windows 7 update stuck at "checking for updates..."

SOLVED:

Windows 7 SP1 64

Extremely frustrated for many days trying every solution posted on the Internet. Then finally I found this comment on Softpedia's website and it absolutely works (very easy - but why should we have to do this?):

To resolve this issue: first install KB3145739 manually. Go to Microsoft website to download and then install, even if your Installed History already shows this update.
Next you should restart and finally you can check for updates in manual mode.
It takes between 5 or 10 minutes.
Comment posted by: Chooky
14 Apr 2016 13:00 CMT

Windows Update Hanging When Downloading April 12 Patches (Scroll down the Comments section until you find a posting by Chooky.)

Hopefully it will help some people avoid hours or days of frustration or drastic, complicated but unnecessary troubleshooting steps.

Recently I had the same problem. I had kept my system on update for the whole night. And in the morning it was still showing checking for updates... After searching the web for hours and trying many solutions posted here and other forums. I finally was able to SOLVE the problem by installing windows updates offline tool.This tool allowed me to install all the updates without using the Microsoft's crappy windows update agent. After installing all the updates the windows update started working properly.

The download link to the offline windows update tool I used is WSUS Offline Update - Update Microsoft Windows and Office without an Internet connection

I found a very comprehensive step by step tutorial for using this tool here Checking for updates stuck [Solved] [Windows 7 SP 1, 8.1 &10] - How I Solve

I hope this information would save others some time...

This has worked for me every time:

The solution:

Stop the Windows Update Service (wuauserv).
Download and install KB3050265
reboot
Download and install KB3102810
Reboot and check for updates again. All of our machines found their required updates in less than 5 minutes.

I have a windows 7 laptop that would not successfully check for windows updates. I spent 2 days trying about 20 different fixes from many different websites. I tried MS fixit, manual updates, deleting the SoftwareDistribution files, sfc /scannow, checking for malware, and fixing fix BITS all to no avail. Although fixing the BITS service and making sure it was started was probably a good idea. After reading Larry's post, I decided to try the offline update tool he recommended.


It fixed my problem with a hung windows update, but I would like to add a few comments.

The offline update tool took over an hour to download the tool and install the updates, and used the cmd window to detail the progress, so you were never wondering what was going on.

After running the tool (actually 2 tools in 2 steps) i retried windows update.
windows update check for updates stage was fixed - it took less than 30 minutes to find updates. However, I had a problem when I tried to install the updates, it seemed to hang creating a restore point.
At that point I reran the microsoft fixit tool i think i got from
Troubleshoot problems with installing updates - Windows Help
windows update then worked fine.

Also unexpectedly, windows update found several updates immediately after running the manual update tool, so the tool is apparently not 100%, but at least windows update started working after the manual install.

THANKS LARRY!!!!

Given that Microsoft designed Windows Update to be unassailably opaque to screw users over as completely as possible, how does anyone determine whether any action taken to fix it worked? How long do I have to leave Windows Update searching before I conclude that it still isn't working and try something else? 24 hours? Three weeks?

I've got two computers running windows 7 SP; one's Home Premium and one is Professional. Both are failing to do anything in regards to windows update. It says "checking for updates..." and hangs there. SCVHOST.exe uses up 25% of CPU all of the time, with WUAUSERV (Windows Update service) being the culprit. I recall that updates are usually released every Tuesday; however this happens every day. Hangs, will not update, uses 25% CPU and this is a problem as one of the laptops overheats.

Ran the FixIt tool and it found nothing; tried again and update still hangs.

I once had success when I left the computer on standby all day, and returned to see it updating. But since then, no joy on either computer; one of which is a relatively fresh install of W7. Any help gratefully appreciated.

P.S. Is this some sort of play by Microsoft to get everyone onto W10? As Windows Update never used to have any issues, before this mass "lets get everyone onto W10" mindset. And I don't need W10 on these systems, as one of my laptops is a dual boot machine with W7 and W10!

vickyv said:

This has worked for me every time:

The solution:

Stop the Windows Update Service (wuauserv).
Download and install KB3050265
reboot
Download and install KB3102810
Reboot and check for updates again. All of our machines found their required updates in less than 5 minutes.

Thank you, This worked for me. I made an account just to thank you and to let others know that this worked for me. It did still take about 15 minutes before it downloaded them so just be patient.

Fresh install of Windows 7 home premium 64bit with a new SSD. Was driving me nuts, stuck at updating screen on windows update and standalone update (not to mention all the drivers I had to hunt down and install). Like others I have spent the last 2 days searching and reading posts and trying what was advised, let it run , reinstall , turn this off etc. But this worked . Installing 244 updates as I am typing this.
So again thank you.

I went to Microsoft and searched for kb3135445 picked either 32 or 64 bit download installed it then update worked fine.