Windows Update "Windows is up to date" - "There are no updates available ..."

albertz

Member
Hello,

I had Windows Update automatic checking for updates disabled, (with the necessary services for Windows update enabled). The last update was sometime back in February of 2016.

After manually activating Windows Update Windows Update was still running after 30 minutes. I then quit Windows Update and was going to wait till a later time to activate again.

However, after running some system cleaners I tried to activate Windows Update which produced an error message. IIRC the error message indicated a program and parameter was required to run Windows Update.

Currently installed Windows Vista WindowsUpdateagent Version is 7.6.7600.256 (Vista x64).

Quite a while back I manually fixed Windows Update after it stopped working and has been working correctly up to now.

This time instead of a manual fix I tried to use MS fix-it program, However MS's current link to download the Fix-it program is not an exe file but a .cab file, uncertain why MS currently has a link to a .cab file instead of an .exe file?

Anyway instead of attempting a manual fix I found a MS windows update agent installation for Vista 64-Bit. After re-installation using the Windows Vista x64, windowsupdate exe file version 3.7.xxx Windows Update now displays a window with options stating that "Windows is up to date". "There are no updates available for your computer"

If I select "Check for Updates" Windows Update continually runs for over 30 mins without any results.

I was thinking of allowing Windows Update to run for up to several hours to see if there are any results.

At this point I'm not certain if Windows Update is working as it should or if something is messed up with it's installation.

There is another windowsupdate agent available online with a different filename for Windows Vista x64.

"WindowsUpdateAgent30-x64.exe" is version 7.4.7600.226 whereas the one I used has a different filename WindowsUpdateAgent-7.6-x64.exe, which should be version 7.6.7600.256.

MS Fix-it link downloads a non-executable file "WindowsUpdateDiagnostic.diagcab" so there's not diagnostic exe file to run.

So is my Windows Vista x64 installation up to date? Windows Update message of "Windows is up to date" - "There are no updates available for your computer" is correct?
 
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My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Thinkcentre
    CPU
    Intel Core 2 CPU 2.67 Ghz
    Motherboard
    OEM
    Memory
    4 GB
    Monitor(s) Displays
    NEC
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080p
The last update was sometime back in February of 2016...If I select "Check for Updates" Windows Update continually runs for over 30 mins without any results...So is my Windows Vista x64 installation up to date?

If no updates have been installed since February, then your Vista installation is definitely not up to date. It has taken much more than 30 minutes to check for Windows updates for several months now. See http://www.vistax64.com/windows-updates/303992-windows-update-just-seems-hang-while-checking.html. In the latter pages of that excessively lengthy thread, a promising solution has been discussed: Manually installing every lacking kernel mode driver update in sequence before checking for other updates. I haven't tried it yet, but checking for June updates alone took my system 5 hours and 20 minutes, so I think I will give it a try on July 12 (assuming there is a new kernel mode driver update to pre-install).
 

My Computer

System One

  • Operating System
    Vista Home Premium x86 SP2
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavilion Elite m9150f
    CPU
    Intel Q6600
    Memory
    3 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce 8500 GT
I'll try and let it run overnight and see what happens.

My ISP connection intermittently has been going off-line then back on-line for the past several weeks. Sometimes is ok for a whole day then becomes intermittent again. Hopefully the ISP has it's bugs worked out and Windows Update will be able to stay online.

I've read through parts of the post "windows update just seems to hang while checking" and have read of others having the same sort of problem with Vista Windows Update.

One of Microsofts help webpages claims that there is no stand alone Windows Update Agent installer for version 7.6.7600.256 only version 7.4.7600.226 which is the WindowsUpdateAgent30-x64.exe file.

However several months ago I downloaded a WindowsUpdateAgent-7.6-x64.exe file which is suppose to be version 7.6.7600.256. After installing, the Wuaueng.dll file on my system is version 7.6.7600.256.

