Update problem wauserv eating 50% cpu can't change updates settings

[ThrashZone]

Okay,
Can you verify if you have KB3112343 installed.

 

[johnny20]

Okay,
Can you verify if you have KB3112343 installed.

Nope.

See below a list of the few updates I got since I upgraded to Windows 7.

 

[ThrashZone]

Okay I would I guess uninstall this one if you have it,
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3138612

Then install this one
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=50031

 

[Callender]

Thank you, will that allow to change settings in win updates? Why do you think it is saying some settings can only be changed by admin since I am the admin already?

Those settings are nothing to do with you being "admin" - they are Group Policy Settings that take precedence.

If you want to delete those keys - export them first so that you've got backup in case it doesn't work as expected. Right click each key and export.

What is with the wuauserv taking up 50 percent of my CPU? Will deleting as instructed above help solve this?

Deleting those keys will not solve the high RAM usage problem. That's down to read/ write issues with datastore.edb and also possible problems with a faulty WUC. There may also be problem updates in your software distribution download folder.

 

[johnny20]

I deleted the datastore edb and now updates show up!!

 

[Callender]

Okay forget what I have posted. It's a fresh install right?

KB 2990214 - Apr 2015 - WUC: enables ability to upgrade to Win10

KB 2990214 is a known to cause problems after installing SP1

ThrashZone should be able to help you with that.

 

[Callender]

I deleted the datastore edb and now updates show up!!

Why did you do that? Well anyway I suppose that you can download updates but it's likely you will have further problems. Maybe you'll get lucky.

 

[ThrashZone]

Not really I would of used media with sp1 already on it

 

[johnny20]

I don't know but wuauserve is now silent.

Old edb was over 1gb, now I see a new edb is in place at 0.2 gb.

I am not usually lucky so it won't last long.

 

[johnny20]

Deleting the registry subkeys you mentioned removed the silly admin option. I am now in full control. Thank you so much.

Now let's see what the edb deleting did.

 

[Callender]

Old edb was over 1gb, now I see a new edb is in place at 0.2 gb.

That should get rebuilt with tomorrow's scheduled update check. It might take hours. Then you'll have to wait another 24 hours for yet another scheduled update check before you can really tell if there will be more problems.

 

[johnny20]

Old edb was over 1gb, now I see a new edb is in place at 0.2 gb.

That should get rebuilt with tomorrow's scheduled update check. It might take hours. Then you'll have to wait another 24 hours for yet another scheduled update check before you can really tell if there will be more problems.

Does it check daily for updates? No check today so far. My laptop is now the fastest I've ever seen it go. I hope this will last. Here is my update list after it checked for updates last night. I haven't installed any yet, it works so fast I just want to enjoy this before something goes wrong.

 

[johnny20]

Update - upon checking for updates, db file size increased again to 1gb. I let it run but nothing happened, checking for updates hangs again and wuauserv eats CPU.

I deleted db again, cpu is fine again. Disabled updates.

I can't believe Win7 has this kind of errors. In seven years of running Vista (probably the most unpopular Win ever), I never had a single problem.

 

[Callender]

I've had the same problem a few times during the last year. Fixed it each time only for problems to return a few months later. The only fix that works (for me) is a complete removal and reinstall of Windows Updates. That takes around three days at least and doesn't always work first time and it's a complicated fix.

 

[UsernameIssues]

Update - upon checking for updates, db file size increased again to 1gb. I let it run but nothing happened, checking for updates hangs again and wuauserv eats CPU.

I deleted db again, cpu is fine again. Disabled updates.

I can't believe Win7 has this kind of errors. In seven years of running Vista (probably the most unpopular Win ever), I never had a single problem.

Did you try the suggestions in post 20?

 

[johnny20]

Update - upon checking for updates, db file size increased again to 1gb. I let it run but nothing happened, checking for updates hangs again and wuauserv eats CPU.

I deleted db again, cpu is fine again. Disabled updates.

I can't believe Win7 has this kind of errors. In seven years of running Vista (probably the most unpopular Win ever), I never had a single problem.

Did you try the suggestions in post 20?

Yes, but it didn't work first time. A standalone installer window came up and that was also stuck.

I downloaded the KB3138612 , turned off wuauserv, turned off internet, installed in 2 minutes.

Then ran check for updates. In 15 minutes edb was again 1 GB. But this time, it actually stopped scanning and now I have 189 updates ready to install. All in less than 20 mins!

 

[johnny20]

I've had the same problem a few times during the last year. Fixed it each time only for problems to return a few months later. The only fix that works (for me) is a complete removal and reinstall of Windows Updates. That takes around three days at least and doesn't always work first time and it's a complicated fix.

What method did you use to "fix it each time only for problems to return months later"?

Patch it with KB's?

I now downloaded and installed KB3138612 and check update lasted for 20 mins. Now I have 189 updates showing.

 

[johnny20]

The last thing installed on my machine before the issue arised was the update agent 7.6.7600.320. Now after the KB3138612 install, the latest agent is 7.6.7601.19161.

 

[Callender]

I downloaded the KB3138612 , turned off wuauserv, turned off internet, installed in 2 minutes.

Then ran check for updates. In 15 minutes edb was again 1 GB. But this time, it actually stopped scanning and now I have 189 updates ready to install. All in less than 20 mins!

Running fixes with no internet connection and WU service seems to be important.

I've had the same problem a few times during the last year. Fixed it each time only for problems to return a few months later. The only fix that works (for me) is a complete removal and reinstall of Windows Updates. That takes around three days at least and doesn't always work first time and it's a complicated fix.

What method did you use to "fix it each time only for problems to return months later"?

Patch it with KB's?

It's too complicated to explain fully but basically involves removing all WUC's and deleting all files related to Windows Updates, re-registering a whole lot of system files, resetting IE, running advanced disk cleanup to include WU cleanup, forcing the installation of a recent WUC thereby skipping problem WUC's and allowing the whole system to be rescanned from scratch to rebuild the database of installed and missing updates.

 

[UsernameIssues]

The WU updates do some sort of scan/search at the start of the install. Removing the connection to the Internet causes that scan to quickly give up. If you don't remove the connection to the Internet, the scan/search should eventually complete on its own. (It might take hours.) I've done it both ways and I've not noticed a difference in the outcome - other than the time spent completing the install.

Glad that you finally got a list of updates