Windows Update Never Stops Looking for Updates.

Anonymous
2013-09-28T01:44:35+00:00

The other morning after I brought my computer out of hibernation, I noticed that it had not automatically Checked for Updates like it usually does.  So I clicked Check for Updates on the Windows Update panel and it never stopped looking for updates.  It just kept looking.  So I just ignored it and did a disk defrag and a clean disk as usual.  Late that night after I finished my usual computer stuff, it was still looking for updates.  So I restarted the computer and found that that had stopped it Checking for Updates.

The next morning, it was the same situation all over aagain: No automatic Check for Updates when I brought it out of hibernation and then endless searching after I clicked on Check for Updates.  How can I stop this endless searching without restarting the computer and go back to having my computer behave the way it used to do?

Greg

Windows for home | Windows 11 | Windows update

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Anonymous
2013-09-28T13:58:15+00:00

Hi Greg,

  • Do you get any error message?

This problem may occur if one or more of the following conditions are true:

a.       The Windows Update database is corrupted.

b.      A required system file is registered incorrectly.

c.       The Component Based Servicing (CBS) manifest is corrupted.

Here are few troubleshooting methods you may try in order to fix the issue.

Method 1: Reset Windows update components from the following link and check.

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

Important: Back up the registry

Method 2: Restart the Windows Update services.

a. Click in Start and in Start search box type CMD.

b. In the list Right click on CMD and click Run as Administrator.

Type the following commands, and press Enter after each command:

o   net stop cryptsvc

o   md %systemroot%\system32\catroot2.old

o   xcopy %systemroot%\system32\catroot2 %systemroot%\system32\catroot2.old /s

o   Net stop wuauserv

o   cd %systemroot%

o   Ren SoftwareDistribution SoftwareDistribution.old

o   Net start wuauserv

Try to install the updates and check.

Method 3: Unable to install updates in Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2

**http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2509997** 

Important: While performing chkdsk on the hard drive if any bad sectors are found on the hard drive when chkdsk tries to repair that sector if any data available on that might be lost.

For more information, refer to the articles.

**Troubleshoot problems with installing updates******

**"Windows Update Cannot Check For Updates" error message when you try to install updates**

Do let us know about the results. We will be happy to assist you further.

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  1. Anonymous
    2017-09-28T09:24:09+00:00

    I posted one solution that I got from MS and then I found this really simple one. It's not 100% but it's simple and quick and works most of the time for me.

    This is mainly for fresh installs

    Go to settings to Date and Time. Go to internet time settings and click update now.

    Apparently if your clock is off at all, it can make updates fail. Being off by a few seconds doesn't seem like much, but it appears that if the program check date and time on the update while one is at 12:00 and the other is a few seconds behind and still reading 11:59 and 50 seconds, you fail

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  2. Anonymous
    2017-10-24T13:35:05+00:00

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  3. Anonymous
    2017-10-24T13:37:20+00:00

    LINK

    THe link above worked for me...

    B.FERK

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  4. Anonymous
    2017-12-23T16:04:01+00:00

    I tried method 2, Restart Windows Update Services, but when I tried to run the following line: Ren SoftwareDistribution SoftwareDistribution.old, it said "Access Denied," even though I ran the command prompt as an administrator.

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