Why are Windows updates so slow (and long) with VISTA

Well David, some progress.  The update readiness tool ran (took well over half an hour to install) and found 2 errors.  Oddly the corresponding service reverts to manual startup?  I repeated it to make sure.  36 minutes this time, no errors, but service reverted to manual again. Is this important?

Your second suggestion... compacting directories and files, had no effect... in fact the sum total file size increased by about 5%!

The first reboot after these activities was protracted (about 3 minutes including 2 of of dormant black screen.   But after a CCleaner run, repeat boots are now back to a normal sub 1 minute.

The real test will come after the next significant auto updates!  Fingers crossed.

Thanks for the tips.

dave-ww

even on windows 7 my 4600+ with 4gigs ram takes about 4 hours to install 32 updates that average size about 0.2mb-5mb. its just painful to look at whenever I do a fresh install.

One thing I dont get is a game with size of over 30gb can install within a few minutes but Microsoft updates with size less than 1 mb will take just as long....

Well well. A knowledgeable response!  At last.  Many thanks indeed, David.  Your post certainly seems to directly address some of the points raised in "Anonymuos" (sic) post 18 months ago, for which there were no apparent answers.  Where have you been hiding???

I will give both your ideas a go and post back if I see an improvement as a result.

Thanks again,

Dave-ww

Try these two things

System Update Readiness Tool

Try a reboot. Before rebooting set the trustedInstaller service (DisplayName Windows Modules Installer) startup to automatic. Normally it's manual unless an operation such as windows update requires boot time install.

Ensures the consistancy of the WinSxS (Side by Side) folder. 

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-AU/windows7/What-is-the-System-Update-Readiness-Tool

For 32 bit Windows

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=504

For 64 bit Windows

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=1540

To see results click Start - All Programs - Accessories - Right click Command Prompt and choose Run As Administrator. Type (or copy the below line and one blank line underneath and right click in the command prompt window and choose Paste).

notepad %SYSTEMROOT%\Logs\CBS\CheckSUR.log

Afterwards delete this folder to reclaim 100 MB.

del "C:\Windows\CheckSur" /s

You can force a scavenging operation (to remove unneeded files) by adding or removing a windows feature in Control Panel - Programs and Features.

Compact the Various Databases Windows Uses

You can compact the various databases Windows uses. These are Windows Update, Windows Search, Windows Mail, Windows Contacts, Windows Calandar, some Windows  Live apps, and Internet Explorer ver 10.

Close Windows Mail and Internet Explorer. Wait a minute for Internet Explorer to release it's file locks.

To see how much space it taking up type what's below and note the total size (because it will scroll away).

Start - All Programs - Accessories - Right click Command Prompt and choose Run As Administrator. Type (or copy and paste by right clicking in the Command Prompt window and choosing Paste).

dir c:\.edb c:\.msmessagestore c:\WebCacheV*.dat /a /s

Then to compact

sc stop wsearch

for /r c:\ %A in (*.edb *.msmessagestore WebCacheV*.dat*) do esentutl.exe /p "%A" /o*

for /r c:\ %A in (*.edb *.msmessagestore WebCacheV*.dat*) do esentutl.exe /d "%A"*

sc start wsearch

Then to see the new size and compare to the old size

dir c:\.edb c:\*.msmessagestore c:*WebCacheV*.dat /a /s.

Then to delete some temporary files.

del c:\.integ.raw /s*

.

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Just been reading this thread after suffering a 30 minute overall routine minor auto update on my vista laptop.  (1.8GHz core2duo 3MB RAM). Reboot took 20 minutes!  I have suffered this issue almost from square 1.  Repeated reboots, defrags and occasional use of CCleaner have helped a little in the past but its getting beyond help now, it seems.

It beggars belief that over 4 YEARS from the OP's question, Microsoft's (or their forum moderator's) TOTAL contribution has been "Its your Interconnection speed" or "Start a new thread for more relevant attention".... inferring there is no problem.

Surely its in the moderators' interests to have a core MS technician address the problem which appears in manifest forums and blogs apart from this one?   Are they not embarrassed at all?  Even if the technician just said "Sorry, yes we screwed up but can do nothing about it in retrospect.", we would at least know where we stand, rather than live in a state of suspended anticipation.  I can only assume that in the ludicrously litigious USA (yes I know we are following closely on their heels)  this would open them up to demands for free upgrades to 7 or 8.

I venture to suggest that a free upgrade is now the very LEAST we should expect after such appalling indifference.  Common courtesy demands.

(I get the same service from BT... they must have employed surplus MS customer service staff!)

Sad.