windows update just seems to hang while checking.

[virtual6]

As for Windows Update's standalone MSU installers I haven't had any luck running them. They also become stuck displaying a message "Searching for Updates"

albertz,

I had the same thing last evening when I tried the standalone update.
I believe the problem was I didn't follow step 1 of the procedure to stop/disable any Windows Update running in the background.
The standalone installer seemed to reflect the status of the running background process.
Today after system startup, I first disabled automatic checking, and then connected to the Internet.
I ran the the KB3168965 update and it installed in minutes!

Afterwards, my checking for updates took about 1 hour, a little on the high side, but better than last month's 7+ hours.
My installing updates took about 30 minutes (including the scan), again a little on the high side, but acceptable.

 

[albertz]

albertz,

I had the same thing last evening when I tried the standalone update.
I believe the problem was I didn't follow step 1 of the procedure to stop/disable any Windows Update running in the background.
The standalone installer seemed to reflect the status of the running background process.
Today after system startup, I first disabled automatic checking, and then connected to the Internet.
I ran the the KB3168965 update and it installed in minutes!

Afterwards, my checking for updates took about 1 hour, a little on the high side, but better than last month's 7+ hours.
My installing updates took about 30 minutes (including the scan), again a little on the high side, but acceptable.

Your advice became true, at least on my PC, after stopping Windows Update Service one of the standalone updates for Word was successfully installed. I was going to at a later time try to first stop Windows Update, but became busy with other things. Plus my Windows Update started to work again downloading and installation of 47 important updates.

I remember reading something related to stopping Windows Update service, but was hoping Windows Update would start to work again. It did recently work to download 47 important. I guess I'm guilty of not thoroughly reading well enough through the user posts and any MS installation instructions.

Currently Windows Update is stuck at zero percent trying to download 11 more important updates. Over the past week or so has only Windows worked twice.

I'm thinking perhaps Windows Update Servers are placing download request in some sort of queue or are prioritizing Window Update downloads based on the Windows Version? Microsoft focus and attention is most likely on the new users of Windows 8 and Windows 10.

 

[albertz]

After installing approx. ~7 stand alone updates, Here's are some things discovered while using standalone MSU files.

Potentially some updates listed under Windows Update may not be for your system or the update has already been installed by another update package. (Windows Update does not always list the correct files and will automate updating the OS by omitting updates that are irrelevant to your OS installation or have already been installed.)

Windows Update may list installed standalone updates (even after a reboot). There is a hide option in Windows Update which may eventually update it's update list at a later time.

If an installed update is still listed you can choose to hide an update.

Stand alone updates are an option if Windows Update is not working. Can be time consuming. A restart may be necessary after a stand-alone update, to continue to install more stand alone updates.

Noted by another forum user: You can use "net stop wuauserv" from a admin terminal window or you can just disable Windows Update by selecting "Never Download" action from Windows Update. The later is less difficult as some standalone msu installations will restart Windows Update after it has stopped.

 

[phunt110]

I reinstalled windows vista yesterday 13th July 2017 and everything was going fine until windows update stopped working. It seemed to stop when the latest version of windows update was installed. Now when windows is checking for updates the green bar just keeps going round and round and never finds any updates.

How do i fix this as it is very annoying.

 

[Vistaar]

Currently Windows Update is stuck at zero percent trying to download 11 more important updates.

In my own experience (and I'm sure Imacri would agree), there is no problem downloading updates - just checking for updates. I believe you have mentioned an intermittent internet connection in one of your many posts in various threads; obviously that wouldn't help. You have also posted long lists of attempted fixes. If your original problem was checking for updates as described in this thread, then there was most likely nothing to fix, but you may have broken something (I have no idea what). You don't have a restore point or backup image, so you should consider reinstalling Vista. (I have no advice to offer regarding Windows 8 upgrades).

BTW setting Windows Update to "never check for updates" is a much simpler way to prevent it from starting.

 

[lmacri]

Is there a way to see what a Vista system's Tuesday updates are and to download them manually?

