Updates not working, it has been searching for updates for hours

Anonymous
2016-06-15T04:54:11+00:00

My PC is quite old and I have tried the microsoft fix it tool. The fix it tool never works. 

I have been trying to check for new updates from since yesterday (Tuesday 14th June) in the afternoon. It is now Wednesday morning (12 hours approx) and it is still checking. There is no error code, it is just checking for the updates.

I have no technical skills so please do not ask me any technical questions. I would just like a solution to this problem.

Thank you.

It is August now and my pc has been searching for updates for 1 week now. This is****ridiculous

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Windows update

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lmacri 2,505 Reputation points
2016-06-16T12:03:51+00:00

My PC is quite old and I have tried the microsoft fix it tool. The fix it tool never works. 

I have been trying to check for new updates from since yesterday (Tuesday 14th June) in the afternoon. It is now Wednesday morning (12 hours approx) and it is still checking. There is no error code, it is just checking for the updates...

***** IMPORTANT NOTICE as of August 3, 2020 *****

Microsoft has announced they will be deactivating Windows Update on August 3, 2020 for computers with unsupported Windows operating systems that do not support SHA-2 code signing - see the 24-Jun-2020 Microsoft support article Windows Update SHA-1 Based Endpoints Discontinued for Older Windows Devices for more information.   Win XP and Vista users will likely see one of the following error codes when Windows Update is run after this date.

  • Error code 80072ee2 or 80244019: The device cannot connect to Windows Update.
  • Error code 8024402c: The device is unable to locate Windows Update.

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Unfortunately, this means that the instructions below to fix slow Windows Updates and automatically patch a Vista SP2 OS to end of extended support (11-Apr-2017) will no longer work.  After 03-Aug-2020, Vista SP2 users who are still missing security updates released prior to 11-Apr-2017 should read post # 9 in the VistaForums thread WinVista HomePremium-X86 (SP1) Reinstallation Question about using the **** Dism++ utility to patch Vista SP2 back to end of support.
___________________________________________________________________________

**** INSTRUCTIONS BELOW WILL NOT FIX WINDOWS UPDATES AS OF 03-AUG-2020 ****

Hi m#l:

There is a known issue on Vista SP2 computers where Windows Update can hang on "Checking for updates..." for several hours (or even days) without throwing an error message. This problem was first reported in August 2015 and these slow Windows Updates have become progressively worse over time. In June 2016, IT expert Dalai began posting lists of "speed up" patches (a small number of security updates for the Win32K.sys kernel mode driver, graphics components, and IE9) at http://wu.krelay.de/en/ that could be manually installed each month to fix this problem.    Here are step-by-step instructions for Dalai's solution:

REVISED for the JUNE 2017 Patch Tuesday (valid as of July 2020):

  1. Disable automatic Windows Updates [Windows Update | Change settings | Important updates | Never check for updates (not recommended)] and re-boot to terminate any Windows Update sessions currently running in the background on your system.
  2. Search your installed updates at Control Panel | Programs and Features | View Installed Updates to see if any of the following "speed up" patches are missing from your system: KB3205638 (rel. 13-Dec-2016); KB4012583 (rel. 14-Mar-2017); KB4015380 (rel. 11-Apr-2017); KB4019204 (rel. 09-May-2017).  If IE9 is installed then KB4018271 (the 09-May-2017 cumulative security update for IE9) is also required. When searching, enter the full KB number in the search box (e.g., "KB3205638" and not a partial string like "3205638".
  3. Download the standalone installers (.msu files) for any missing "speed up" patches from the the Microsoft Update Catalog and save them to your Windows desktop using the download links in Note 1.  Use the Vista x86 installer if you have a 32-bit OS; use the Vista x64 installer if you have a 64-bit OS. See Note 2 if you have problems downloading the .msu installers.
  4. Double-click to run each .msu standalone installer.  Re-boot after all .msu installers have run to completion unless the installation wizard for one of the installers specifically requests a re-boot to finish the installation. See Notes 3 and 4 if you have problems running the .msu installers.
  5. Once all missing "speed up" patches are pre-installed, run a manual Windows Update [Windows Update | Check for updates] to detect and install any available updates released as of 11-Apr-2017.  It might take a few re-boots and manual Windows Updates to get everything patched, depending on how many months or years your Vista SP2 OS is out of date. See Note 5 if Windows Update continues to hang at "Checking for updates...". [WARNING*: If you following these instructions after July 2020 and Windows Update throws an error see the IMPORTANT NOTICE at the top of this post.]*

**** EDIT as of June 2017:  Microsoft released five out-of-band emergency security updates for Vista SP2 in June 2017 were posted on the Microsoft Update Catalog but will not be delivered via Windows Update.  See the thread More Shadow Brokers Exploits Patched June 2017 for Win XP and Vista for instructions on how to install these emergency updates if they are still missing from your system. ****

**** EDIT as of April 2020:  Since March 2020 multiple users performing a clean reinstall of their Vista SP2 OS have reported that Windows Update can throw an error 800B0109 ("A certificate chain processed, but terminated in a root certificate which is not trusted by the trust provider") while trying to install KB4014984 (Security and Quality Rollup for NET. Framework 2.0, 3.0, 4.5.2, 4.6 on Windows Vista SP2 and Server 2008 SP2: April 11, 2017).  To fix this error, download the MicrosoftRootCertificateAuthority2011.cer file from http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=747875&clcid=0x409 and save it to the root C:\ directory of your computer (i.e.., so the location is C:\MicrosoftRootCertificateAuthority2011.cer), open anelevated command prompt with Administrator rights, and enter the command certutil -addstore "Root" "C:\MicrosoftRootCertificateAuthority2011.cer" to apply the required trust certificate. Kudos to greenhillmaniac for posting about this fix in his 06-Apr-2020 post in the MSFN threadCertificate Trust Provider Error Installing Updates. ****
______________________

Note 1:  Download 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) .msu installers from the Microsoft Update Catalog at the following links:

REQUIRED:

     KB3205638:  https://www.catalog.update.microsoft.com/Search.aspx?q=KB3205638 Vista

     KB4012583:  https://www.catalog.update.microsoft.com/Search.aspx?q=KB4012583 Vista
     KB4015380:  https://www.catalog.update.microsoft.com/Search.aspx?q=KB4015380 Vista

     KB4019204:  https://www.catalog.update.microsoft.com/Search.aspx?q=KB4019204 Vista

OPTIONAL (if Internet Explorer 9 is installed):

    KB4018271:  https://www.catalog.update.microsoft.com/Search.aspx?q=KB4018271 Internet Explorer 9 Vista

OPTIONAL (if MS Office 2007, MS Office 2010 or the MS Office Compatibility Pack SP3 is installed):

     See Note 5 below.

Image

Note 2:  If you have problems downloading the .msu installers using Internet Explorer 9 then try an alternate browser like Firefox ESR v52.9.0 (the legacy extended support release for Win XP and Vista, last updated 26-Jun-2018).  You can also download the .msu installers to a USB thumb drive from another computer and copy the .msu installers to your Vista desktop.

Note 3:  If you try to install a speed up patch that is already installed on your computer, download an installer that does not match the bit architecture of your OS (e.g., you try to run a 64-bit .msu installer on a 32-bit Vista machine), or try to install a speed up patch that has been superseded (replaced) by a newer update you will see a "The update is not applicable to your computer" error - see the MS support article Windows Update Troubleshooting for other common causes of this error.

Note 4:  The standalone update packages (.msu files) will get stuck at "Checking for updates..." if there is a Windows Update session already running in the background on your computer.  Most users find that disabling automatic Windows Updates and re-booting is sufficient (STEP # 1), but if your .msu installer still gets stuck you can temporarily disconnect from the internet or stop your Windows Update service (wuauserv) at Control Panel | System and Maintenance | Administrative Tools | Services while running these installers.  Unlike Windows Update, these standalone update packages (.msu files) are associated with the Windows Update Standalone Installer (C:\Windows\System32\wusa.exe) and can be installed on computers without an internet connection.

Note 5:  This issue has not been prevalent since 2018, but if you have MS Office 2007 SP3, MS Office 2010 SP2 and/or the MS Office Compatibility Pack SP3 (an add-on that allows older MS Office products like MS Office 2000/2003/2007 to work with files with newer Open XML formats like .docx, .xlsx, etc.) and find that Windows Update is still running slowly after completing the instructions above then links for additional "speed up" patches (.exe self-extracting installers) for these MS Office products are posted below.

