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

Anonymous
2015-08-18T14:12:50+00:00

Is Microsoft throttling bandwidth for users running Windows Update on Vista machines to give a higher priority to Win 10 users?

I've run multiple Windows Updates since Patch Tuesday on 11-Aug-2015 and couldn't get them to run to completion on my 32-bit Vista machine until 16-Aug-2015.  There were no errors - it just reported that it was checking for updates and never finished, even if I let it run for over an hour.  Process Explorer showed svchost.exe constantly consuming ~50% of my CPU (i.e., complete saturation of one of my Intel Duo cores) and that a thread for the Windows Update service (wuauserv) was responsible for all that CPU activity.

I assumed that my Windows Update service was corrupted but after reading posts by other Vista users having the same problem (see ScousaJay's post *Windows Update Just Seems to Hang While Checking* in the Windows VistaForums for one example) I tried a manual update again on 16-Aug-2015.  Windows Update finally ran to completion and offered 17 important updates and one optional update for Silverlight but it took approx. 35 min before it reported that updates were available and the entire process, including the downloads, installs and monthly Malicious Software Removal scan, took almost a full hour.  A typical Patch Tuesday normally takes about 10 min on my machine from start to finish.

Here's what the CPU consumption looked like for my successful Windows Update of 16-Aug-2015, with the "Checking for updates..." phase running between the 70 and 35 min marks and re-start to complete the installation around the 15 min mark.

32-bit Vista Home Premium SP2 * Firefox 40.0.2 * IE9 * NIS 2014 v. 21.7.0.11

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

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Performance and system failures

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  1. Anonymous
    2016-05-30T18:24:02+00:00

    Hi PA Bear:

    Thanks for your offer of assistance, but all I want to do at the moment is to reach out to Win 7 and Vista users affected by these slow Windows Updates and let them know that a temporary workaround has been posted on Dalai's webpage ***Search for Windows Updates takes forever? - A possible solution***.  Many Vista users, including myself, have seen the initial "Checking for updates..." phase of WU hang for several hours during Patch Tuesday updates since Windows 10 was officially released in July 2015.  The svchost.exe process consumes high amounts of CPU (i.e., complete saturation of one core of the CPU) while "Checking for updates..." runs, and my post <here> shows that all that CPU is consumed by the Windows Update service (wuauserv) and an underlying thread for the Windows Update Agent (wuaueng.dll).  Excerpts from my WindowsUpdate.log are posted in post # 162 of ScousaJAY's VistaForums thread windows update just seems to hang while checking where many affected Vista users have been sharing observations and links to relevant information since this problem began in August 2015.

    From what I've read in various forums and IT blogs it sounds as if Win 7 and Vista users won't have permanent solution for these slow Windows Updates until Microsoft steps up and addresses the problem from their end.  I don't know if that fix would come in the form of a patch for the Windows Update Agent (the latest WUA v7.6.7600.256 for Vista was released June 2012) or whether Microsoft needs to expire some of the outdated updates in their supersedence chain for programs like the IE browser and the MS .NET Framework, but I don't want to waste any more time running further diagnostics on my local machine if the problem originates on the backend Microsoft servers.

    My posts in this thread from 16-May-2016 forward summarize my understanding of the current status of this issue.

    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

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  2. Anonymous
    2016-05-28T22:00:18+00:00

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  3. Anonymous
    2016-05-28T21:32:02+00:00
    1. 2009
    2. Norton Security with Backup version 22.6. Expires in December. Don't know what (if any) anti-spyware is installed. No 3rd party firewall.

    3a. Originally had Norton 360.

    3b. Started as a free-trial, preinstalled.

    1. No.
    2. None of them are listed in Installed History.
    3. Java is latest version.
    4. Adobe Flash Player is latest version.
    5. 9.0.49 KB 3148198
    6. Firefox 46.0.1
    7. No.

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  4. Anonymous
    2016-05-28T20:53:23+00:00

    @Great White North only and assuming you're still having problems! =>

    Please answer each of the following [admittedly tedious] diagnostic questions in a correspondingly-numbered list in your very next reply, preferably without quoting my post:

    1. When (approx. date) did you purchase the HP computer?

    1b. Have you ever had occasion to do a Repair Install or a clean install of Windows Vista?

    1. What is the full name & version of your installed anti-virus application or security suite (e.g., Norton Security with Backup version 22.x) and when (approx. date) does your current subscription expire or auto-renew? What anti-spyware applications (other than Defender) are installed? What third-party firewall (if any)?

    3a. Has a(nother) Norton application or a McAfee application EVER been installed on the computer since you bought it?

    3b. Did a Norton free-trial or a McAfee free-trial [pick one] come preinstalled on the computer when you bought it? (Doesn't matter if you never used or Activated it.)

    1. Have you ever run the Norton Removal Tool and/or the McAfee Consumer Products Removal Tool?
    2. Is KB3154070, KB3158991, KB3156013, KB3156016, KB3156017, KB3156019, KB3155178, KB314108, KB3153171, KB3153199  and/or KB3142023 listed in Installed Updates (notUpdate History)? [1]
    3. Assuming Java is installed => Is Java Version 8 Update 91 (or higher) installed? TEST HERE USING INTERNET EXPLORER ONLY! => http://java.com/en/download/uninstallapplet.jsp [2]
    • Java Update: Patch it or pitch it

    http://krebsonsecurity.com/2014/07/java-update-patch-it-or-pitch-it/

    • Is it time to disable/uninstall Java?

    http://securitygarden.blogspot.com/2013/01/java-zero-day-again-time-to.html

    1. Is Adobe Flash Player v21.0.0.242 (or higher) installed? TEST HERE USING INTERNET EXPLORER ONLY! => http://www.adobe.com/software/flash/about/
    2. What Update Version & KB number are displayed in the second line of textin IE9's Help | About [Alt+H+A] tab; e.g., Update Version: 9.0.54 (KB9876543) ?
    3. Is Firefox version 46.0.1 (or higher) and/or Google Chrome version 51 (or higher) or any other alternate browser installed?
    4. Are you in the habit of using "Registry cleaners" (e.g., Registry Mechanic; System Mechanic; RegCure; RegClean Pro; Advanced SystemCare; Total System Care; Glary Utilities; Registry Booster; McAfee QuickClean; AVG Quick Clean; AVG PC TuneUp; Norton Registry Cleaner; Norton PC Tuneup; PCTools Optimiser; SpeedUpMyPC; FixMyPC; PC Doctor; TuneUp Utilities; WinMaximizer; WinSweeper; Comodo System Cleaner; Advanced System Optimizer; CCleaner Registry Cleaner component)?

    ==================================================

    [1] Start | Control Panel | Programs and Features | View installed updates (in left-hand menu)

    [2] No need to install Java if it's not already installed!

    [Last Revised - 12 May 2016]

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  5. Anonymous
    2016-05-27T12:02:31+00:00

    Try this one,

    Windows Update Hangs

    Hi HFM47:

    I'm not certain what you would consider "definitive" but I've been posting in the VistaForums thread that Mooly01 recommended since post # 18 (18-Aug-2015) under the username lmacri, and I provided a link to that thread in my original post.  If anyone learns the root cause of the slow Windows Updates or finds a workaround that works better than the one Dalai posted at ***Search for Windows Updates takes forever? - A possible solution*** then it will likely be mentioned there.

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

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

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