problem The search for new updates by Windows Update, takes too long

[apairofpcs]

I have 3 pcs, 1 desktop and 2 laptops. All 3 have SSDs. The desktop has Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit installed. The Lenovo laptop has Windows 7 Home Premium Edition 64 bit installed. The laptop in question is a Toshiba with Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit installed, which I bought in Aug. 2009. The problem I've been having since yesterday,Thu. Mar 10th, is that Windows Update keeps checking for updates for hours, and only stops with an invitation to install Windows 10. On the other 2 pcs, Windows Update checks for less than a minute, and stops. I don't know why the problem started on the Toshiba. I've spent many hours troubleshooting this. Below are the steps I've taken to solve the problem.

My Windows Update setting on all 3 pcs, is the one to check for updates automatically, but ask me whether to download and install them.

I've visited the Windows Firewall application in Control Panel, to see if there was anything unusual in the list of allowed programs or features, There wasn't any.

I initiated a System Restore point that I manually created before Mar. 10th, with no change.

I visited the Windows "Services" table and changed the Windows Update service Startup type, from the Automatic ( Delayed ) default setting, to Manual. No change.

I ran the default chkdsk C: on the drive, which found no errors.

I ran the enhanced version of chkdsk /R to find and repair bad sectors, which found no errors.

To stop the program, I had to End Task in Task Manager. But when I opened up Windows Update again, it continued checking. The program didn't stop, even after choosing End Task.

When I chose End Task, restarted and opened Windows Update, it was still checking. When I shutdown via hibernate, it was still checking. But when I did a default shutdown and opened Windows Update, it offered me a new scan. If I started it again, it continued checking until the Windows 10 invitation appeared.

I ran Spybot Search and Destroy, which found no malware / spyware.

I ran AVG Antivirus Free 2016, which found no threats.

I use all 3 pcs in an identical manner, and I haven't changed anything on the Toshiba, from the time it worked properly to the time it stopped.

Does anybody have an idea what has been happening?

 

[ddrueding]

The only time I've seen something similar was when a previous update failed/crashed/corrupted. The fact that you've already tried a System Restore means that that probably isn't your problem.

 

[Tea]

Microsoft have completely borked Windows Update, that's why. This has been going on for months, and it's getting worse and worse. I am assuming that it's part of their policy to make all Windows version except 10 so unusable that everybody downgrades to 10. I see this problem all the time now, Apairofpcs, and on lots of different machines. It's not you, it's Microsoft.

 

[Stereodude]

I had this issue on one of my laptops and was able to fix it, let me turn on the PC and find the steps.

Edit: I followed the instructions I found here: http://superuser.com/a/833706

Specifically running these steps:

net stop wuauserv
net stop bits
rd /s /q %windir%\softwaredistribution
net start bits
net start wuauserv
wuauclt.exe /detectnow

It still took hours to complete and used a lot or RAM / CPU in the process, but Windows Update has seemed to work normally after that at least for a day or two. I don't use this system much. However, after trying to run Windows Update on it this morning it seems back to its old badly behaving self. :scratch:

Clean installs of Windows 7 SP1 need a different fix. You have to manually install KB3102810 first or the whole thing will never work. It works best if you deprive the system of an internet connection until after you install KB3102810.

 

[apairofpcs]

The problem appears to be solved.
ddrueding.....you were right.
Tea.....based on my incident, in all fairness I can't accuse Microsoft of meddling into the affairs of end users by deceptively encouraging us into installing Windows 10. But I'm sure your experience with them has been superior to mine, and that they have used underhanded tactics to get their needs met. The most prominent example is using millions of us as "deputized beta testers", when they release a new OS version.

Below are the chain of events that culminated with the solution:
I took the chance of making some of my installed programs inoperable, by choosing "Restore defaults" on the Windows Firewall main page. Although all of my programs seemed to work after this action, the problem persisted. It turned out that this was not necessary, because I failed to realize that when the checking process took a very long time and terminated with the invitation to install Windows 10, the program also found many Windows 7 updates, which I verified after clicking "View updates" right below the Windows 10 reference. When I looked at these updates I found 13, classified as "Important." These updates were the ones I couldn't see that were quite visible on my desktop pc and Lenovo laptop. So although the checking process took a very long time, which was not the norm, when it ended the same updates I'd seen on the other 2 pcs were available to me. I feel like a chump not having clicked on "View updates", the first time the Windows 10 reference appeared.

Sadly, the problem was not solved at this point, because after I picked all 13 updates and asked for them to be downloaded and installed, the progress bar kept moving forever without downloading any updates. I tried this a few times, with no results. Or so it appeared! Read on.....

