Windows 7 64bit: Windows Update Service Not Running (but it is running in services.msc)

Anonymous
2011-01-09T23:00:28+00:00

I just got a new desktop computer (Gateway FX6840-03e) It has Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit (not sure what service pack, I'm new to windows 7 as of this computer so i'm not sure where to find that information). It came with a norton security that i didn't bother to activate, I uninstalled it and followed up with Norton Removal Tool. I then installed AVG Free 2011 edition

When I went to Windows Update I have the red x shield and clicking on the check for updates button gives me the error "Windows cannot check for updates because the service is not running. You may need to restart the computer." Windows update service is running in services.msc though.

The first thing I did that i had read about on the product reviews for the computer since it seemed to be a problem with a few other people that bought the computer was to disable the windows update service the go into C:\windows\SoftwareDistribution and delete everything in there and re-enable windows update service afterwords. According to the reviews this worked for most people. However the problem still persisted for me. Google searching has led me to these forums and i've gone through a few threads but haven't gotten a solution yet.

I've run the windows update troubleshooter with no luck

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/Open-the-Windows-Update-troubleshooter

I ran the System File Checker tool

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929833

It came back with one problem, but the log file created was blank

I ran the Fix It tool in both default and aggressive modes

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/971058

And in one post somebody mentioned that ATI Catylist Control Center was causing their problem so I uninstalled that with no luck (I have re-installed that)

There have been many restarts between all of that above and now i'm not sure what else to try.

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | 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
2011-01-13T01:55:01+00:00

Well doing some searches on the errors in the windowsupdate.log eventually led me to find that it the problem had something to do with my hard drive being large (1TB) and "Intel Rapid Storage Technology (RST)" drivers needed to be updated. Once I got the driver updated my windows update started working fine. Thanks for the help that led me to the answer.

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  1. Anonymous
    2014-09-22T21:02:33+00:00

    Worked great for me also after looking for several solutions.  Thanks a million!

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  2. Anonymous
    2014-08-07T22:54:17+00:00

    I just got this problem after loading Windows 7 on a system with an Intel Z97 chipset motherboard. I de-installed the Intel Rapid Storage Technology driver. After a reboot, updates proceeded nomally. I had thought about setting up drive D in a RAID configuration then decided to use an external drive for backup instead.

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  3. Anonymous
    2014-07-31T20:00:32+00:00

    this does a magic on my computer and take out me from frestation

    but ur spiel chukkers still broke

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  4. Anonymous
    2014-07-31T19:41:36+00:00

    I would advice you to try resetting your Windows Update service.

    Do this:

    Press Start, press All programs,pressAccessories and clickNotepad

    Copy and paste the following text into the document:

    net stop wuauserv

    net stop bits

    net stop cryptsvc

    net stop trustedinstaller

    sc config cryptsvc start= auto obj= "NT Authority\NetworkService" password= a

    sc config wuauserv start= auto obj= LocalSystem

    sc config bits start= delayed-auto obj= LocalSystem

    Sc config trustedinstaller start= demand obj= LocalSystem

    Sc config eventlog start= auto

    reg add HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\wuauserv\Parameters /v ServiceDll /t REG_EXPAND_SZ /d "%systemroot%\system32\wuaueng.dll" /f

    reg add HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\bits\Parameters /v ServiceDll /t REG_EXPAND_SZ /d "%systemroot%\system32\qmgr.dll" /f

    reg delete HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate /f

    reg delete HKLM\COMPONENTS\PendingXmlIdentifier /f

    reg delete HKLM\COMPONENTS\NextQueueEntryIndex /f

    reg delete HKLM\COMPONENTS\AdvancedInstallersNeedResolving /f

    sc sdset wuauserv D:(A;;CCLCSWRPLORC;;;AU)(A;;CCDCLCSWRPWPDTLOCRSDRCWDWO;;;BA)(A;;CCDCLCSWRPWPDTLOCRSDRCWDWO;;;SY)S:(AU;FA;CCDCLCSWRPWPDTLOSDRCWDWO;;;WD)

    sc sdset bits D:(A;CI;CCDCLCSWRPWPDTLOCRSDRCWDWO;;;SY)(A;;CCDCLCSWRPWPDTLOCRSDRCWDWO;;;BA)(A;;CCLCSWLOCRRC;;;IU)(A;;CCLCSWLOCRRC;;;SU)S:(AU;SAFA;WDWO;;;BA)

    sc sdset cryptsvc D:(A;;CCLCSWRPWPDTLOCRRC;;;SY)(A;;CCDCLCSWRPWPDTLOCRSDRCWDWO;;;BA)(A;;CCLCSWLOCRRC;;;IU)(A;;CCLCSWLOCRRC;;;SU)S:(AU;FA;CCDCLCSWRPWPDTLOCRSDRCWDWO;;;WD)

    sc sdset trustedinstaller D:(A;CI;CCDCLCSWRPWPDTLOCRSDRCWDWO;;;SY)(A;;CCDCLCSWRPWPDTLOCRRC;;;BA)(A;;CCLCSWLOCRRC;;;IU)(A;;CCLCSWLOCRRC;;;SU)S:(AU;SAFA;WDWO;;;BA)

    sc sdset eventlog D:(A;;CCLCSWLOCRRC;;;AU)(A;;CCDCLCSWRPWPDTLOCRSDRCWDWO;;;BA)(A;;CCLCSWRPWPDTLOCRRC;;;SY)S:(AU;SA;DCRPWPDTCRSDWDWO;;;WD)(AU;FA;CCDCLCSWRPWPDTLOCRSDRCWDWO;;;WD)

    takeown /f %systemroot%\winsxs\pending.xml

    icacls %systemroot%\winsxs\pending.xml /grant Administrators:(F)

    icacls %systemroot%\winsxs\pending.xml /grant Administratörer:(F)

    del /q %systemroot%\winsxs\pending.xml

    ren %systemroot%\System32\Catroot2 oldcatroot2 

    ren %systemroot%\SoftwareDistribution SoftwareDistribution.old

    rename \ProgramData\Microsoft\Network\Downloader Downloader.old

    cd /d %windir%\system32

    regsvr32.exe atl.dll /s

    regsvr32.exe urlmon.dll /s

    regsvr32.exe jscript.dll /s

    regsvr32.exe vbscript.dll /s

    regsvr32.exe scrrun.dll /s

    regsvr32.exe msxml3.dll /s

    regsvr32.exe msxml6.dll /s

    regsvr32.exe actxprxy.dll /s

    regsvr32.exe softpub.dll /s

    regsvr32.exe wintrust.dll /s

    regsvr32.exe dssenh.dll /s

    regsvr32.exe rsaenh.dll /s

    regsvr32.exe cryptdlg.dll /s

    regsvr32.exe oleaut32.dll /s

    regsvr32.exe ole32.dll /s

    regsvr32.exe shell32.dll /s

    regsvr32.exe wuapi.dll /s

    regsvr32.exe wuaueng.dll /s

    regsvr32.exe wups.dll /s

    regsvr32.exe wups2.dll /s

    regsvr32.exe qmgrprxy.dll /s

    regsvr32.exe wucltux.dll /s

    regsvr32.exe wuwebv.dll /s

    net start eventlog

    net start cryptsvc

    net start bits

    net start wuauserv

    fsutil resource setautoreset true c:\

    netsh winhttp reset proxy

    bitsadmin /reset /allusers

    wuauclt.exe /resetauthorization /detectnow

    :MESSAGE

    echo+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    echo===========================================================

    echo     The commands has been succesfully executed. Hit enter to continue

    echo===========================================================

    echo+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    Pause > Null

    :end

    PressFile and click Save as.

    Navigate to the desktop, in the field File name you write reset.bat and in the field save as type you chooseAll files (*.*).  Now hit Save.

    Navigate to your desktop, rightclick the file and choose Run as administrator.

    This will reset your Windows Update Components.

    Please report back if this solved your issue or not.

    this does a magic on my computer and take out me from frestation . I would like to thank from my core of heart.

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