Hi VFN:

Microsoft posts a Security Bulletin Summary every month (see their July 2016 summary at https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/security/ms16-jul.aspx) and Martin Brinkmann posts a similar list of monthly Windows updates on ghacks.net (see his July 2016 summary at Microsoft Security Bulletins July 2016 - gHacks Tech News) but you would have to read through each of those dozen or so individual security bulletins to see if the update was recommended for Vista OS, find the correct download link (32-bit vs 64-bit) for the .msu installer, check for any prerequisite KB updates that had to be installed first, etc. I had a quick look through the July 2016 security bulletins and found at least five (MS16-085, -089, -092, -093 and -094) that do not apply to Vista and one (MS16-086) that has a .msu installer for Vista SP2 but isn't applicable since I don't have VBScript v5.7 installed.

Using Windows Update to search for appropriate updates is much safer (when it actually works ) because it does all this checking in the background. Each month I install the one new Windows kernel-mode driver (Win32K.sys) update added to Dalai's list at Search for Windows Updates takes forever? - A possible solution, but only out of necessity to prevent the "Checking for updates..." hangs. These standalone update packages (.msu files) are really intended for more experienced users like network administrators who run these .msu installers on a test bed to ensure they're safe before they are distributed to working computers.

I'd suggest that you try the instructions the step-by-step instructions posted 16-Jun-2016 in m#l's thread Updates not working, it has been searching for updates for hours first and see if you can get Windows Update working again. I was fully patched as of June 2016 so I only had to pre-install this month's KB3168965 (MS16-090: Description of the security update for Windows kernel-mode drivers: July 12, 2016). The initial "Checking for updates..." phase of this month's Windows Update completed in ~ 20 min (compared to 5 or 6 hours for my April 2016 and May 2016 Patch Tuesday updates). My entire Windows Update session, including download and installation of seven important updates, finished in under one hour.
------------
32-bit Vista Home Premium SP2 * Firefox v47.0.1 * NIS v22.7.0.76 * MBAM Premium v2.2.1

 

[Vistaar]

I reinstalled windows vista yesterday 13th July 2017 and everything was going fine until windows update stopped working. It seemed to stop when the latest version of windows update was installed. Now when windows is checking for updates the green bar just keeps going round and round and never finds any updates.

Welcome phunt110. According to others who have reinstalled Vista in hopes of fixing Windows Update, including the OP of this thread, the problem begins when SP2 is installed. SP2 was released in 2009, so a large majority of all updates for Vista came after SP2. I have a backup image and do not intend to reinstall Vista under these circumstances; but a recent and promising solution is here: Search for Windows Updates takes forever? - A possible solution.

 

[virtual6]

albertz:

Using the command "net stop wuauserv" from an Administrator terminal window will most of the time stop Windows Update services.

Vistaar:

BTW setting Windows Update to "never check for updates" is a much simpler way to prevent it from starting.

I did it the second way, and it allowed the standalone update to run. Once set, it stays set, and certainly makes the remainder of the installs a quicker task. (The red shield is annoying, as if I'm being scolded.)
If this way had not worked, of course, I would have tried the more involved method.

 

[albertz]

In my own experience (and I'm sure Imacri would agree), there is no problem downloading updates - just checking for updates. I believe you have mentioned an intermittent internet connection in one of your many posts in various threads; obviously that wouldn't help. You have also posted long lists of attempted fixes. If your original problem was checking for updates as described in this thread, then there was most likely nothing to fix, but you may have broken something (I have no idea what). You don't have a restore point or backup image, so you should consider reinstalling Vista. (I have no advice to offer regarding Windows 8 upgrades).

BTW setting Windows Update to "never check for updates" is a much simpler way to prevent it from starting.

I don't believe I'll need to re-install Windows Vista since it's now up to date. Everything else is working as expected including the Internet Connection. Windows Update did work a couple of times in the past week, installing 47 new updates. There were 11 more after a reboot of which only 7 needed to be installed by downloading and running their standalone MSU files.

Windows Vista Extended Support will last through April 11, 2017 at which time Microsoft will have issued it's final patches and updates. I think Microsoft is primarily focused on currently on Windows 10 & 8.

