"Preparing To Configure Windows. Please Do Not Turn Off Your Computer"

Anonymous
2009-12-03T01:02:16+00:00

Hi. I just got my new laptop yesterday with Windows 7 Home Premium. When I left for school this morning, I shut down my computer and saw that it had 22 Windows Updates to download. When I turned it back on this afternoon, it was stuck at a screen that said "Preparing To Configure Windows. Please Do Not Turn Off Your Computer." I decided to wait but it stayed the same for as long as I waited. Finally, I powered it off by holding on the power button, and just normally booted the system. Will there be any damage done to my new laptop? Is there any way I can prevent this update glitch from happening again? Thanks.

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Windows update

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Anonymous
2010-04-23T05:50:01+00:00

Hi. I just got my new laptop yesterday with Windows 7 Home Premium. When I left for school this morning, I shut down my computer and saw that it had 22 Windows Updates to download. When I turned it back on this afternoon, it was stuck at a screen that said "Preparing To Configure Windows. Please Do Not Turn Off Your Computer." I decided to wait but it stayed the same for as long as I waited. Finally, I powered it off by holding on the power button, and just normally booted the system. Will there be any damage done to my new laptop? Is there any way I can prevent this update glitch from happening again? Thanks.

I just bought a Toshiba Laptop for a Client with windows 7 home,

As a favour for my clients I usually run windows update for them so they get it all working and are 100% confident that when they get it as up to date as possible,

I ran into the exact same problem as above, i read this thread and read all different reply's but none of them realy worked for me and i didnt have time to wait...

this is what worked for me:

  1. Hold down the power button and switch of your machine
  2. Restart your computer and just before windows boots hit the F8 button
  3. Boot into safe mode
  4. login (if nessecary)
  5. Make sure that any virus scanners at this point are disabled before continuing
  6. Click "Start" > "Accessories" > "System Restore"
  7. Click "Next"
  8. Pick an earlier restore point and then click next, (its best to pick the 1 just before you had problems)
  9. Click next and follow the prompts and it will start a system restore
  10. wait till your computer does this System Restore process
  11. Regardless of whether the system restore process fails or passes it should now get you out being stuck at "Preparing To Configure Windows. Please Do Not Turn Off Your Computer."

Now...

  1. login if required

13 Disable Virus Scanner before moving on

  1. Run windows update
  2. now it should run without any problems
  3. if you do have problems and run into a loop Call your Computer Manufacturer or the company that you purchased it off and see if they can help you,

Thanks

Michael

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  1. Anonymous
    2010-09-19T20:41:06+00:00

    Thank you. This worked for me too! :-)

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  2. Anonymous
    2010-09-10T13:44:21+00:00

    Hi,

    This issue can be easily fixed if you install the updates AT ONCE and not altogether. You can avoid this problem if you do the following tips (I strongly recommend doing this with big MSU archives).

    1. Save the MSU packages in the "Downloads" folder.
    2. Run the MSU files and follow the installation instructions.
    3. Reboot the machine when asked (don't choose "close", otherwise Windows will freeze during installation!)
    4. Repeat the procedures as described in the lines above.
    5. Done. Your system is up-to-date and ready to go.

    Note: if you encounter connection issues with intermittent browser connection failure errors while using proxy servers after installing KB2286198, just uncheck the proxy box in the "LAN Settings" tab. Increase/decrease the max number of connections to 10 if the Google thumbnail cache fails to load.

    I've done the last tip with various Internet browsers and it worked like a dream.

    Best regards,

    John

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  3. Anonymous
    2010-09-04T16:23:58+00:00

    Hello,

    I was having this problem on my brand new lenovo thinkpad W510 which i just installed its very first updates and was stuck with this situation for hours.. As i could only do a factory reset for recovery because the laptop had been turned on for around 2 hours max.. i had not set an recovery points.. The following solution helped me to fix the problem:

    1. 'Hard' shutdown
    2. Select " Boot safemode with networking"
    3. It then fixed itself and logged into my system in safe mode
    4. Shutdown the Pc and Reboot normally

    Enjoy your system! Hope this worked for everyone else!

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  4. Anonymous
    2010-09-03T07:48:41+00:00

    hello,

    when I shut off my new laptop there were 48 updates to be installed I'm waiting from last night 9:30PM now it's 10:40AM should  I wait more ???

    why there is nothing to show it's downloading and how much it will take like downloading rate my ADSL is more than 1M someone please tell me how much it will takes to finish these updates.

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