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

Anonymous

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?

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments

Answer accepted by question author

Anonymous

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.

0 comments

Answer accepted by question author

Anonymous

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

0 comments

216 additional answers

Anonymous

2015-09-18T04:33:27+00:00

I had this problem previously and now it has happened again. Took a while but I remember how it was solved last time. This works only if you are set under "Choose how updates are installed" to "*Notify to schedule restart "*and not Automatic *".*In this case, simply switch to *"Automatic"*and then restart the computer. It took several restarts to get the computer running properly for me this time. But it succeeded in updating!
Was this answer helpful?

0 comments No comments
Anonymous

2015-08-27T03:49:18+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?

Im running win 8.1 and I have trend micro titanium antivirus on my laptop. Have contacted hp tech support and they got it working somewhat but it is still stuck on 0%. Please help.

I was having the same problem, and it resolved after I updated Java. You can verify your Java version at https://www.java.com/verify.

Good luck!

I just upgraded to Windows 10 and was having this problem with not only Windows Update but also any apps being downloaded or updated from the app Windows Store. At first I didn't think that it could be Java because I have it set to update itself regularly. But when I went to the control panel and manually looked for updates, it found updates and installed them. Since then everything downloads fine.
Was this answer helpful?

0 comments No comments
Anonymous

2015-08-27T03:46:18+00:00

REPOSTING...

This four-year-old thread is in a Vista-specific forum.

Maybe you should begin your own, new thread about your computer & your problems the appropriate Win8-specific forum?

Considering I'm having the same issue on a brand new pc upon its first login, the Vista thread origin tells me that this is an old neglected bug/design flaw and Jacqualine's post tells me it's a persistent problem not unique to my Windows 8 system, regardless of OEM.

Not useful to you doesn't mean not useful to us.

Your assumption is incorrect. Everything that gets installed on a computer can cause the problem. This is why expecting the Fixit tools to always fix a problem is not reasonable. They can only fix the well known issues that is specifically Windows related. It is often a third party software that is the problem. Hence why a lot of people found that it worked once all USB devices were unplugged. You unplug the device and restart computer, then the software that runs in the background to support the USB device no longer runs and doesn't create the conflict. Even if you just bought a new computer and didn't install anything on it, there is still the software loaded by the computer manufacturer that can cause a problem.
Was this answer helpful?

0 comments No comments