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

So this Patch Tuesday I got the usual Task Manager going beserk trouble AND I lost the use of IE9 for all but the most basic of websites.  I did start a new thread for that one:

IE9 Won't Work, But Firefox Will -- Since Patch Tuesday

Oh yes, and I never did receive the OS updates to my computer.

I just don't understand all this that this company seems to be putting people through so they can get everyone to get rid of their present operating systems and go for that new Windows 10.  I mean, that has to be what's going on, right?

I know, you really could give a rat's **** about one old man like me that may actually find it best to move to the Linux OS and just remember better days with Mr. Gates and his products and get you folks out of my life.

That IE9 business was really a bummer***!***  I honestly thought my ISP was at fault and it was while I was on the phone with support and they asked me to try another browser when I found out it was the Internet Explorer that was causing the trouble.  How stupid I felt.  And then the letdown -- you know, thinking that this company had driven one more nail into me.  I'm just getting really fed up with this whole business***!!***  Sad.  Really sad***!!!***

I posted earlier in the thread, and while deeply annoyed at Microsoft over this, I made the switch to W10 by playing the system (legally) by reinstating an old W7 pro license to gain a W10 pro license, and putting W8.1 on the old Vista PC which then also qualified for W10.

If I were using Vista now I think I would accept that its support time is nearly up and as such I would look at disabling the update service. I'm not sure if simply turning off updates from control panel works for this issue... you would have to try it.

IE9 was already becoming flaky on some sites long ago due to lack of support. Alternatives didn't appeal although I did use 'Palemoon' for some time and quite liked it although these 3rd party browsers always seem like 'works in progress' to me.

So MS got their wish and I'm now using W10 for both my PC's, and all at no cost. Do I like W10. Well I have to admit I do, and the new 'Edge' browser is a gem.

I do think MS should come clean over Vista though, and offer some solution for this issue.

It's been 10 months now since I first reported this issue and the problem is only getting worse.  There are now multiple threads in multiple forums where Vista users see the initial "Checking for updates..." phase of Windows Updates hang for long periods of time during Patch Tuesday updates.  In my case "Checking for updates..." ran for 4 - 5 hours during my April and May 2016 Patch Tuesday updates before it reported that updates were available for download.

Here's a sample screenshot from my March 2016 Patch Tuesday updates.  The last hour of the "Checking for updates...." phase (between the 90 and 30 min marks) was the constant consumption of ~ 50% of my CPU by the Windows Update service (wuauserv) running under svchost.exe.  The download of 11 available updates, installation, and monthly Malicious Software Removal Tool scan completed normally between the 30 and 10 min marks.  The dark grey band at 5 min was the system restart to complete the installation.

The Windows Update Agent (WUA) at C:\Windows\system32\wuaueng.dll on my 32-bit Vista system is currently v7.6.7600.256 and hasn't been updated since June  2012.  If Microsoft isn't deliberately throttling bandwidth for Patch Tuesday updates to give priority to Win 10 users then perhaps it's about time that they released an update for the WUA to fix this problem.

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

I should also mention that Woody Leonhard's InfoWorld article Windows 7 update scans taking forever? KB 3153199 may solve the problem suggests that that pre-installing monthly Windows kernel-mode driver (Win32k.sys) updates like KB3145739 (Apr 2016) and KB3153199 (May 2106) from the Microsoft Download Center every month can "trick" Windows Update into running Patch Tuesday updates faster - at least for Win 7 users

• but it's only a temporary solution and the problem will return the next month. Feedback <here> on the AskWoody.com site confirms that many Win 7 users are having success with this workaround.  Woody Leonhard posted a link to ***Search for Windows Updates takes forever? - A possible solution*** that tracks the recommended win32k.sys update (both Win 7 and Vista) that must be installed each successive month before running the Patch Tuesday updates. From the author of that webpage:

"The term 'solution' might be a little bit exaggerated, since the following HowTo only tries to make sure that the Update Agent doesn't need to check all updates, so the check for new updates is done faster. Futhermore, it's only a temporary solution; most likely the issue will appear again with the next Patchday."

I haven't tried this workaround yet, but there are a few users in the VistaForums thread *windows update just seems to hang while checking* who tried pre-installing KB3153199 before running their May 2016 Patch Tuesday updates and reported that it allowed them to install their remaining updates in a reasonable amount of time.

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

Here are a few more Vista users who reported the temporary workaround suggested in my previous 16-May-2016 post significantly reduced the time "Checking for updates..." spent searching for available updates.  If you managed to install your April 2016 Patch Tuesday updates last month you should only have to pre-install one missing Win32k.sys update listed on Dalai's webpage ***Search for Windows Updates takes forever? - A possible solution*** - KB3153199 - before running Windows Update to download your remaining May 2016 Patch Tuesday updates.

      copiman:          Current tips on updates

      Ichabod22:       Vista Windows update hangs with "checking for updates"

      Intelektualista: *Windows Vista Update Hangs at "Checking For Updates"*

      SorinCas:          Windows Vista Won't Install New Updates After SP2 Installed

Just an aside, but I also posted comments in post # 162 of the VistaForums thread windows update just seems to hang while checking about a similar problem that Win XP users experienced three years ago after Win 8.1 was released.  From Woody Leonhard's old November 2013 article Microsoft to fix Windows XP update SVCHOST redline issue 'soon':

"In other words, when you run Windows Update, the program has to bang against Microsoft's internal database of patches and figure out which patches need to be applied and which ones have been superseded and can be ignored. Since IE6 and IE7, in particular, have been around since the dawn of time, that's an enormous pile of patches to sort through."

I don't know if Vista is currently suffering from the identical issue but I wonder now if Microsoft could permanently fix these slow Windows Updates in Vista and Win 7 by expiring some of the outdated updates in the supersedence chain for programs like the IE browser and the MS .NET Framework.

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