Following a clean install, Windows Update remains at "Checking For Updates" forever...

Yes, that would be useful."

"X86" in title for 32-bit

"64" in title for 64-bit

It is also easy to just edit the OP and put in the new details.

Ken, I have a PC on my desk right now.  Did a Factory restore. Did not yet have SP1.  Proceeded to do WU until SP1 was installed.  Disconnected Internet.  Installed the two updates KB3083710, and KB3102810. Restarts.  Then reconnected to the Internet.  Started WU.  Within 10 minutes had hundreds of updates.

It works!

Thanks again.

I had exactly this same problem, of a system stuck endlessly on the update panel. Being averse to reinstalling again, I took a chance and skipped steps 2 and 3. (The system was already at 7.6.7600.320)

I followed steps 4 and 5, rebooting after each install. Next was to launch Windows Update, and within 3 minutes I had a list of 209 updates. At this moment I don't know what problems may lie ahead, but the immediate issue of Windows stuck for hours on the Windows Update panel are gone.

My thanks to all those who worked on this problem, and their efforts to document it for our use.

I've reloaded hundreds of Windows computers over the years and I like to think that I am reasonably proficient at that process.  I have just encountered an issue that required a lot of time and effort to resolve and I am posting this to try and save someone else the same ordeal.

My customer had a late model, name-brand Windows 7/64 SP1 computer with a disk drive that was failing.  I changed out the disk drive with a replacement and went through the recovery process, using the manufacturer-provided Recovery Media.  That media is supposed to be identical to the image loaded on the drive from the factory - Windows 7/64 with SP1.

Following the reload, I followed my normal procedure and launched Windows Update.  Windows Update remained at "Checking for Updates" for hours, without ever displaying any updates to install.  I restarted the PC and tried again, with exactly the same result.  The Software Distribution folder would get built and there were plenty of entries in WindowsUpdate.log, but eventually disk activity would cease but CPU activity would remain over 50%.  And Windows Update just showed "Checking for Updates" forever.

I decided the reload must have been bad and so I repeated it from scratch again with exactly the same result.  At that point I decided the image on the manufacturer's Recovery Media must be defective and so I reloaded from my MS Partner Program Windows 7/64 SP1 DVD.  I had the same exact symptoms and result again.  I thought that maybe I was not waiting long enough, so I left it running overnight.  The next morning, it was still at "Checking for Updates".

I tried additional reloads using SURT and that also remained at "Checking for Updates" without accomplishing anything.  I tried using the Windows Update Troubleshooter - with no luck.  Ditto for manually resetting Windows Update and various combinations of these techniques.  I verified that Windows was activated and that date/time were correctly set.  Nothing made any difference.

I then started meticulously documenting everything as I went along and I think I've found a solution:

After the reload, I checked the Windows Update components in C:\Wndows\System32. The components are wuapi.dll, wuapp.exe, wuaclt.exe and wuaeng.dll and all are version 7.5.7601.17514 dated 11/20/2010.  Once you launched Windows update or run SURT, these are all updated directly to version 7.6.7600.320.  At that point, I get the symptoms described above and there doesn't appear to be any way to recover.

When Windows Update is launched, it first updates itself automatically and without the user having any option.  It appears that upgrading the WU components from7.5.7601.17514 directly to 7.6.7600.320 causes the issue.  I suspect that it works fine for computers that are updated incrementally.

Once WU version 7.6.7600.320 is loaded, there is no easy recovery that I could find.

The following procedure was successful for me and I repeated it again just to be sure:

1. Download KB3083710 and KB3102810 in advance.
2. Disconnect the computer from the Internet so Windows Update cannot automatically update itself to 7.6.7600.320.
3. Perform a fresh reload from Recovery Media or Windows 7/64 with SP1 RTM.
4. Manually install KB3083710 and restart - WU components will now be version 7.6.7601.19016 dated 9/25/2015.
5. Manually install KB3102810 and restart - WU components will now be version 7.6.7601.19046 dated 10/20/2015.
6. Restore the Internet connection and launch Windows Update as normal.
7. After a few minutes, you should have plenty of updates to download and install.

I am not sure that both steps 4 and 5 are required, but I didn't want to mess with success.  I hope this saves someone else some time and effort.

Ken Morley

WORKED FOR ME !............ Ken, you are a genius!! I spent several hours each day for probably a week trying numerous suggestions to solve the Windows Update problem. I did numerous clean installs, but nothing worked until I tried your above suggestion. I was attempting to reinstall Windows 7/64 with SP1. I needed to have Windows 7 on this laptop rather than Windows 10. I did format the partition on my hard drive before doing a clean install.

After I reconnected to the internet, within about 10-15 minutes 164 updates had been downloaded. I checked over the updates and installed all but the optional ones.

At first I download the 32 bit version of KB3083710 and KB3102810 rather than the 64 bit version by mistake. I found another response to make sure you downloaded the right version, which I did. Then I followed your recommended procedure. I check "download but don't install the updates". This seems to be working great!

Thanks so much for taking the time to help us resolve a very difficult, at least for me, problem. Too bad we don't get some support from MS!!

Thanks,

Bill Corbin

I'm assuming you have to remove those updates first correct?

Obviously just trying to install it straight out tells me it is already installed on my computer.

Also can anybody confirm if upgrading to Windows 10 will fix this issue? As much as I don't want to, it'll be easier than doing an entire fresh install of Windows 7 :/