I suppose it could have something to do with MS servers are slow, and possibly the Windows Update installation. I haven't had time to go through and manually check the installation. Possibly the lag time has to do how Windows Update is installed. It was months ago I fixed Windows Update manually, possibly some files were deleted or moved to another location from the original installation. Which didn't at the time effect Windows Update from working after it was manually repaired.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Thinkcentre
    CPU
    Intel Core 2 CPU 2.67 Ghz
    Motherboard
    OEM
    Memory
    4 GB
    Monitor(s) Displays
    NEC
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080p
Ran Windows Update for more than six hours and nothing, still searching for updates.

Before initiating Windows Update I renamed the softwaredistribution to softwaredistribution.old and rebooted.
_____________

Here is some information found within the Windows Update log file.

{3411E797-7703-4674-823A-4A77BB3AF397} 2016-07-05 20:42:21:658-0700 1 148 101 {00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000} 0 8024a005 AutomaticUpdates
Failure Software Synchronization Windows Update Client failed to detect with error 0x8024a005.

If I try to access Windows Update server I received this error message that Windows Update service is unavailable.
________

Windows Update Server URL "http://ds.download.windowsupdate.com/v11/3/windowsupdate"

Service Unavailable - DNS failure
The server is temporarily unable to service your request. Please try again later.

Reference #11.2f3bd417.1467818994.2f646f34
_________

Apparently Windows Update service is not available in my area. The error messages indicate that the window update server for Vista is off-line.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Thinkcentre
    CPU
    Intel Core 2 CPU 2.67 Ghz
    Motherboard
    OEM
    Memory
    4 GB
    Monitor(s) Displays
    NEC
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080p
After setting Windows Update to "Check for updates but let me choose whether to download and install them" after approx. a days time I received a message that there are updates avaialble.

Windows Update shows "49 important updates selected"

However when I chose to download them Windows Update stayed a 0 percent 0 files downloaded overnight for approx. 8 hours.

I suppose I can keep periodically trying to download or just allow Windows Update to run trying to download in the background.

Another option may be to download and install the 49 Important updates manually from Microsoft's website.
 
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My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Thinkcentre
    CPU
    Intel Core 2 CPU 2.67 Ghz
    Motherboard
    OEM
    Memory
    4 GB
    Monitor(s) Displays
    NEC
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080p
No law says you must download and install all 49 updates at once, however it might be important to install the kernel mode driver updates in the right sequence (see the thread I previously posted a link too; people have been writing about this for months, and frankly I have become bored with the issue). Let me assure you that there is nothing wrong with my system: I reinstalled Vista in March 2015, every update that Microsoft deems Important or Recommended was successfully installed, running sfc /scannow finds no integrity violations, there has been no malware infection, and I can even run MSE 4.9. Nevertheless, checking for Windows updates became slow last summer and got even slower this spring, as it did for everyone else running Vista (except perhaps in Australia and New Zealand!?). As far as I'm concerned, the problem is clearly at Microsoft's end.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Operating System
    Vista Home Premium x86 SP2
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavilion Elite m9150f
    CPU
    Intel Q6600
    Memory
    3 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce 8500 GT
No law says you must download and install all 49 updates at once, however it might be important to install the kernel mode driver updates in the right sequence (see the thread I previously posted a link too; people have been writing about this for months, and frankly I have become bored with the issue). Let me assure you that there is nothing wrong with my system: I reinstalled Vista in March 2015, every update that Microsoft deems Important or Recommended was successfully installed, running sfc /scannow finds no integrity violations, there has been no malware infection, and I can even run MSE 4.9. Nevertheless, checking for Windows updates became slow last summer and got even slower this spring, as it did for everyone else running Vista (except perhaps in Australia and New Zealand!?). As far as I'm concerned, the problem is clearly at Microsoft's end.

I agree Window's Update application is inter-wind with Microsoft's website. Relies on MS servers in order to download and install.

After selecting one of the 49 updates to download, the same results have occurred.
 