If MS Office 2007 SP3 installed:
KB4018355: for Word 2007 (rel. Apr 2018)

 [KB4018353](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=56780): for Excel 2007 (rel. Apr 2018)

If MS Office Compatibility Pack SP3 (MS Office 2000/2003/2007 add-on) installed:

 [KB4018354](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=56800): Word converter file (wordconv; rel. Apr 2018)

 [KB4461607](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=57877): Excel converter file (xlconv; rel. Feb 2019)

If 32-bit MS Office 2010 SP2 installed:

 [KB4493218](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=102981 "https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=102981"): for 32-bit MS Word 2010 (rel. Apr 2021)

 [KB3017810](https://www.microsoft.com/download/details.aspx?familyid=dbf63fea-6134-43ed-8960-a5e6822b494a "https://www.microsoft.com/download/details.aspx?familyid=dbf63fea-6134-43ed-8960-a5e6822b494a"): for 32-bit MS Excel 2010 (rel. Apr 2021)

If 64-bit MS Office 2010 SP2 installed:

 [KB4493218](https://www.microsoft.com/download/details.aspx?familyid=0ad9421d-1f16-4ed2-bc3c-59c293c11ad5 "https://www.microsoft.com/download/details.aspx?familyid=0ad9421d-1f16-4ed2-bc3c-59c293c11ad5"): for 64-bit MS Word 2010 (rel. Apr 2021)

[KB3017810](https://www.microsoft.com/download/details.aspx?familyid=0d5a97be-08a4-485f-aba0-9fa27f072a93 "https://www.microsoft.com/download/details.aspx?familyid=0d5a97be-08a4-485f-aba0-9fa27f072a93"): for 64-bit MS Excel 2010 (rel. Apr 2021)

If you have performed a clean reinstall of your MS Office product and are missing the final Service Pack then links to MS Office 2007 Service Pack 3 (KB2526086) and MS Office 2010 Service Pack 2 (KB2687455) are posted in the Lifewire article Latest Microsoft Office Service Packs. These Service Packs should be installed before applying the above "speed up" patches for your Office product(s).

32-bit Vista Home Premium SP2 * FF ESR v52.9.0 * Malwarebytes Premium v3.5.1 * MS Office 2003 Pro SP3
HP Pavilion dv6835ca, Intel Core2Duo T5550 @ 1.83 GHz, 3 GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS

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  1. lmacri 2,505 Reputation points
    2019-07-04T22:15:42+00:00

    ...When you say you had to manually install February 2019's xlconv release - what exactly is it KB4461607 assisted you achieving, given Automatic Updates has stopped supporting Vista as well asOffice 2007, i.e. all your support at Windows Update has ceased effective April 2018?

    Hi Volume Z:

    I'm not an expert on the inner workings of Windows Update and supersedence chains so I'll have to speculate.

    End of extended support (EOS) doesn't mean that Windows Update stops looking for available updates for the product after that date.  If it did Vista SP2 users who performed a clean reinstall of their Vista OS after 11-Apr-2017 would never be able to find available updates and patch their product back to the EOS date.

    The MS Office Compatibility Pack SP3 is an Office add-on pack that can be installed in a range of older MS Office products (I have MS Office 2003, not MS Office 2007) and the MS TechNet announcement <here> stated that the MS Office Compatibility Pack (KB924074) would be "retired" in April 2018.  That means that all official download links for KB924074 were removed from the Microsoft Update Catalog and other MS sites to prevent MS Office 2007 and earlier users from installing this add-on pack.  I can't find any reference to the MS Office Compatibility Pack when I search the MS Product Lifecycle database <here> so I don't even know if the term "end of support date" is technically correct for this add-on pack.

    MS Office 2007 reached its official end of extended support on 10-Oct-2017 but Microsoft has released new security updates for both MS Office 2007 and the MS Office Compatibility Pack SP3 well beyond their announced EOS dates, so I wasn't surprised when the release of KB4461607 (Security Update for Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack Service Pack 3: February 12, 2019) caused a "Checking for updates..." hang on my computer in Feb 2019.  I have Windows Update configured to check for other "optional" Microsoft products (Windows Update | Change Settings | Microsoft Update), so AFAIK Windows Update should check for available updates for the MS Office Compatibility Pack SP3 that have been posted to the MS update servers each time it runs on my machine. If the latest available update is already installed then the Windows Update Agent does not search the update catalog (wsusscn2.cab) for predecessors and there is no "Checking for updates..." hang.  The metadata <here> on the Microsoft Update Catalog shows KB4461607 is now at the top of a long supersedence chain of past updates that were also known to cause these "Checking for updates..." hangs.

    In contrast, the five emergency out-of-band Vista SP2/IE9 updates that were released after the 11-Apr-2017 end of extended support for this OS (see More Shadow Brokers Exploits Patched June 2017 for Win XP and Vista) were never posted to the MS update servers and must be manually downloaded from the Microsoft Update Catalog.  Also, the metadata for these emergency updates do not list any superseded updates that the Windows Update Agent would have to search for in the update catalog wsusscn2.cab (see the metadata <here> for KB4018271 - Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer: May 9, 2017) so I did not expect the release of these security updates would trigger a "Checking for updates..." hang.

    I don't know what MS Office products you have installed on your 64-bit Vista SP2 test machine or why available security updates for these products no longer cause a "Checking for updates..." hang on that computer, but my experience might be different because I have an older 32-bit machine with a relatively slow dual core CPU and limited free RAM.  The latest Windows Update Agent for Vista SP2 (wuaueng.dll v7.6.7600.256) has not been updated since June 2012 and does not use system resources efficiently when searching the update catalog (wsusscn2.cab) for an available update's predecessors, so older 32-bit Vista SP2 machines are impacted more severely by these "Checking for updates..." hangs than 64-bit machines.  It's also possible, but less likely, that Microsoft recently cleaned up the supersedence chains for MS Office 2007, MS Office 2010 and/or the MS Office Compatibility Pack SP3 and permanently expired/removed some of the older security updates to help speed up Windows Updates.

    My instructions <here> on page 1 of this thread suggest that all users (even those with MS Office products) only install the 4 or 5 required Vista SP2 OS /IE9 "speed up" patches and only move on to the optional MS Office "speed up" patches listed in Note 5 if the required "speed up" patches don't solve their "Checking for updates..." hang. I'm leaving it up to each individual to determine if those MS Office "speed up" patches are needed on their system.

    32-bit Vista Home Premium SP2 * FF ESR v52.9.0 * Norton Security v22.15.2.22 * MS Office Pro 2003

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

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  2. Anonymous
    2019-07-01T23:01:13+00:00

    Hi GWN,

    referring to a trigger of the search issue as a "speed up" update is more or less a means of simplification. It's for the lack of a better expression. I know that when you and others speak of "speed up" and me of "trigger" we are talking about the exact same thing. Still it's important to name it accurately to avoid misunderstanding. Moving from "trigger" to "speed up" is just too much of turning a negative thing into a positive. It means verbal shifting from an issue to a solution.

    I'm having a particularly hard time understanding the following:

    I had to manually install the Compatibility Pack update KB4461607 (the Excel file format converter) to get Windows Update to run to completion after KB4461607 was released on 12-Feb-2019.

    When you say you had to manually install February 2019's xlconv release - what exactly is it KB4461607 assisted you achieving, given Automatic Updates has stopped supporting Vista as well as Office 2007, i.e. all your support at Windows Update has ceased effective April 2018?

    Regards, VZ

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  3. lmacri 2,505 Reputation points
    2019-06-29T23:41:46+00:00

    Hi Volume Z:

    I don't understand your distinction between "speeding up" and "un-slowing down".

    My instructions <here> on page 1 of this thread note that this workaround was first proposed by German IT expert Dalai back in 2016 at http://wu.krelay.de/en/.  From Dalai's background information at http://wu.krelay.de/en/info.htm":

    "...The Update Agent behaves like this because Microsoft keeps all updates in the update catalog (wsusscn2.cab), even superseded ones. The Update Agent checks all updates in the catalog if they are applicable/required for the current system.Updates that are already installed are skipped in the process.

    When some update has been replaced/superseded by a newer one, while there's only the superseded (older) update present on the system, all of the update's predecessors are checked whether they are applicable/required for the system. Andthis check of superseded updates takes so long and causes high CPU load, often taking hours depending on the hardware. As a result the check for new updates takes ages...."

    I refer to these 4 or 5 required security updates as "speed up" patches because they have exceptionally long and complex supersedence chains, and manually pre-installing them drastically reduces the amount of time that the Windows Update Agent would normally spend searching through their older superseded (replaced) updates in the wsusscn2.cab update catalog.  "Speed up" patch is also the term coined by MS MVP Woody Leonhard when he alerted his readers to Dalai's workaround in mid-2016 in his Woody on Windows blog on ComputerWorld.

    32-bit Vista Home Premium SP2 * FF ESR v52.9.0 * Norton Security v22.15.2.22 * MS Office Pro 2003

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

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  4. Anonymous
    2019-06-29T19:50:49+00:00

    There is and always has been this improper perception of yours regarding "speed up updates". **There is no such thing as speeding up Windows Update.**What those patches do is un-slowing downUpdate search by manual applying. The updates we are flagging have never sped anything up. They actually break Windows Update when not applied manually. Windows Update would not have an issue at all if it wasn't for them. This means if no negative impact by a given patch can be verified, as currently is the case for all Office related ones, their manual applying, in turn, is impossible to have any enhancing effect.

    Regards, VZ

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