Windows Updates keeps checking for updates

Kochon · 18 Aug 2015

Hi guys, so I got this new-to-me Acer Aspire 5315 laptop as a gift from a friend whose new laptop I just cleaned (still angry about lenovo's bloatware obsession). For the complete specs I included the full DxDiag.txt output.

So I freshly installed Windows 7 Ultimate x64 SP1 on it, and for three days now whatever I do, Windows Update will just keep Checking for updates... forever.

The first time I ran Windows Update, it updated itself, then re-ran itself and then goes on looking for updates in outer space or something.

What I tried so far:

booting into safe mode and running the disk cleanup, checked everything
using the windows update full reset bat file, rebooted
installed the update readiness tool thing (I had to kill the windows update service for the muddathing to actually install because the installation was freezed on checking for system updates...
Tried grabbing the latest windows update agent from microsoft's website, same thing.
tried redoing my installation of windows to rule out any install problems
sfc /scannow reports nothing

I guess it's worth mentioning I'm dual booting with Linux Mint, which is working and updating perfectly fine. The thing is I need Office and Windows, as this laptop will be used for school.

paul1149 · 18 Aug 2015

How long have you let it run? I've worked on maybe eight machines in the past few days, and every one of them took north of an hour to gather the data. But generally only on the first run. Win10 fallout, probably. You could try it on a Diagnostic Boot via msconfig.

Kochon · 18 Aug 2015

I've tried a few hours at a time and then overnight twice. In the meantime I was able to completely setup and update the same version of Windows on 2 other pc's I'm working on (oh the joys of being the only tech-inclined person in your immediate social circles)

paul1149 · 18 Aug 2015

That's too long, period. I would try the diagnostic boot. Then I would use tweaking.com for the sake of permissions, going through all the basic steps. Take a Restore Point first. Sometimes it actually makes things worse and has to be done twice.

Kochon · 19 Aug 2015

Diagnostic boot doesn't start the windows update services, should I manually start them then try to update? I'm not sure what to do here. And about those permissions, do you mean the registry permissions or the actual file permissions on the HDD? By the way thanks for helping me out

paul1149 · 19 Aug 2015

Sorry, I didn't realize the update function was killed in diagnostic boot. You could try turning it on manually. It's the BITS service as well as the window update service.

By permissions I meant registry, file, and services. Tweaking does them all.

Also, make sure your clock is set to the right time. Such a small error can really jam the whole thing up, and one would think - though incorrectly - that MS would tell you when a mis-set clock in the problem.

Kochon · 19 Aug 2015

Okay so the tweaking.com tool didn't help, syncing my time neither, even after rebooting. I'll keep digging in those logs to see if I can find anything useful
Edit: checking windowsupdate.log, I noticed every time it hangs is after those two lines:

Code:

2015-08-19    18:18:54:052     856    868    PT    +++++++++++  PT: Synchronizing extended update info  +++++++++++
2015-08-19    18:18:54:052     856    868    PT      + ServiceId = {9482F4B4-E343-43B6-B170-9A65BC822C77}, Server URL = https://fe2.update.microsoft.com/v6/ClientWebService/client.asmx

pc131 · 21 Aug 2015

Had exact the same issue. Clean install of Windows 7. Installed drivers, updates, SP1. Then checking for updates failed and was stuck (checking for updates was going for 12 hours and without success). I was searching for solution and today I found Microsoft tool that helped me. I run the tool, it installed some updates, I rebooted my laptop and 192 updates waiting.

I tried:

- manual deleting of c:\windows\softwaredistribution\download
- scf /scannow
- DISM.exe tool

Nothing helped until today I found this MS tool.

Search for Windows6.1-KB947821-v34-x86

Windows Updates keeps checking for updates

Windows Update keeps checking for updates

Windows6.1-KB947821-v34-x86