 

[townsbg]

I think Microsoft's primarily focus is currently on Windows 10 & 8.

Try 10.

 

[Vistaar]

I did it the second way ["never check for updates"], and it allowed the standalone update to run. Once set, it stays set, and certainly makes the remainder of the installs a quicker task. (The red shield is annoying, as if I'm being scolded.)

You can right-click the red shield and select Exit, however it will return the next time you log in. There might be a more permanent fix, but it hasn't bothered me enough to research the question. There is also an ugly red bar in Security Center. Big Brother knows best...

 

[Vistaar]

Currently Windows Update is stuck at zero percent trying to download 11 more important updates.

Another post today has me thinking that my previous answer was too dismissive, and I apologize for that. It's hard to believe that electrojim never noticed any problems with Windows Update until yesterday; but like you, he is running Vista x64: http://www.vistax64.com/windows-updates/304631-windows-update-failed-now-stuck.html. In the early days of this thread, it was observed that problems with checking for updates primarily affected Vista x86. What if problems downloading updates are a new symptom that primarily affects Vista x64? Sea Monster is also running x64: http://www.vistax64.com/windows-updates/304603-vista-updates-stuck.html#post1407316. You might want to reply to electrojim, even though he added a "please ignore" after seeing so many similar threads. (Betcha he's running MSE 4.9 without seeing any "black screen," and he is correct: MSE can update itself daily even if Windows Update is set to never check for updates.) I'm afraid we have a scarcity of x64 gurus at Vista Forums these days.

 

[albertz]

Another post today has me thinking that my previous answer was too dismissive, and I apologize for that. It's hard to believe that electrojim never noticed any problems with Windows Update until yesterday; but like you, he is running Vista x64: http://www.vistax64.com/windows-updates/304631-windows-update-failed-now-stuck.html. In the early days of this thread, it was observed that problems with checking for updates primarily affected Vista x86. What if problems downloading updates are a new symptom that primarily affects Vista x64? Sea Monster is also running x64: http://www.vistax64.com/windows-updates/304603-vista-updates-stuck.html#post1407316. You might want to reply to electrojim, even though he added a "please ignore" after seeing so many similar threads. (Betcha he's running MSE 4.9 without seeing any "black screen," and he is correct: MSE can update itself daily even if Windows Update is set to never check for updates.) I'm afraid we have a scarcity of x64 gurus at Vista Forums these days.

At this point I have no idea. Modern computers have become so streamlined any problems potentially become difficult to diagnose without some insight into the programming.

Apparently Windows Update consists primarily of a few services and processes which directly access MS update servers through certain ports? When Windows update is set to periodical check for updates, perhaps these ports are being temporarily blocked on some systems for one reason or another. The time interval that it checks for updates is mostly likely based on certain conditions that exist within the OS. It's also possible another service or process is creating blockage. I have only Microsoft Security Essentials and Windows Firewall installed.

There have been several files that have been quarantined since 7/3/16 such as

softwarebundler.win32/outbrowse
trojandropper.win32/Sventore.A
Softwarebundler.Win32/Mizenota

I suppose it's possible, but not very likely, an unknown virus wasn't quarantined by Security Essentials.

Windows Updates wasn't design to perform any troubleshooting and diagnostics. It was designed to run in the background and leisurely download and install updates. I would think Windows Update first checks with MS's Update Servers, perhaps is placed in a queue. Then if your OS isn't busy and Windows Update is in front of the servers queue or the server doesn't have too many connections it then decides ok conditions on the PC and Update servers are good enough to start the download.

_______

Just some thoughts, I don't really know how Windows Update actually functions and is suppose to behave.

Currently my Windows Update reports to be up to date. So I attempted an optional update which it procceeded to download and install. So it seems to be working again, as it should.

 

[VFN]

It was designed to run in the background and leisurely download and install updates.

My problem is not with the time it takes to get updates but that my CPU is hijacked by the process, preventing me from doing other things. I just read that Windows 10 is now being installed on PCs without the user's permission, that it's a "recommended" update that gets installed with the automatic Windows Update process, so that's what you get with Microsoft.

