SFC – all came up clean. I have also spent many hours reading and searching for answers, I just did not feel there was anything wrong with my machines and did not want to fix something that was not broken. After reading through this thread a couple of times I saw that a couple of “posters” had mentioned they felt that (2) system updates needed to be installed, (kb3145739 & kb3138612), I had one of them installed but not both, not sure why. Anyways, I installed the one I was missing, rebooted and “checked for updates” in the control panel – windows updates worked on one machine very quickly and took about 20 min. to kick in on the other – success finally :-).

Just my two cents – don’t give up and don’t fix something that isn’t broken

Joe

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Unfortunately GREYGEEK I seem to have both of those updates installed. Thanks for the suggestion!

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I ran the cmd you provided and it copied 16 files.
I installed the Intel driver update utility and it had to update my system before running..installed new dirvers for bluetooth/wifi Intel Proset? Is that correct? I still can’t install the 3 updates.

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I ran the cmd you provided and it copied 16 files.
I installed the Intel driver update utility and it had to update my system before running..installed new dirvers for bluetooth/wifi Intel Proset? Is that correct? I still can’t install the 3 updates.

I’d add that to your Tweaking.com thread that you have run the batch file as well as downloading Intel chipset drivers and see what additional steps you are given when your thread is picked up.

Did you run the Pre-Scan again to see if it was still reporting the same number of corrupt files ?

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With both kb3145739 & kb3138612 installed, it cut the “Finding Updates” down to 40/45 mins. on May updates, instead of many hours so I guess it helped somewhat.

Don't take yourself so seriously, no one else does
All W10 Pro at 22H2,(2 Desktops, 1 Laptop).

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A more permanent fix is to install the newly released June 2016 Update Rollup for Windows 7 SP1 – KB3161608.

The KB3161608 update rollup includes the Windows Update client fix of June 2016 – KB3161647.

I just installed the newly released KB3161608 update rollup, rebooted and did a WU scan, and it took between 5 to 7 minutes to display a list of available Win7 updates.

Note that the KB3161647 fix is not available as an individual patch so just obtain the KB3161608 update.

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A more permanent fix is to install the newly released June 2016 Update Rollup for Windows 7 SP1 – KB3161608.

The KB3161608 update rollup includes the Windows Update client fix of June 2016 – KB3161647.

I just installed the newly released KB3161608 update rollup, rebooted and did a WU scan, and it took between 5 to 7 minutes to display a list of available Win7 updates.

Note that the KB3161647 fix is not available as an individual patch so just obtain the KB3161608 update.

Be wary about jumping to conclusions, I ran WU just before I discovered this patch (a little over an hour ago) and my before and after results were both inside a minute.

Once we have some results in during the next peak WU period (within ~6 days post-release), we’ll have a better idea of how good it really is.

(Over the last ~10 months, my WU times had been anywhere between a few minutes and well in excess of 24 hours – pretty random.)

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Just to add another ‘wrinkle’ to the issue, I’ll point this one out.

I am a Windows 10 Insider, but, because of some weather related issues in my area (flooding, hail, etc) I had not reloaded and updated Win 10 in 60 days or so. When I did reload it onto my computer, the Automatic Update failed to ‘move’ my computer from the build of 14295 to the latest build of 14366 for 2 or 3 days of manually checking to ‘assist’ the ‘automatic’ Updater. I finally updated it by downloading the .ISO file for 14366, which seemed to ‘goose’ the updater into working and installing build 14366 on it’s own. Then, the very next day, the updater installed build 14367.

Since I found Win 10 to still be a bit ‘squirrelly’ where the video is concerned, I switched back to Win 7. That’s when I ran into the same Updater problem you all were/are having.

Just wanted to let you know it’s not just happening to Window 7, but apparently anyone who isn’t ‘playing by MS rules’ gets to ‘enjoy’ this issue. I posted a comment on the Win 10 Feedback page that the Microsoftians should remember that there is another answer that starts with “L” and ends with “x”.

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After many hours of trying to fix the up-date problem I bit the Micro-bullet and updated to 10 home. My experience convinced me that Microsoft was all of the problem. Windows 10 is pretty good, bit wonkie and Microsoft is slanting the market more. I have two Linux machines and two Windows, I have vowed to Move everything to Linux if this situation occurs again, or if the slant progresses to far.
I spend a lot of time with my machines and I will never waste so much time again

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I’ve already tried to install KB3161608 twice and it keeps telling me it’s not compatible to my machine – downloading the 64 bit version onto a Win 7 x64 Home Premium laptop.

I think I’ll give SURT a go and just leave it to run, no doubt “Searching for updates online” as the trouble shooter does.

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