Advice please on best way to install updates for Windows 7

I have been handed on a Dell Inspiron 1110 laptop from my daughter after dropping my old Samsung NC10 and breaking it.

My daughter told me the Dell was very slow and if i could fix it I could have it.

I have completed a factory reset and am after advice on how best to install updates for Windows 7 to try and avoid problems that seem to abound judging from the forum threads i have browsed thus far.

Am I correct in thinking that i should get all the updates I can before doing anything else with the laptop (i.e. internet browsing, installing virus protection software etc etc?

My intended use for the laptop if I can get it updated and running okay is for playing online poker and running Holdem Manager whilst doing so. I will also do a moderate amount of internet browsing.

Thanks for any advice you can provide.

Thanks for advice i have decided to do them one at a time and had the first error message saying update KB915597 was cancelled, error number 8024000B.

Any ideas?

trevorturnbull said:

~~~
I have completed a factory reset and am after advice on how best to install updates for Windows 7 to try and avoid problems that seem to abound judging from the forum threads i have browsed thus far.

Am I correct in thinking that i should get all the updates I can before doing anything else with the laptop (i.e. internet browsing, installing virus protection software etc etc?
~~~

The factory image from Dell might have an anti-virus app already installed.

trevorturnbull said:

Thanks for advice i have decided to do them one at a time and had the first error message saying update KB915597 was cancelled, error number 8024000B.

Any ideas?

That KB pertains to Windows Defender. Windows Defender might be turned off by the antivirus app.

Start applying the updates in the order that NoelDP mention and note that some failed installs is to be expected.

This is an old thread, but my issue is related so I will continue here and hopefully find some advise! :)

So, I had a pile of around 225 Windows updates waiting to be installed, so I tried tackling them using the method NoelDP described. As advised, I started off by downloading the 'Security for Windows' ones, there were around 100 of them. After downloading them (it said around 90 were successfully downloaded, around 10 failed). I restarted the computer, and got the screen 'Configuring Windows Updates, 35% complete'. However, the percentage never moved up from there, but the computer just started normally.

I tried to go back to Windows Update menu in Control Panel to install the rest of the updates. However, whenever I tried clicking 'Windows Update' or 'Check for updates', the Control Panel window froze. I got the spinning loading icon and it just stayed there for several minutes, so I ended up killing the process in Task Manager. Otherwise the PC and Control Panel and everything worked fine.

I restarted the computer several times, and all of this repeated every time- the '35% complete' screen while starting Windows, and then the whole Control Panel window freezing whenever I tried to go to updates. Again, all the other sections in Control Panel opened just fine.

Finally I just left it there frozen in the Control Panel, and after around 10 minutes it actually finally had opened the Windows Update tab. I continued following NoelPD's instructions, and selected all the ordinary 'Updates for Windows'. It started downloading those 64 updates, and it's been doing it for the past 30 minutes now while staying at 0%. I have been keeping an eye on the file count in the SoftwareDistribution folder, which has stayed the same as well, so I am suspecting that it's not actually downloading anything.

And while downloading this second batch, I noticed that below it says:

Updates were installed: Today at 15:39 (Failed). View Update history.

When I view the update history, it shows that out of all the earlier updates, only one was successful, all the others either Pending or Failed. Looks like all the pending ones have error code 80242014 and failed ones 80070490.

So for some reason I don't seem to be able to get my Windows updated. All of my PC specs should be visible in my user account, if that is any help. My troubleshooting skills are unfortunately pretty limited, so I am hoping someone might be able to offer some advise!

Thank you in advance. :)