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

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  1. Anonymous
    2016-05-11T13:23:54+00:00

    Thrash:

    A great point that I had not even considered - it's done now.

    Thanks!

    Ken Morley

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  2. Anonymous
    2016-05-11T13:10:09+00:00

    Yep you may need to rethink the title :)

    This is a discussion and not an actual question

    But the title suggests one thing and the content points mostly to a clean install updating process

    I would suggest adding Clean install to the beginning of the title :)

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  3. Anonymous
    2016-05-11T12:50:11+00:00

    DaviNUNYA and VZ:

    This topic has kind of gotten hijacked to scenarios that it was not originally written to address.  That's OK as long as it still accomplishes the original intent, but I think some of the original details from page one have gotten overlooked.   I think some readers skip to page 24 and forget to read page 1.

    The problem that I originally described is that Windows Update itself gets broken and it's not a delay issue - it's flat broken and you can wait forever and still never get any updates.  And once WU is broken, there is no easy way to fix it - it remains permanently broken.

    In that case, the components that "break" Windows Update is not in any KB that you can search for and choose to download, install or not install.  In that case, the defective components are updates that Windows Update makes to itself that are automatically downloaded and installed by Windows Update without any prompting, notice or request to the user.  The procedure described on page 1 simply works around the issue so that Windows Update updates itself to a newer version that is not broken.

    The point I am making is that the user has no control over when, where or how often Windows Update updates itself.  You will never even be aware that it happens, because it happens automatically in the background and is completely transparent to the user.  You also can't stop it from happening unless you shut down and disable all WU services and never use WU again.

    If you are working with an issue where Windows Updates are taking a long time and/or you continue getting unwanted updates on Patch Tuesdays, I respectfully suggest that it would be more efficient and helpful to start a new thread.  Either of those scenarios are significantly different from the problem that I originally described, even though they might possibly be related.

    Ken Morley

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  4. Anonymous
    2016-05-11T12:05:19+00:00

    It's up to you not to install whatever you like, but you have no way to tell the update search to ignore it. If you let Windows Update work without it, you'll end up installing KB3153199 anyway, only with lots of delay. You have to imagine windows update being screwed up by default lately and fixing it by preinstalling an update that has yet to be searched for.

    Regards, VZ

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  5. Anonymous
    2016-05-11T00:18:48+00:00

    Humnnn. Rather than having to do a pre-update install of something that isn't in the update,, wouldn't it make more sense to simply not install whatever it is in the update that is screwing things up??

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