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

Anonymous
2016-01-19T16:22:55+00:00

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:\Windows\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.

CURRENT PROCEDURE:

  1. Download https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3020369 and https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3172605 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. When the installation prompts for updates, choose "Ask Me Later".
  5. Apply KB3020369 and then KB3172605 in that order.
  6. Restore the Internet connection, configure update settings to your preference and launch Windows Update as normal.

Credit to Canadian Tech, Volume Z and other contributors for developing this current procedure.

ORIGINAL PROCEDURE FROM JANUARY 19 2016 HAS BEEN DEPRECATED BY THE NEW PROCEDURE ABOVE:

  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.

Ken Morley

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Windows update

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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  1. Anonymous
    2016-06-28T04:06:51+00:00

    No, you simply have to start from an earlier place. I also had to start pre-SP1 on an old rickety (but according to MS,, W10 capable and to me it seemed to be the W10 nagware and trojans that caused me the problems in the first place)  computer. It can be done and here is how I did it.

    http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows\_7-update/windows-7-home-premium-refuses-to-update/4fa84834-ea3f-414d-89b1-b2e703adf741?page=5

    If indeed your computer is too rickity to get SP 1 in 1st or 2nd set of updates, here is where you can download SP1 and the instructions for how to install it..

    https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=5842

    I now have a copy of SP1 on disc should I ever have to do this again.

    It is encouraging to find someone who has had success with a pre-SP1 situation.  My experiences so far with my reformatted HD at pre-SP1 stage are that this computer will not update (why I am here to begin with) and I cannot download anything from MS using the IE8 browser it now has on it from the reformat process.  When I try I get a message on the web site I am trying to download from that says my browser is out-of-date and I have to update it (which I can't do) in order to continue.  When I try to download some of the files or just get to them on THIS computer (a Win10 OS) I get errors telling me they are not compatible with Win10.  If this happened to you (since you are also pre-SP1) how did you get around it?  Much obliged for your input.

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  2. Anonymous
    2016-06-28T11:39:19+00:00

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  3. Anonymous
    2016-06-28T11:53:12+00:00

    Just follow the path in the link I provided.

    As it has been said MANY times, the WINDOWS UPDATE updater is beyond user control as long as the machine is connected to the internet.

    Ken's and the other solutions in this thread all require the pre-lownloading of selected patches to the updater and manually installing them, and as you note, at pre-SP1 IE8, the computer will not download anything from MS and as I understand your posts, MS will not let you download the suggested patches on the W10 machine either. I was able to download them using a linux mint with chrome machine, but, since all the solutions here assume either a post-SP1 system, or the ownership of an SP1 instalation disc, the patches didn't work for me either.

    My way allowed the machine to do the 1st Update to the Windows Updater. Left it out but that took a couple hours and a restart or two. Probably because of my slow connection and/or old slow wifi adapter.

    If you have it at pre-SP1, turn it on, connect to internet and just let it sit until Windows Update updates itself. It might help to trun off the Automatic Update to stop the machine from using bandwidth trying to do that at the same time it is updating the updater. It should be noted, that the only way you will know that the updater is ready to update is a prompt to restart the machine.

    You can download the Never10 on the W10 machine and I used an external sdcard reader to move the small file onto the old machine so I could install Never10. Never10 does an update to the updater. Again my long check time was probably the result of my slow internet connection and/or the old slow wifi adapter in tbe machine.

    Be patient. It should work.

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  4. Anonymous
    2016-06-28T12:00:38+00:00

    Robear:

    That's a good thought, but note that I had exactly the same symptoms and results regardless of whether I loaded from the manufacturer's media or the Microsoft RTM media.  We know that the Microsoft RTM media doesn't include any anti-virus.

    Besides, I was ultimately able to successfully load from the manufacturer's media, provided I followed the procedure outlined.  I went through the whole process twice just to make sure it wasn't a fluke.

    I still think that there is some problem with the Windows Update version 7.6.7600.320 that you get automatically from the Windows Update servers.  Once that was loaded, Windows Update never worked again.  And there doesn't appear to be any easy way to recover.

    Thanks for the suggestion!

    Ken Morley

    i had the exact problem, i tried all the mr.. fixits and spent days with microsoft support and still windows update just ran without results. i just found a fix, to get to the link, type in Kriss Milne windows 7 stuck on checking for updates. Step 2 was the fix for my dell xps laptop running win 7 home premium. After installing the update, Windows Update lite up like a christmas tree, downloading several updates and listing them all on the Windows Update page.  good luck,  joe domini

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  5. Anonymous
    2016-06-28T12:03:08+00:00

    As it has been said MANY times, the WINDOWS UPDATE updater is beyond user control as long as the machine is connected to the internet. 

    Please don't get hysterical about this. All you have to do is select "Ask me later" at "Set up Windows".

    Regards, VZ

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