August 2015 Windows Update for Vista Requires One Hour to Run to Completion

I really appreciate everyone's input on this matter and I will get back to more of my own substantive input about the Vista problem, but I have an issue with Microsoft that arose from something that took place in this thread and then spread to a few others and also some activity by me that made some people angry -- and that "issue" has taken center stage at this work station and with those that help me.

But I didn't do anything wrong and can prove that and during all of the back-and-forth with Microsoft mamangement last week I finally figured out what needs to be done for not only this Microsoft Community, but many others where one particular issue is a very serious problem for the community members.

I have decided to move a very important issue into the political arena, but I am afraid to post details here because I think there are some folks that would not like me to go any further.

I have only explained what I have so far so that it is clear why my time cannot be fully devoted to this trouble with Vista for a couple of weeks.  If anyone wants to know more about that issue from last week and what is going to be happening, I think it isn't too hard for you to make contact with me.

And once again, I really do appreciate all the input from everyone!  I suspect the OP concurs.

Some folk say this is indirectly squeezing people in the direction of a Windows 10 system update. I say, don't bother. Windows 10 brings with it many other problems. Just go elsewhere (Linux, Chrome or whatever). I've never been a Google fan but I bought a lower-end Chromebook to try out as an extra system (in a sale for £150) and hey, what speed! Granted there isn't the same versatility with programs etc but that all depends on your personal usage and preferences. It starts up and shuts down with ease and updates are a breeze. If you need a DVD/CD burner, some free or hooky programs then it's not for you, but it is well worth a try as a back-up machine for instant, free access to many things.

I've just about had enough with M/S and its lack of response to problem solving, slow loading/shut down and update problems - that's with both Vista Desktop and a W10 Laptop (of which I appear to have very little personal control). I just wish M/S could be big enough to admit to their mistakes and were able to rekindle lost customer satisfaction. When asked to simplify things for the end user their statute answer is to over-automate everything, taking away personal control. Too much automation (W10) takes away user choice - give it back to those who pay for the privilege!

Your observations fit pretty much identically to mine. August updates last year when the problem hit. Svchost running at full whack.......

Bear...

My Vista install (32bit 2Gb RAM) was clean. The install disc was used to take the HDD down to unallocated space. My disc images included a 'just Vista plus SP1 and SP2 + updates to 2013 ' image. It is all broken.

Vista may be close to end of all support but that doesn't mean MS should leave it in a non-functional state. They must know about the issue, and I can only surmise that the reason for not applying a fix at this late stage is simply to drive more sales of W10 equipment. It would be better to end support now (although that would be outside the terms of the lifecycle) and for them to disable WU.

I would like to know if any affected Win 7 or Vista user has found a solution for these "Checking for updates..." hangs that works better than Dalai's temporary workaround...

Here's one: After doing a clean install of Windows, download/run the Norton Removal Tool and/or the McAfee Consumer Removal Tool (depending on which free-trial came OEM-preinstalled on the computer when you bought it) & reboot BEFORE installing your new anti-virus application - including MSE - AND BEFORE attempting to install ANY updates (whether manually or via Windows Update).

Tip => You'll need to upgrade to IE11 (Win7) or IE9 (Vista) manually, too. Win7 users will also need to install the Apr-15 Servicing Stack update and the latest Windows Update Client manually.

Tip => Before creating an image, make sure there are no Norton or McAfee "leftovers" present on the system.

I would also like to know if Microsoft is investigating these slow Windows Updates and whether this problem could be mitigated (or even permanently fixed) if Microsoft released an updated WUA for Vista to improve memory usage on computers with limited amounts of RAM and/or expired outdated updates...

With Extended Support (and updates) for Vista ending on 11 April 2017, I wouldn't hold my breath IIWY.

You may obtain *Microsoft-sponsored* (but not necessarily free) support via the Answer Desk =>
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DISCLAIMER: Posted AS IS with no guarantees. MS MVPs neither represent nor work for Microsoft.

As promised, here's a (very lengthy) summary of what I've learned to date about these "Checking for updates..." hangs.  This problem first appeared on my 32-bit Vista machine during my August 2015 Patch Tuesday updates, and it may or may not be relevant that this was the first Patch Tuesday update after Win 10 was officially released on 29-Jul-2015.  All the symptoms described below have been reported by other affected users in the MS Answers community, VistaForums, bleepingcomputer, etc. and are not unique to my system.

