Windows Updates Stuck at 0% Forever

I hijacked the thread title from another one that looked like it might be helpful, but of course it was not. In that topic, someone posted that 'KB3172605 is the new magic to get updates working again'.

It seems to NOT be the magic touch for me...
So far I've downloaded

• Windows6.1-KB947821-v34-x64 - it just looked for updates for an hour before I canceled the task
• WU170509 - got ' an error occurred while troubleshooting - 0x80070002'
• Windows6.1-KB3020369-x64 - it just looked for updates for an hour before I canceled the task

And now

• Windows6.1-KB3172605-x64 is added to the things that just search for updates but never actually do anything

This is an HP G72 Notebook running W7 Home Premium on a 64 bit system. So many of the threads I've located contain Microsoft links that no longer work even though posts are less than a year old. It seems completely absurd that every time a W7 computer has an update problem you basically have to re-invent the wheel. There's no 'Here's how to fix Windows 7 update problems' that seems to work for more than the length of a particular thread.

I have disabled all non-Microsoft services, run the System File Checker (no integrity violations), and run multiple virus, spyware and adware scans.

Trying (twice) to upload the zipped CBS log gave me nothing in the upload windows beyond "This page can't be displayed"

First delete everything in C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download


Before running

KB3020369 then later

KB3172605 you need to Stop windows update service. You can do it in Task Manager or the KISBS "Keep it Stupid Bat Simple" way of just turning WUS to never check for updates and restarting the PC.

Before shutting down the search, had You checked Task Manager and the Downloads folder to see it wasn't already downloading updates ?

Bat 1 said:

First delete everything in C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download

Okay, I just did that...

Bat 1 said:

Before running

KB3020369

After deleting the files I started KB3020369. It has now been 'Searching for updates on the computer' for about 45 minutes.

Bat 1 said:

then later KB3172605 you need to Stop windows update service. You can do it in Task Manager or the KISBS "Keep it Stupid Bat Simple" way of just turning WUS to never check for updates and restarting the PC.

Before shutting down the search, had You checked Task Manager and the Downloads folder to see it wasn't already downloading updates ?

The Window Update Standalone Installer (KB3020369) is still running. The only thing update related in taskmgr is wusa.exe. As per your instructions (if I understand them correctly), I have not stopped the Windows Update service, nor have I started KB3172605 While KB3020369 continues to 'search', nothing has been added to the C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download folder

You can also use a Admin CMD to stop WUS
https://www.windows-commandline.com/...pdate-service/

Then run the KB3020369

boweasel said:

There's no 'Here's how to fix Windows 7 update problems' that seems to work for more than the length of a particular thread.

Win 7 pro update Solved - Windows 7 Help Forums

Bat 1 said:

You can also use a Admin CMD to stop WUS
https://www.windows-commandline.com/...pdate-service/

Then run the KB3020369

I don't need anyone to provide multiple methods for stopping the update service. What I REALLY need is a blueprint for fixing the problem - something with step 1, step 2, etc.

The way you answered the question was 'First delete everything in C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download
Before running KB3020369.'

So I deleted everything and then ran KB3020369, WITHOUT stopping the update service. Because the way you entered the information made it appear that the service must be stopped only before running KB3172605, not before running both.

Why, oh why couldn't you have just replied
1. delete the files
2. stop the update service
3. run KB3020369
4. run KB3172605
5. restart the service

Alright! Running those steps from post#6 did the trick.... And I didn't need step 5 - the update service automatically started after the reboot.

Thank you! And for anyone else having this problem, make sure you stop the service before running those Knowledge Base downloads.

Need someone to start translating Cajun to American for Bat on this Forum too :)

This sounds right to Me: "Before running

KB3020369 then later

KB3172605 you need to Stop windows update service, " * From Post #2*

Glad to read You finally got it, and remember Before driving You Need to Put Your seatbelt on

And here I thought I had a pretty good grasp of Cajun-speak. I've got a couple of old Doug Kershaw LPs and I worked for a while for a company called Godcheaux-Maison-Blanche (sp?) in Baton Rouge. But that was all a loooong time ago.