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

Anonymous

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.

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Anonymous

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:

Hold down the power button and switch of your machine
Restart your computer and just before windows boots hit the F8 button
Boot into safe mode
login (if nessecary)
Make sure that any virus scanners at this point are disabled before continuing
Click "Start" > "Accessories" > "System Restore"
Click "Next"
Pick an earlier restore point and then click next, (its best to pick the 1 just before you had problems)
Click next and follow the prompts and it will start a system restore
wait till your computer does this System Restore process
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...

13 Disable Virus Scanner before moving on

Run windows update
now it should run without any problems
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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142 additional answers

Anonymous

2010-09-30T00:13:55+00:00

I have the same issue and successfully took the hardware reboot option, which produced the same message after booting, except that this time a progress indicator was also showing. It stayed stuck on 0% for a few minutes and then the desktop appeared. All seems to be OK so far.

It's this kind of basic issue that makes me wonder whether Microsoft software engineers are awake. It's not just sloppy programming but there also seems to be a lack of motivation to fix the problems. I'm sure glad I'm not on a mission to Mars with Microsoft software running the ship..."Preparing to configure Windows..." just as you're in critical descent to the red planet. Oh er...first you reboot then press F8 and and then boot in safe mode...blah-dee-blah...boom, mission terminated. Come on Microsoft, many of us are doing critical jobs and we need FAST and RELIABLE software (why do I even need to say this after 30 years of user feedback?). Bugs and glitches are understandable given the complexity of coding, but there is no excuse for not offering the right advice in a timely way and and not releasing a fix at the first opportunity.
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Anonymous

2010-09-19T20:41:06+00:00

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