1. These slow Windows Updates only occur on Win 7 and Vista computers.  Mainstream support has ended for Win 7 and Vista and both these OSs are currently in extended support (i.e., no new features, security updates only).
2. Affected users typically see the initial "Checking for updates..." phase of Windows Update (WU) hang for several hours without throwing an error message.  In general, the more updates available for download the longer the hang. On a system that is updated on a regular basis (i.e., not a clean re-install of Vista SP2), Patch Tuesday updates will usually download and install successfully if "Checking for updates..." is left to run for several hours and allowed to run to completion.  Subsequent WUs will run normally once Patch Tuesday updates are applied - until the next month when another large batch of updates is released on the 2nd Tuesday of the month.
3. During the "Checking for updates..." hang, an instance of the svchost.exe process runs constantly and completely saturates one CPU core (i.e., 50% CPU activity on a machine with a dual core processor; 100% with a single core processor).  Process Explorer shows that the Windows Update service (wuauserv) - and specifically a thread for the Windows Update Agent (wuaueng.dll) - accounts for all of that CPU activity.
4. When "Checking for updates..." is initialized, the WindowUpdate.log for a Patch Tuesday update shows Protocol Talker synchronizing the list of updates with the local database on the client computer (+++ PT: Synchronizing extended update info +++) followed by a dozen or so entries where DtaStor handles the database transactions to add URLs for new updates posted since the last Windows Update (e.g., http://download.windowsupdate.com/c/msdownload/update/software/updt/2016/03/windows6.0-kb3147071...). The log then shows a huge gap of several hours (no warnings, no errors) before the next timestamp shows that Agent (the WUA) has finished searching for available updates. This delayed timestamp for Agent corresponds with the time that the "Checking for updates..." phase of WU finally reports that updates are available for download in the WU GUI.
5. Generally speaking, most affected Win 7 and Vista users have older machines with slower CPUs and smaller amounts of RAM.  Microsoft has released a series of updates for the Win 7 Windows Update Agent (wuaueng.dll) to reduce CPU and memory usage during WUs.  For example, KB3050265 (Windows Update Client for Windows 7: June 2015) states "This update addresses an issue in which system performance can be decreased during scans. This issue has the greatest effect on computers that have a small amount of physical memory."  There are no similar patches for the WU client for Vista and the current WUA v7.6.7600.256 for Vista has not been updated since June 2012.
6. In recent months, many affected users have reported that the workaround posted on Dalai's webpage titled Search for Windows Updates takes forever? - A possible solution can reduce "Checking for updates..." from hours to minutes.  This author of this webpage maintains a list of Windows kernel-mode driver (Win32k.sys) updates for both Win 7 SP1 and Vista SP2 that must be downloaded from the Microsoft Download Center and pre-installed before you run Windows Update - assuming these updates were not installed during previous Windows Updates.  This workaround was discussed in Woody Leonhard's InfoWorld article Windows 7 update scans taking forever? KB 3153199 may solve the problem and has since been endorsed by other IT professionals like Michael Horowitz (see his ComputerWorld article *The Shame of Windows Update*).  This appears to be a temporary workaround since the slow WUs typically return the next Patch Tuesday, and users must pre-install any new Win32k.sys update added to Dalai's webpage before WU is run again.
7. Three years ago, Win XP users experienced a similar problem after Win 8.1 was released where the Windows Update Agent (WUA), running under svchost.exe, would lock machines with 100% CPU consumption.  Microsoft eventually acknowledged the problem and provided a permanent fix by expiring some of the outdated updates in the supersedence chain for older versions of the IE browser and other Microsoft programs. See Woody Leonhard's old Nov 2013 article Microsoft to fix Windows XP update SVCHOST redline issue 'soon' as well as his recent Apr 2016 article It's time for Microsoft to fix the Windows 7 update slowdowns for more information on supersedence chains.

To conclude, I would like to know if any affected Win 7 or Vista user has found a solution for these "Checking for updates..." hangs that works better than Dalai's temporary workaround outlined in item # 6.

I would also like to know if Microsoft is investigating these slow Windows Updates and whether this problem could be mitigated (or even permanently fixed) if Microsoft released an updated WUA for Vista to improve memory usage on computers with limited amounts of RAM and/or expired outdated updates for long-standing programs like IE and the MS .NET Framework.

32-bit Vista Home Premium SP2 * Firefox v46.0.1 * IE9 * NIS v21.7.0.11 * MBAM Premium v2.2.1

HP Pavilion dv6835ca, Intel Core2Duo T5550 @ 1.83 GHz, 3 GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS