why has vista stopped automatic updates?

(Revised 10-10-2017)

The Vista Update Search issue gets triggered by applicability of at least one of the following updates for a given installation: KB4015195, KB3191203, KB3185911, KB3087039, KB4014661, KB3213647, KB3213648, KB4011062, KB4011064, Excel and Word related Security Updates for Office 2010 SP2.

An installation can be made ineligible for the issue by manually preinstalling all applicable of the following:

KB4019204 (equivalent to KB4015195)    http://download.windowsupdate.com/d/msdownload/update/software/secu/2017/02/windows6.0-kb4012497-x86_6bc6370b69da979c270ecdfafbdb609fcb60dc8e.msu[Download 32-bit](http://download.windowsupdate.com/c/csa/csa/secu/2017/05/windows6.0-kb4019204-x86-custom_cc1a90841c15759e36c5095580dfb0b32b34eb8a.msu)         Download 64-bit

KB4012583 (equivalent to KB3191203)    Download 32-bit         Download 64-bit

KB3205638 (equivalent to KB3185911)    Download 32-bit         Download 64-bit

KB4015380 (equivalent to KB3203859,    http://download.windowsupdate.com/d/msdownload/update/software/secu/2016/11/windows6.0-kb3203859-x86_722738430267470c95ed36e962e799af92695b0e.msu[Download 32-bit](http://download.windowsupdate.com/d/msdownload/update/software/secu/2017/03/windows6.0-kb4015380-x86_3f3548db24cf61d6f47d2365c298d739e6cb069a.msu)         http://download.windowsupdate.com/d/msdownload/update/software/secu/2016/11/windows6.0-kb3203859-x64_a5276a41e72f8888572d5459c6a757fe28844706.msu[Download 64-bit](http://download.windowsupdate.com/c/msdownload/update/software/secu/2017/03/windows6.0-kb4015380-x64_959aedbe0403d160be89f4dac057e2a0cd0c6d40.msu)

         KB3164033, KB3140735 and KB3087039)

KB4018271 (IE 9 only; equivalent to         http://download.windowsupdate.com/c/msdownload/update/software/secu/2017/03/ie9-windows6.0-kb4012204-x86_4d1735925f4125dd44bb55b474e1e6df6038ddcb.msu[Download 32-bit](http://download.windowsupdate.com/c/csa/csa/secu/2017/05/ie9-windows6.0-kb4018271-x86-custom_cd47df4c2de16304e79a9bb03da882180182c3db.msu)         http://download.windowsupdate.com/c/msdownload/update/software/secu/2017/03/ie9-windows6.0-kb4012204-x64_52461c06e6b5a63278cb821cb6cec90763c01ef3.msu[Download 64-bit](http://download.windowsupdate.com/c/csa/csa/secu/2017/05/ie9-windows6.0-kb4018271-x64-custom_03cc4a6e57cecbe73ea5c9f45dc90a0cfe15eecb.msu)   

                                       KB4014661)

KB4011064 (Compatibility Pack SP3) ****   Download      

KB3213647 (Compatibility Pack SP3)new https://download.microsoft.com/download/7/1/9/71949238-FF2E-4724-999B-FC4601DA2ED4/wordconv2007-kb3191835-fullfile-x86-glb.exe[Download](https://download.microsoft.com/download/3/0/3/303F463C-8141-42D1-9DCD-278AB1576537/wordconv2007-kb3213647-fullfile-x86-glb.exe)

KB4011062 (Excel 2007)             ****        Download

KB3213648 (Word 2007)              new ****     https://download.microsoft.com/download/6/A/0/6A0A1E25-002A-4249-95DF-E290CA136690/word2007-kb3191836-fullfile-x86-glb.exe[Download](https://download.microsoft.com/download/D/9/C/D9CC0E10-4B94-44FD-93BA-6DCE1E8F332F/word2007-kb3213648-fullfile-x86-glb.exe)

KB3213630 (Word 2010)              new      https://download.microsoft.com/download/4/7/7/477AEA86-8975-489D-B748-BBD4A6A5793A/word2010-kb3191843-fullfile-x86-glb.exe[Download 32-bit](https://download.microsoft.com/download/F/9/D/F9DD829C-ED2D-41DA-8BF2-B9CD593417EB/word2010-kb3213630-fullfile-x86-glb.exe)        https://download.microsoft.com/download/C/9/7/C9724A50-9BA6-4EF7-A8FF-FB39155B6699/word2010-kb3178687-fullfile-x64-glb.exe[Download 64-bit](https://download.microsoft.com/download/3/F/7/3F79DD47-C740-4F96-913B-14BAFB95BAE7/word2010-kb3213630-fullfile-x64-glb.exe)

KB4011061 (Excel 2010)               ****     Download 32-bit        Download 64-bit

Set automatic updates to "Never check for updates" and reboot prior to manual installation.

Regards, VZ

Thank you! You are a real life-saver

VZ.... You've been very helpful.  Thank you.  I appreciate it very much.

FYI - I just installed the updates from your post (Revised 9-12-17) that were applicable to my Vista PC.

Wow!  What a difference they made.  They fixed my Windows Update problem.  It's finally working again.

Thanks.

Will they continue to show up when Windows Update is run

They will, with regular releases of Excel and Word specific Security Updates for Office 2007 coming to a halt. The Vista Update Search issue will stop being refreshed month by month except for users of Office 2010 SP2. Reinstallations, however, will continue to require manual preinstalling of four updates initially, the Cumulative Security Update for IE9 of April 2017 or later after installation of IE9, the final releases of xlconv2007 (presumably KB4011064) and wordconv2007 after installation of Compatibility Pack SP3 and the final releases of excel2007 (presumably KB4011062) and word2007 after installation of Office 2007 SP3.

Regards, VZ

SJagers, I haven't read all of this thread- but- if you keep frequent mirror images of your drive and you lose everything due to a virus or hard drive crash, it's a piece of cake to reinstall the image compared to reinstalling everything a piece at a time. I've used several backup programs- I suggest the best is Macrium Reflect. You can download a free version from their web site which will do most of what most people need, unless you're running a corporate network.

Joe