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

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.

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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
    2016-03-13T04:46:00+00:00

    Well, that was nervewracking .. i can confirm there is nothing wrong .. It seems Microsoft has just modified the way updates work; it no longer notifies you (although this still works; and even now i still get an icon tho out of, by my own doing) i should've realized this i guess having seen a yellow shield by my shut down ..equally, by , now when thinking about it, it was downloading less than what was on/in my agent list ; you see, it d/l'ed but not installed..i guess always when canceling  the d/l what it had (b/cos it had, even that time) d/l'd was already there (i had never shut down and such witnessed an install) it hadn't gotten thru all of them, tho, and that is why i was getting no restart alert or notice ..but it was showing 0 the entire time so how could i have known

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  2. Anonymous
    2016-03-12T14:49:12+00:00

    I press crtl+a and shift+delele at that paste and nothing happens...

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  3. Anonymous
    2016-03-11T18:14:51+00:00

    That sounds like a wise choice. Just about every where offers cheap solutions for newer technology. I always build my latest rig cheap as possible then take time to perfect my outdated machine because my builds must stay running as they are maxed out gaming rigs that must stay alive as long as possible. I cant argue with others about their experience on updating but i can argue with myself when i have 3 different core 2 duo's installed in three different motherboards with 3 different power supplys/ram and all of them with win7 running updates exactly the same way. The 2 different quads in their own boards with their own psu/ram ect. Do just fine up to one small point where it takes them 4-6 hours to get the last 31 updates. My core i5 beats them all and will show the progress without staying stuck at 0% for 4 hours through the night. Apon waking up the core 2 quads are finally done and installed but never showed anything other than 0% for four fantastic hours straight. The core 2 duo's take 16 hours never show progress and 2 days later if i'm not using wifi i finally have them updated. You could buy windows 7 2015 disk and install to the slow cores without a hitch in 30 minutes if you really wanted to skip updates and keep using CORE 2 DUO.

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