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My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Thinkcentre
    CPU
    Intel Core 2 CPU 2.67 Ghz
    Motherboard
    OEM
    Memory
    4 GB
    Monitor(s) Displays
    NEC
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080p
Was the one you selected the earliest kernel mode driver update? If you have a restore point that predates your attempts to fix Windows Update, this might be the time to use it. One thing we learned from the OP of the other thread in August 2015: Reinstalling Vista from the ground up in hopes of getting faster updates is "out of the frying pan, into the fire," but it might be doable now using the method described by others in the latter pages of the other thread.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Operating System
    Vista Home Premium x86 SP2
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavilion Elite m9150f
    CPU
    Intel Q6600
    Memory
    3 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce 8500 GT
Was the one you selected the earliest kernel mode driver update? If you have a restore point that predates your attempts to fix Windows Update, this might be the time to use it. One thing we learned from the OP of the other thread in August 2015: Reinstalling Vista from the ground up in hopes of getting faster updates is "out of the frying pan, into the fire," but it might be doable now using the method described by others in the latter pages of the other thread.

I recently copied Vista to a larger drive using Macrium. While Vista was installed on the smaller drive I regularly deleted restore points up to the most recent to free up hd space. The last restore point would be less than a week old.

I can think of two options, 1. try to manually install the 49 updates from exe files found on Microsoft's website or 2. Install Window's 8 upgrade, which I purchased a while back, when it first came out.

Option 1.

While attempting option 1. I'm running into the same type of problems as with Windows Update. The "Windows Stand Alone Installer" hangs continually searching for an update. Perhaps there is a Windows Update server problem that will be fixed sometime in the future.
_________________________

Option 2.

Windows 8 system requirement are the same as Vista. However I'm not certain of any performance issues. There are several comparison tests available online, but performance tests vary from pc to pc. The OEM of my PC originally packaged the hardware with Windows XP. There may have been a Vista option. Has an older cpu, memory, pci, video & mb architecture.

What I've read about Windows 8 and 10, runs and utilizes system resources better when installed on more modern cpu, memory & hardware architectures. I'm uncertain how well Windows 8 performs on older hardware architectures when compared to Windows Vista and XP.

I don't particularly like Windows 8 Desktop Manager GUI, however there are programs available that are able to change Windows 8 GUI to a classic type.
 
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My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Thinkcentre
    CPU
    Intel Core 2 CPU 2.67 Ghz
    Motherboard
    OEM
    Memory
    4 GB
    Monitor(s) Displays
    NEC
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080p
I have a brand new build for Vista on a VM that I created to test something and I'm now contemplating manually installing the updates in the thread previously provided to test how long a check would take but I'm not sure that's worth the time. What I can tell you is that renaming the softwaredistribution folder significantly increases check time because Windows has to determine what updates have already been installed. Now I've noticed problems with checking for updates on Vista and downloading updates on 7. My 7 VM stays stuck for a few hours on 0% of 0kb downloaded every month for the past 2-3 months. Really there is no solution for that except to let it run or perform a manual install. Personally I think that M$ put Vista and 7 updates on a lower priority in favor of 10. They might have done so as well for 8 but since I don't have an 8 vm I can't confirm that. You can try our sister forum for more information on that. Windows 8 Forums

As for an 8 upgrade you do have a powerful enough computer however you need to determine if there are compatible drivers especially for your gpu. You might also check with 8 forums on that as well. I agree with you 100% on the UI. That is the reason why I've avoided 8.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 8.1 Industry Pro x64
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavillion Elite HPE-250f
    CPU
    Intel i7 860 Quad core 2.8 ghz
    Memory
    8 gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD 5770 1 gb ram
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Alienware 25 AW2521HF
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080 &1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    1 TB x2
    Other Info
    https://www.cnet.com/products/hp-pavilion-elite-hpe-250f/
  • Operating System
    Windows 2012 R2 Data center/Linux Mint
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Poweredge T140
    CPU
    i3 9100 3.6GHz, 8M cache, 4C/4T
    Memory
    8GB 2666MT/s DDR4 ECC UDIMM
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    1 TB & 360 GB x2
    Other Info
    https://www.dell.com/en-us/work/shop/productdetailstxn/poweredge-t140?~ck=bt
From a admin command prompt and issuing a net stop wuauserv command. I did copy softwaredistribution to softwaredistribution.old and then rebooted.

On my installation after switching between both the old and new softwaredistribution Windows Update seems to behave the same. I haven't delved into Windows Update any further, hoping perhaps it would become fixed.
Quite a while back I did do a manual repair, I would need to review the manual fix instructions to remember more details.

