Windows Updates (7/12/2016): Unable to install. Need help please.

spc3rd · 14 Jul 2016

Good morning everyone,

I am once again having to ask for help here because I've been unable to install the Patch Tuesday updates released July 12th. (I received the "Updates available" notification yesterday afternoon, July 13th). WU just keeps searching endlessly, and after 2 hours, I restarted the computer to stop the process. (It could not be stopped in Task Manager).

(All day yesterday, July 13th, my CPU kept hovering in the 50% - 60% usage range both off-line and on-line. The only way I could get it to return to normal was what I did in Item # 2 shown below).

Also, NO error codes are being seen either.

Things I have tried thus far:

1. Ran full scans, including for rootkits with my ESET Smart Security, MBAM Premier, and SAS programs. NO issues found.

2. Opened Control Panel > Windows Updates, and changed the existing setting (i.e. Notify me of updates, but let me decide to download and install) to "Never check for updates". I then restarted the computer.

3. Ran the sfc /scannow command. NO issues reported.

4. Ran the SURT tool. The dialog box opened indicating it was initializing and said something about looking for updates. When I checked the computer several hours later, the dialog box said something like, "Installation complete". I closed the box.
However, none of the 10 Important updates (in this month's updates) were installed when I checked the WU list of installed updates.

5. Ran the Microsoft Fix-it tool. NO issues found.

(In Control Panel > Windows Updates, it continues to show July 12th as the last time updates were checked for, and July 5th as the last time an update was installed).

I've pasted the SURT log below:

=================================
Checking System Update Readiness.
Binary Version 6.1.7601.22471
Package Version 26.0
2016-07-13 19:28

Checking Windows Servicing Packages

Checking Package Manifests and Catalogs

Checking Package Watchlist

Checking Component Watchlist

Checking Packages

Checking Component Store

Summary:
Seconds executed: 862
No errors detected
==================================

My appeal to the Community: Can someone please help me with step-by-step instructions on what I should do now? I have no idea where to go from here.

(Please forgive me...I'm really sorry, and frankly - ashamed, & humiliated to have to admit it, but age and health issues have taken such a toll, that I'm just not able to understand a lot of things that I once could with little effort).

Thank you for your time, review, and any help to resolve the problem I'm having!

johnny20 · 14 Jul 2016

See this : windows update takes 25% of the cpu since today :(

spc3rd · 14 Jul 2016

Hi johnny20,

Thank you very much for getting back with me!

I had actually already been following the topic at the link you posted. I really wasn't sure the OP's issue(s) were exactly the same as mine, and since I've seen a warning note here in the forums (somewhere) advising against attempting remedial measures that have been provided to someone else - I did not want to risk possibly making my own problem worse.
Hence, I created a separate topic about my issues.

However, after reading some about update KB3168965 (which was not already installed on my computer), I decided to take a chance on downloading and installing it. It installed fine. After restarting the computer, I then went to Control Panel > Windows Updates, and clicked on the "Check for updates" button.

Long story short...all 10 Important updates installed successfully (took about 30 minutes or so to complete). The computer seems to be back to normal now (CPU & memory usage). I've changed the WU setting back to "Notify me of updates, but let me...".

One sidenote here about the updates installing is that when it got to update #5 (i.e., Net Framework 3.5.1) - the process seemed to 'hang', taking longer than I'd expected to complete. Once that particular update installed, the remainder installed rather quickly.

In closing, thanks very much again for all the help!

P.S. - (Somehow I have a gut feeling this problem is going to continue recurring every month on Patch Tuesday's)

johnny20 · 14 Jul 2016

You are welcome, glad to hear it worked.

I was on Vista until this April and never had an issue with updating. After upgrading to 7 I was surprised to see these issues - just imagine I had to install about 200 updates.

It seems that every month there's a "magic kb" that helps with speeding up searching for updates.

The OP of the other thread reported only finding 5 important updates. I found 7 of them. Did your 10 updates also include the Office updates or just Windows? I wonder why some users find fewer and others find more updates.

spc3rd · 14 Jul 2016

Hi again, johnny20,

For what it's worth...I'd never been experiencing this kind of issue with WU on this Win 7 machine until a few months back. I used to have WU set to the "Recommended" option (where WU automatically downloads & installs any updates it finds). But, I changed that setting to the one I mentioned earlier on advice received here in the Seven Forums.

The updates (10) I received DID include some for MS Office, and also IE 11. As to why some of us receive more updates than others...I'm guessing it has something to do with both the OS we're using, as well as, what programs we have installed (e.g., MS Office, MS Malicious Software Removal Tool, etc).

Cheers!