Windows update will not download updates - stuck at 0% downloading

Anonymous
2010-04-17T03:45:39+00:00

Everytime I start windows update it won't download the updates. The bar keeps on running but nothing downloads and the percentage stays at 0%.

Whats wrong? Anything I can do to fix this?

Windows for home | Windows 11 | Windows update

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Anonymous
2011-11-10T19:59:39+00:00

I found a solution to my problem when Windows would search for updates, but then when it started downloading it would stay at 0% forever. I started by stopping the Windows Update service (in my case the service proved to be frozen so I restarted my computer and disabled the service before it starts) and the Application Experience service. After that I went to the C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution folder and pressed ctrl+a and shift+delete to empty its contents. Mine contained more than 70,000 files so it took a while. I started Application Experience and enabled Windows Update. I let it check for updates and try to download them. It worked perfectly.

Do not worry about deleting important windows files in this case. The contents of SoftwareDistribution is used as a cache and data for Windows Update. When Windows Update starts again it rebuilds the cache repopulating it with up-to-date versions of the files and chewing up a ton of harddisk space again.

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Anonymous
2010-04-23T13:09:40+00:00

sash123,

    If this issue is still happening, then take a look at article: Vista Update stops at stage 3 of 3 

Then let us know the results.

*** edited

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  1. Anonymous
    2016-03-14T00:57:18+00:00

    The way my 2 cores do they never show progress and it has taken me like 16 hours to update if i select like 80 updates. Still if i only select 3 or 4 it takes like 30 minutes and those are only like 12mb-5mb-54mb which is very small and my down speed hot 1.8 mb at its worst and thats smoking fast. I just did a check for updates with my quad core and it took like 45 minutes just to check. When i came back and looked it was only 14 of the latest updates which should have checked and ask to install within 3 to 8 minutes max. You will have to be very very very very patient anymore because not only is something different with the way we receive updates those old core cpu's are working with updates in such a way that slows updating to a long screeching holt and while checking slow the old cores wont show progress. I dont use windows updates anymore because there are thousands of people on here about the very same issue and there is nothing wrong with 60,000 computers lol. I bought the latest disk to skip updates. I had to because of windows updates. I respect and appreciate Microsoft and all their hard work. This update problem isnt enough for me to want to condem them for.

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  2. Anonymous
    2016-03-13T23:59:05+00:00

    They just pop up as a ghost!  .. now again I got 1 update Microsoft .NET .. yeah; i had toggled with the icon tray thing as well as switched off my av - briefly - but had done a proper shutdown as well and nothing. I'm so lost ..Also; i had let it d/ a LONG time this morning ..and, yeah; nothing .. and this update is 7x0 kb? As opposed to (how) i got those earlier ones that were 30megs in total ..

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  3. Anonymous
    2016-03-13T18:46:21+00:00

    Ok; this is so frigging weird .. Not working; the errors i've been getting are;

    http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/windows-update-error-80072efe-or-80072f76

    http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/windows-update-error-8024000b#1TC=windows-7

    http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/windows-update-error-80246005#1TC=windows-7

    http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/errors-80200010-and-80070643-update-failed/acbba7ec-4bde-4814-8432-283ca6627db9?auth=1

    But 'i got those updates! So ..

    The ONLY thing i can remember doing ..i changed (as you know/recall) from AVG to Avira last fall/winter ..only then i started getting the update.exe thing .http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/answers/id-2736907/updating-windows-update-exe-application-errors.html and i'm not even sure if it is this .. i know i was running low on mem so i put stop to some notifications ..it helped; didn't freeze anymore and that went away .. also; http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/windows-update-error-0x80243004 because i can't recall what the actual error code was i can't be sure ..

    On another note; notifications no (and not sure i think i got that to work merely by checking for updates) but i have been seeing the icon ..so i doubt it is that ..and it's been like this since August well before my change.. i'm baffled ..i guess the most logical conclusion is, that they do come through - somehow?

    EDIT; i got for ex. java set to just notifications too..and there everything works how i want ..

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