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

[johnny20]

Hello,

I upgraded my Vista laptop to Win 7 Home Premium 64. It took a few days to get it running, install all drivers, new BIOS, etc.

But I still have one problem left.

Wuauserv is eating 50% cpu constantly. It is windows update related. I seem to have problems with the updates. It says that "some settings are managed by your system administrator" and everything is grayed out. I can't change a thing. I am the only owner of this laptop, I am the admin, I don't understand what this is.

Could you please help?

Thank you!

 

[johnny20]

Also, it seems my computer thinks I'm part of a Workgroup, but I use this laptop at home.

Member of Domain / Workgroup, domain is grayed out, workgroup is checked.

I don't have Group Policy installed.

It was not a clean install, but an upgrade using genuine Toshiba software.

Windows is constantly checking for updates without success.

 

[johnny20]

I ran the Microsoft Windows Update Troubleshooter and this error came out:

0x8024402C.

 

[johnny20]

The last thing Windows installed on my computer was Windows Update Agent 7.6.7600.320. Now I get error 0x8024402C. Windows checking updates without any success.

Any ideas?

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi and welcome to SevenForums,
Ran into this which has near the bottom a fixit for me listing
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/883821

 

[johnny20]

Hi and welcome to SevenForums,
Ran into this which has near the bottom a fixit for me listing
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/883821

I tried that but this it what is says:

"This easy fix does not apply to your operating system or application version"

 

[jc836]

There is an offline updating tool that you can use. It is WSUS offline Update.
FIRST thing that you should do is disable Windows Update in Control Panel and then do the same in Services. This will stop the excessive CPU usage. You can then run the updater. I would also make sure you have the MOST CURRENT version of the Microsoft Windows Updater and it is likely that what you have on your machine is pre 2014.

Good luck

 

[johnny20]

I can not stop the update. Like I said, everything is grayed out. This problem has been happening since win has installed the Windows Update Agent 7.6.7600.320.

 

[jc836]

If you can get into SAFE Mode you can enter services.msc on the command line. Scroll down to the entry Windows Update and carefully Disable it entirely. This will stop the service and the high CPU usage. Then you can do the replacement updater or use WSUS Offline Updater.
Remember that your copy of Windows 7 may not be as good as you think. You might also try a clean install from an ISO if you have a Product Key that the MS servers will accept.

 

[johnny20]

Printscreen of error

 

[johnny20]

I stopped the wauserv and cpu usage went down to under 10 percent but this is only a temporary fix.

 

[jc836]

I stopped the wauserv and cpu usage went down to under 10 percent but this is only a temporary fix.

Now it is time to do the KB article for Windows update, whicxh will give you the file needed to do the replacement. Then run the Windows Oflline Updater. Again, you may need to do a completely CLEAN install using the tutorial that Brink has here on the Forum to make sure that Windows 7 is OK. Even then you will want to install what I am suggesting anyway.

 

[johnny20]

I can't do a clean install. I only have an upgrade disk. I don't want to lose all files, and don't want to go through installing everything again. I have been dealing with this for 2 weeks, it is driving me nuts.

 

[Callender]

No need to reinstall windows.

RE: Greyed out options. Delete the following:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate\AU

additionally on a 64bit machine delete:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate\AU

Only delete the AU subkeys.

Reboot.

 

[Callender]

If you want to do a full removal and reinstall of windows updates there's a way to do it but it is:

1) Complicated
2) Will drive you nuts
3) May take at least three days to do it properly (fixes need to be applied in order and plenty of reboots are required)
4) May take multiple attempts to get it right

 

[johnny20]

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?

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

 

[johnny20]

I do not want full removal of updates or windows altogether. My computer runs great now since I have turned off the wuauserv, but now I don't have any updates.

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi and welcome to SevenForums,
Ran into this which has near the bottom a fixit for me listing
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/883821

I tried that but this it what is says:

"This easy fix does not apply to your operating system or application version"

There are several fix's listed only one was for your error code.

Either way sounds pretty bad
You can indeed clean install with an upgrade activation key with option 3 after following option 4
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/31402-clean-install-upgrade-windows-7-version.html

 

[johnny20]

I only tried the one that applies to my problem, didn't work.

I really don't want to re-install Windows. I would rather stop wuauserv every 30 mins and live without any updates.

 

[UsernameIssues]

You might try option three of this tutorial:
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/91738-windows-update-reset.html

After the reset, manually install the latest Windows Update Client:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3138612

Set the computer not to sleep and let it search for updates for as long as it takes.