Being worn out by the back to back disappointments, I closed Windows Update and watched a few YouTube videos to relax. When I was done, I opened up Windows Update to find that the downloads were complete, ready for me to have them installed. Every update installed successfully, and I restarted as requested.

Lo and behold, after that large update, every time I ran Windows Update it checked for updates for a minute at the most, and then stopped when it was finished. I found 1 more update along the way, and it downloaded and installed successfully.

You already know that I wasted a lot of time not clicking "View updates", and that they were available to me all along whenever the Windows 10 reference appeared. But I believe that although my request to have the 13 available updates downloaded didn't appear to completed, it definitely completed in the background. How else could they be ready for installation, unless they were first downloaded? In fact, since it appears that Windows Update is a stubborn sort, not closing when I clicked the close application X at the upper right corner of the dialog box, and also refusing to close despite me clicking End task in Task Manager, it continues to do it's handy dandy work in the background. This is what must have occurred, when it appeared not to be downloading the updates before I closed the application.

The only way to stop Windows Update, is to Shutdown. I bet most users are not aware of this built-in design feature. But now all of you are aware of the way the program functions. Working in the background is not necessarily a bad thing, once the user authorizes it to start checking for updates. But on my other 2 pcs, every step along the way is visible to the user.

I'll keep using Windows Update as I have from the beginning of time, hoping that the current 45 sec. to 1 min. duration remains the norm.

Needless to say, my original post and this one, are exceedingly long. I do this, because I feel that just stating that a problem exists without giving the gory details, would not be helpful to any of you. My purpose is to prevent any of you from suffering as I have for 2 days. This is my modus operandi in life.

 

[apairofpcs]

Stereodude,
Try some of the steps in my post, leaving the Windows Firewall step for last. I don't think it was necessary for the solution.

 

[apairofpcs]

I've been running Windows Update all day, with runtimes of no greater than 45 sec. per attempt before terminating. I'm confident that my problem was solved as a result of 1 or more of the 13 updates that I installed earlier today. All is well.

 

[Tannin]

It comes and goes, Apairofpcs. No sense to it, some days I can connect six or eight systems to Windows Update with no problems, other days none of them work at all. It isn't a problem with any particular machine, it is Microsoft. (Bear in mind that these systems I'm updating are any combination of new builds, rebuilds, repairs and existing systems; and they can run any Windows version.)

 

[apairofpcs]

It comes and goes, Apairofpcs. No sense to it, some days I can connect six or eight systems to Windows Update with no problems, other days none of them work at all. It isn't a problem with any particular machine, it is Microsoft. (Bear in mind that these systems I'm updating are any combination of new builds, rebuilds, repairs and existing systems; and they can run any Windows version.)

Tannin, I've noticed on each of my 3 pcs, that once in a while, I'll start a Windows Update check and a bunch of bloody red text appears, stating that a connection error has occurred, posting an error code. At times, I'll start the program again, and it continues to show the error. At other times, another attempt works fine.

As you stated, this problem can't be linked to any one of my pcs, because it happens to each one at different times. When it happens to one, I should check it on another one. My desktop pc is always running, but sometimes the two laptops are not. When one laptop experiences the error, I should check it on the desktop. Microsoft is messing with us, with the motive being to wear us down so we'll download and install Windows 10. I won't budge for any reason!

 

[LunarMist]

Tannin, I've noticed on each of my 3 pcs, that once in a while, I'll start a Windows Update check and a bunch of bloody red text appears, stating that a connection error has occurred, posting an error code. At times, I'll start the program again, and it continues to show the error. At other times, another attempt works fine.

As you stated, this problem can't be linked to any one of my pcs, because it happens to each one at different times. When it happens to one, I should check it on another one. My desktop pc is always running, but sometimes the two laptops are not. When one laptop experiences the error, I should check it on the desktop. Microsoft is messing with us, with the motive being to wear us down so we'll download and install Windows 10. I won't budge for any reason!

Sometimes an update can take minutes or hours to start. It's been that ways for years, but is worse lately.

 

[apairofpcs]

Sometimes an update can take minutes or hours to start. It's been that ways for years, but is worse lately.

Lunar, I can't say that I had the bad experience you had, because I never waited hours for Windows Update to start. Also, I don't remember such a consistent problem as the one I've had recently, especially since only one laptop was affected. Had all 3 been affected, I'd say that Microsoft was the problem. A reminder that after I installed 13 Important updates, the problem was solved. While we're always claiming that an installed update has created problems that didn't exist before, in my case it was one or several updates that solved my problem.