Windows Update Hangs

I never had to wait that long before so why should today be any different? The most I ever had it stall at "checking for updates" is about 15 minutes. It also never made my CPU go as high as today is. What is the reason for this "patience" when we never had to wait that long before. Hours? What is the reason for this happening?

Obviously Microsoft is having a problem they can't resolve & won't admit to so we will all get the 'ring around the rosy' answers

Thank you for your reply on how to stop hibernation..I see in power settings I can set it to sleep as Never etc..but the only place I see hibernation is in the advanced section where you have to set a specific number of minutes..its a lot of minutes for overnight..Is hibernate the same a sleep?

 For two days I have been doing every Microsoft "Fix It" I could find for Windows Updates on my W7 SP1 laptop as well as a Vista laptop that suddenly would not download Windows updates..I then found this forum and was thrilled (not really) to see I was not alone.  Once I got all the "Fix It" problems resolved I let my program check for updates for 4.5 hours..I was in the midst of shutting off all power options to sleep when suddenly it stopped searching and found 32 updates..now it seems stuck on the downloading process....been on Zero for awhile..but I am going to just let it be as suggested here.  How do I set it not to Hibernate?  I fear I am in for a long night.  If we are not alone, wish there was some communication as to the problem so everyone knows there is an issue. 

Control Panel > Performance Information And Tools > left column Adjust power settings

All the options you need to set up power settings such as powering down or not after a period of disuse, keeping the screen up and more are all on that screen. You can create a power plan that leaves it running without any of these.

Mind you that Windows Update is running in the background usually. You can let it sit without running other programs if you like but they are not stopping it. Only going back into other Control Panel and WU options is going to potentially affect that.

But do set it so that it does not hibernate, all processes are suspended.

Do you think Microsoft is even working on  this issue ???  Are we being, as window 7 users, forced into windows 10 ??

It's obviously a bug that occurred over time that Microsoft has no intensive to fix.... for the time being I hope! Microsoft.... please help save our planet by not having our computers use up so much power!

First of all, it's NOT really so much their problem to fix...it's a disassociation caused by either leaving the computer without updates for a long period of time, or a new install that needs to be tweaked (this isn't automatic and perfect, and neither are the OTHERS) or maybe even corruption of a file that needs repair.

Some things you install can disrupt the updating process by modifying it. Try making sure WU works before adding stuff. Occasionally it seems like some updates themselves make break what you call normal functionality. I SEEM to recall reading somewhere that the part of WU that tells you how far the download is proceeding may get disabled in the future (or else some other aspects of that type of routine). The idea is that the download and install progress indicators have been notoriously inaccurate and misleading in the past with many Windows installations, it was kinda useless.

Is THAT what is freaking everyone out to SOME degree?

If WU is not appearing to proceed to Preparing to install and Creating a Restore Point before installation IN A RIDICULOUSLY LONG TIME...then you have a problem.

And please don't assume that Microsoft is "not doing anything to fix this after it occurs regularly".

1. They are reading this site to find potential problem with live software.
2. They have to hurry to get software out in such a time that their business model isn't damaged by poor publicity. Sometimes it seems too soon. Other companies are not waiting for them.
3. They try to get patches out as soon as they can.
4. They have never failed to release a patch for really critical issues, even for software that is no longer supported (i.e. Windows XP) if it was absolutely imperative to do so...losing you as a customer using XP would mean that they might lose you for good in their minds.
5. You are always free to use what you please,  armed troops will not arrest you.
6. You are expected to research and solve a lot of your own problems, or seek assistance from others that use and repair computer problem, i.e. ANSWERS and others and you are HERE. 

And stop being paranoid that Microsoft is somehow out to get you and force you to do stuff.

Of course they could, it's in the End User Licensing Agreement *EULA...the fact that they have given you this site and a Knowledge Base to look for solutions to your problems with their software, hardware and even other hardware affecting your usage of such things instead of just making you change everything when a new system arrives (other companies and open source stuff do this and expect you to live with it, and none of them are perfect either)...see number FIVE.

Some people do not realize how complex an operating system or browser, even an app can be and I suggest writing one to several.

Nope, I wouldn't even begin.

If you use Windows 8 you will realize that the process is different than 7 and previous and that 10 eliminates Windows Updates all together by mandatory automatic patching.

But please don't blame this on the inaction or scheming of Microsoft. The system has served at least six operating systems, every one with internet capabilities from Windows 95 to 7. That is TWENTY ONE YEARS of technologies.

For two days I have been doing every Microsoft "Fix It" I could find for Windows Updates on my W7 SP1 laptop as well as a Vista laptop that suddenly would not download Windows updates..I then found this forum and was thrilled (not really) to see I was not alone.  Once I got all the "Fix It" problems resolved I let my program check for updates for 4.5 hours..I was in the midst of shutting off all power options to sleep when suddenly it stopped searching and found 32 updates..now it seems stuck on the downloading process....been on Zero for awhile..but I am going to just let it be as suggested here.  How do I set it not to Hibernate?  I fear I am in for a long night.  If we are not alone, wish there was some communication as to the problem so everyone knows there is an issue. 

I am just a novice user and tried everything I could and researched every error code I encountered..I wish I had seen this before I did all that and just let it run searching longer..just seemed unreasonable to me to take so long.  Stressfull for us plain old users.

Update..all the Feb and April updates (32) went in and after reboot I checked again if there were more updates and alas 3 more but this time they went in very quickly and after restart again one more..again went in well..Hope fully next months go as well.