Stuck on "configuring Windows updates" screen after crash

[Marscaleb]

My compute shut off unexpectedly; I suspect a hardware malfunction. But I haven't really been able to properly test that because I can't get windows to finish booting.

When I turned my computer back on the next day, it was stuck on an update screen.
It spend a very long time on the screen saying "configuring windows updates," and after reaching 100% it was stuck there for hours.
I eventually forced it to restart since it was stuck. And now it's going through that exact same process. It says it's configuring windows updates. It's currently at 35%, where it has been for an abnormally long amount of time, and I suspect that it is going to be on this screen forever until I shut it off.

I do still have the prompt to boot into safe mode when I restart it, so I can go inside and try to fix things, but I have no idea what I should try to fix. Please help.

More info:
I cannot explicitly recall if I have shut off my computer properly since the last time I applied an update, however long ago that was. I usually just put the computer to sleep when I leave for work or go to bed. I'm fairly sure I've applied all the latest official updates.

 

[Marscaleb]

UPDATE: This time after an hour I came back and it said "cleaning up..." and after a long while it actually booted per normal.
If I'm not mistaken, it says that after it removes a failed update, does it not?

If there is a bad update sitting on my system, how do i keep it from applying at this point? I know Microsoft said they weren't supporting Windows 7 anymore, but they've released several updates and fixes since then. When would I know that it would be better to stop applying updates?

 

[Snick]

Marscaleb

Yes, Win7 uninstalled the offending update.

This should help you find the culprit in the WindowsUpdate.log
You can hide the update or let Win Update try it again. Could have been a corrupt download. Yes, it happens sometimes.

Windows Update - View Update History Details - Windows 7 ...

Snick