That still doesn't explain clean installs though.
If it's the one that shipped with SP1 that's causing the issue, then why did it work without issue for so many years?
And if it's a subsequent WU Client update that's caused it, then why would it affect clean installs?
Don't know. It seems to have started around the time they released KB2990214 and Windows 10 Upgrade updates.
It seems to be mostly about timing. I've had new installs pick up updates really quickly and other new installs taking hours. I've even tried to skip the "WU update agent" that gets offered as soon as you first run Windows update and install the newest WU Client skipping all others and still can be slow or fast.
I've had better luck trying to guess the roll of a double dice on a roulette table
Anyway apologies for wandering off the thread topic
Personally (after any WU fix) I always leave the machine on but stop and disable Windows Update Service for 24 hours before rebooting then re-enabling WU Service and running an update check. It always seems to work better with this 24 hour delay.
I'm somewhat lost. Let me explain.
Where in the world are people getting all these installation disk or downloaded ISO's without SP-1?
I do have one Microsoft DVD without SP-1 only because when I bought it their was not a SP-1 yet. All other Microsoft DVD's after that all came with SP-1.
Quote