I think there may be something wrong with MS servers. When downloading individual updates MS has changed it's method to install individual updates. In the past you would download an exe file containing all the files required for the update. Currently when selecting to download an update a msu file is downloaded, with a filename such as Windows6.0-KB3139914-x64.msu.

After executing the msu file there is a message box with "Searching for updates" with a header "Windows Update Standalone Installer". The standalone installer ran for a very long time without any results. This leads me to believe the standalone installer may be having problems accessing a server from MS. I suppose there could be something wrong with the Windows Update installation on my PC. I recently re-installed Windows Update from an exe file, the installation appeared to be successful and didn't produce any error codes.

_________

I also tried Microsofts Update Catalog, which must be accessed using Windows iExplorer. After installing the Update Catalog add-on (which may require temporarily lowering iexplorer's security settings) I was able to access the catalog however the "Add" buttons do not work, nothing is added to the download basket.

Also tried setting "http://catalog.update.microsoft.com" as a Trusted site from iExplorer.

Perhaps there's something interfering with the Microsoft Update Catalog add-on, which is an ActiveX Control.
 
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My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Thinkcentre
    CPU
    Intel Core 2 CPU 2.67 Ghz
    Motherboard
    OEM
    Memory
    4 GB
    Monitor(s) Displays
    NEC
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080p
I'm uncertain of what's going on with Windows Update. When I selected one important update for Word Viewer it immediately downloaded and installed from Windows update.

I tried again to install four more important updates for Word Viewer and there was no progress, after several minutes.

Previously when selecting all important updates, Windows Update ran for over 8 hours with zero progress.

Currently I'm trying a single optional update for Silverlight. Windows Update is running at zero progress.

Windows Update History displays 9 recent updates that have failed, The Word Viewer update is reported as successful and the other 6 are listed as canceled (by me).
___________________
Here are some of the things I have tried to resolve issues with Windows Update:

1. re-Installed windows updateagent
2. Renaming the "SoftwareDistribution" folder...
3. Renaming the Catroot2 folder...
Type the following commands, and then press Enter after each command.
net stop cryptsvc
ren %systemroot%\System32\Catroot2 oldcatroot2
net start cryptsvc
4. Registering the files that are used by Windows Update and Microsoft Update...
At the command prompt, type the following commands, press ENTER after each command, and then click OK every time that you receive a verification message:
regsvr32 wuapi.dll
regsvr32 wuaueng.dll
regsvr32 wucltux.dll
regsvr32 wups2.dll
regsvr32 wups.dll
regsvr32 wuwebv.dll
5. Starting the Background Intelligent Transfer Service, the Automatic Updates service, and the Event Log service.... (some or all may be already running)
At the command prompt, type the following commands, and then press ENTER after each command:
net start bits
net start wuauserv
net start Eventlog
exit
 
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My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Thinkcentre
    CPU
    Intel Core 2 CPU 2.67 Ghz
    Motherboard
    OEM
    Memory
    4 GB
    Monitor(s) Displays
    NEC
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080p
After more than a week of trying to download Updates via Vista Windows Update. Windows Update started to work again and proceeded to downloaded and installed all of the selected updates.

While Windows Update was running at zero percent, I needed to leave for a while, so I disconnected from the Internet and left. After approx. an hour I came back and reconnected the Ethernet/ Internet connection. A short while later after opening Windows update, there was a new message displayed of "Installing updates". All 47 important updates eventually installed. (MSE 49.x was deselected because of it's black screen upon re-boot problem, I've stayed at version 48.x.)

After a reboot and the OS settled down, an optional update (Silverlight) was selected for download. Now more than 24 hours has passed and Vista's Windows Update is still at zero percent.

I'm not certain what's going on here, perhaps Vista Windows Update is being placed in some sort of download queue as there's many possibly millions of new users downloading updates for Windows 10 and other versions of Windows.

24+ hours does seem like a long time to be in a queue, so there may be other issues involved with the zero percent download.
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Thinkcentre
    CPU
    Intel Core 2 CPU 2.67 Ghz
    Motherboard
    OEM
    Memory
    4 GB
    Monitor(s) Displays
    NEC
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080p
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