Hyperactive Fan (High CPU Usage) + Unrespons. WU Standalone Installer

Hi,

I had (or have, actually) almost the same problem as Hey Man under "CPU Usage Problem". My computer is a Sony VAIO running 64-bit Windows 7 Home Premium. I followed the suggestion from ThrashZone in that thread: I already had update KB3020369 installed, but did not have KB3172605. So I downloaded it, and then stopped and disabled the Windows Update service as per ThrashZone's excellent graphic.

But upon opening the update for installation, the Windows Update Standalone Installer just kept showing the moving shaded progress bar. I decided to click on Cancel (several times), but the program wouldn't accept it. So, I had to open Task Manager to end the task. (I then went back and re-enabled Windows Update.)

Does anyone have any ideas? Hey Man? ThrashZone?

MathGuy

In answer to your first question, actually, I only waited a few minutes. I figured since the Cancel button wouldn't work, something was wrong with the installer.

I've got a question pertaining to your instructions: will this also cause the update history to be cleared?

MathGuy

Well, I attempted to "add patience" to installing the needed KB3172605 update. But, this time, I got the following error right off the bat:



However, I believe my original problem is finally solved: it seems the solution was based partly on information ThrashZone supplied, and partly on a separate idea that happened to occur to me.

On the previous installation attempt, prior to stopping and disabling WU via Services.msc, I had opened Microsoft Security Essentials to update my virus definitions. As it has done several times in the past, Essentials just kept searching for updates. (The progress bar advanced with ever shorter changes until getting stuck about a third of the way up the bar.)

This was peculiar, to be sure, but I never really became concerned with it. The reason was that I could close the program (as allowed, to make it run in the background) and, the next day when I booted up my machine, Essentials would tell me my definitions were up-to-date.

I'm certainly no exptert, but my theory is that, as long as Essentials is searching in the background, it's making use of Windows Update. Opening the downloaded KB3172605 while this is going on invokes the installer which trys to invoke Windows Update, but it's already in use. Hence the perpetually unresponsive Windows Update Standalone Installer (?)... I don't know exactly.

But I decided to make sure I was in a state where Windows Update wasn't actually doing anything, as a first step. Then, BEFORE using Services.msc to stop and disable WU, I clicked on "Change Settings" to the left side of the Windows Update main window. I then selected "Never check for updates (not recommended)" in the Important Updates drop down menu. This was followed by ThrashZone's Services.msc sequence. (I don't remember, however, whether I just did a Stop, or whether the disable was also selected.)

Anyway, after this, I opened KB3172605 and, voila!... The installer ran with no error, and everything turned out good. I ended up getting about 30 new updates to further install. As a final step, I went back and ensured the drop-down WU setting was at "Install updates automatically (recommended)", and the Services.msc was configured nominally for Windows Update.

The excessive fan problem seems to have disappeared, and Microsoft Security Essentials always shows my virus definitions are up-to-date. (No more stuck progress bar to contend with.)

I want to thank ThrashZone for tipping me off (indirectly, via Hey Man's "CPU Usage Problem" thread) to Services.msc and the KB3172605 update.

MathGuy