 

[ilikefree]

I have my Windows Update set to manual start in the services and get no red shield or warnings

 

[townsbg]

As suggested I tried to install the kb in post 208 on both Vista and 7. However after going for a few hours with both on searching for updates I decided to also just run windows update; I also still have the kb stand alone installers running. I have no idea how long these have been going but it has been most of the afternoon. Any suggestions? I am getting tired of these issues with searching for updates. Yet again I had no problems with updates on 2008/2008r2. Thankfully my cpu isn't being maxed out even when doing this on 2 VMs at the same time however I am tying up half of my memory. Strangely both VMs are reporting ~50% cpu usage or one core and on the host side 55% of the cpu is showing as utilized yet it is hardly noticeable. I suppose that I will leave this going all night and see where I am.

 

[albertz]

; I also still have the kb stand alone installers running. I have no idea how long these have been going but it has been most of the afternoon. Any suggestions? .

Originally I had the same type of problem with standalone updates displaying "Searching for Updates" and running forever. Another forum user suggested to turn off Windows Update, after which the stand alone installers started to work downloading and installing the update(s). Apparently when Windows Update is running the standalone msu installers don't work and continue to display "searching for updates".

I used the "net stop wuauserv" command from an administrator terminal window. When using this net command and receive an error message or any other message other than Windows Update has stopped, you may need to reboot. This happened a couple of times after selecting "Download" from Windows Update then cancelled.

Also the "net stop wubuserv" command may need to be issued every time before running a standalone installer as some of the standalone installers restart Windows Update. Some standalone installers will finished installing with a message to restart Windows which is usually tied to Windows Update (that may also display a message to restart). If this happens it's better to reboot the PC to alleviate any problems running additional standalone installer msu's.

Others have turned off Windows Update by selecting "Never check for updates" from Windows Update settings. Changing the setting to "never" should stop and disable Windows Update. A reboot may be neccsary after changing this setting.

 

[lmacri]

As suggested I tried to install the kb in post 208 on both Vista and 7. However after going for a few hours with both on searching for updates I decided to also just run windows update; I also still have the kb stand alone installers running. I have no idea how long these have been going but it has been most of the afternoon. Any suggestions?

Hi townsbg:

Did you read the step-by-step instructions posted on 16-Jun-2016 in m#l's thread Updates not working, it has been searching for updates for hours in the MS Answers forum before trying to install the standalone update package (.msu file)? These instructions are based on Dalai's workaround at http://wu.krelay.de/en/ but include additional hints to avoid problems like the one you've described. This includes:

• 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. (Step # 1)
• Search your installed updates to ensure this month's Win32K.sys update KB3168965 (MS16-090: Description of the security update for Windows kernel-mode drivers: July 12, 2016) is the only Win32K.sys update listed on Dalai's webpage that is missing from your system (Step # 3)
• Temporarily disconnect from the internet before running the .msu installer (hint for Step # 5)

------------
32-bit Vista Home Premium SP2 * Firefox v47.0.1 * NIS v22.7.0.76 * MBAM Premium v2.2.1

 

[Vistaar]

The time interval that it checks for updates is mostly likely based on certain conditions that exist within the OS. It's also possible another service or process is creating blockage. I have only Microsoft Security Essentials and Windows Firewall installed

As observed by several forum members in this thread, including myself, the number-one factor that determines the time interval that it checks for updates appears to be whether or not Windows kernel-mode driver updates are already installed. You should try that approach next month: It is the only suggestion in this excessively lengthy thread that has proven effective. BTW the possibility that MSE caused your slow downloads may warrant attention (see electrojim's thread).

 

[Vistaar]

My problem is not with the time it takes to get updates but that my CPU is hijacked by the process, preventing me from doing other things.

Sorry, but my observation was that CPU usage was elevated even after pre-installing the latest kernel-mode driver update, so shortening the time it takes may be the only improvement you can hope for. As Imacri observed much earlier in this thread, the difference between 100% and 50% CPU usage is the difference between single-core and dual-core processors. I believe that Windows Update was always resource-intensive, but we didn't give it much thought back in the good ole days when it only took a few minutes.