Solution to ‘Windows Update cannot currently check for updates, because the service is not running. You may need to restart your computer’. Dec 2017

Anonymous
2017-12-11T20:19:37+00:00

I have seen many people experiencing the problem of ‘Windows Update cannot currently check for updates, because the service is not running. You may need to restart your computer’.

Today, 11th Dec 2017, I have had exactly the same problem with going in to Windows Update on Win 7 PC’s and getting this same scenario when I try to update windows.  I go in to Control Panel and Windows Update.  There is a red X in the box and when I click ‘Check for Updates’ I get the message

‘Windows Update cannot currently check for updates, because the service is not running. You may need to restart your computer’.

I restarted the PC and still had the same the same problem and I also checked the Update Service was running and it was.

I have One laptop and 4 PC’s at home all running Win 7 so I tried the same procedure of updating and all but one had the same issue as above.  I contacted a few friends whom I know have PC’s running Win 7 and when I asked them to try updating Windows they had the same problem I had.  The settings in Windows Update varied from ‘Download updates but let me choose when to install them’ ,  ‘Install updates automatically ( recommended)’, ‘Never check for updates ( not recommended)’ .  Ironically, the only PC I found I could check for updates was the one set to ‘Never check for updates ( not recommended)’. So we changed the settings on all the PC’s to‘Never check for updates ( not recommended)’ and then rebooted & then tried to check for updates and we could in all instances.**  We then changed the settings back to our preference of either *‘Install updates automatically ( recommended)’*or ‘Download updates but let me choose when to install them’ and all is well again. So, it looks as though there has been a common problem with a previous Windows 7 Update that caused this update problem recently.  

Can anyone from Microsoft please look in to this as there may be many people thinking their PC's are being updated and they aren't!

Since posting this a year ago it's obvious from the responses that the above fix doesn't work for everyone but it's certainly worth giving the above solution a shot as it's so simple, if it doesn't then follow one of the other solutions mentioned further on in the discussion.  Once you have the updates working again the problem does not reoccur so obviously Microsoft fixed the problem in a subsequent update. I also notice that one year on and some people are still only just discovering Windows has not been updating all this time, so guess it pays to check updates are being installed occasionally!

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.

0 comments

223 answers

Sort by: Most helpful
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2017-12-17T11:48:55+00:00

    Hi Rob

    ElderN is correct, you only get the option for adjusting Date/Time if you’re update settings are set to ‘Install Updates Automatically’.  I also avoid having updates install automatically and usually have them set at ‘Check for updates but let me choose whether to download and install them’. That way I could check each update before installing.  In view of this latest problem we are discussing, I have now changed to ‘Never check for updates’ because it would appear that my Update settings were affected just by windows checking!  Can’t see how else my settings were changed because it happened prior to updates being installed, but after checking for updates, if you see what I mean.

    I have 4 desktop PC’s, 3 are Win7 Professional 64bit and 1 is Win 7 Home Premium 64bit and I also have a laptop Win 7 Home Premium 32 bit, the only one that didn’t get affected was the Home Premium 64 bit, but that was also the only one that wasn’t connected to the internet.  All of them were set to ‘Check for updates but let me choose whether to download and install them’ but as mentioned above, I’ve now changed to ‘Never check for updates’ and will do manual checks every so often.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  2. Anonymous
    2017-12-17T11:07:54+00:00

    Hi ElderN, my computer is set to 'Check for updates but let me choose whether to download and install' as administrator I should have function to change.

    Prior to this I had been on holiday and returned to find the update problem.

    I did highlight the fact that update history was cleared when I used the link provide by Shawn'Cmdr'Keene. I also highlighted problem on link where first link at top of page was paid for solution that could have been invasive.

    I also think that although possibly not global problem there are enough people with this problem to raise at least awareness and either provide means or the information to rectify. Not being able to update is quite a concerning problem in todays environment. I run Win 10 on my other PC and my wife's Laptop.

    Regards Rob

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  3. Anonymous
    2017-12-17T10:34:14+00:00

    I think the only way you can adjust Date/Time is to have Windows Update set to Install Updates Automatically:

    Otherwise you will not be able to change the Date/Time since those options do not make sense for the other settings.  It could be something else though.

    What are the observations on your system?

    And Install updates automatically is (arguably) the worst possible setting for Windows Update and is one reason there are so many topics that begin with "Windows Update broke my computer".

    If you computer is behaving and you want it to continue to behave the preferred setting would be to Never check for updates and that puts you in charge of what updates get installed on your system instead of Microsoft.

    See this fine discussion for more information

    There are several consequences to using those suggestions to reset Windows Update and one of them is that it will wipe out your Update History (but not the list of installed updates).  Most of the time when somebody suggests that they will not mention the consequences.

    I would not count on anything changing or coming from Microsoft about this Windows Update problem since the MS developers are probably not looking at this community oriented forum, the allged problem is only afflicting some systems some of the time (they are insulated isodents) the problem occurs only under certain conditions - it is not a global problem with Windows 7.

    If the issues was inherent to Windows 7 then millions of systems all over the world would be afflicted and they're not.

    And the reason some systems become afflicted is (or could be) becasue the Windows Updates are set to download and install updates automatically which is inviting problems and malfuctions.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  4. Anonymous
    2017-12-16T17:45:39+00:00

    I am not the one to ask as I am not in the loop. The solution given to me was by Shawn'Cmdr' Keene (MVP) and was reliable source.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  5. Anonymous
    2017-12-16T16:25:21+00:00

    Has Windows issued some sort of statement about this update problem?  I feel like this is something people need to know about.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments