[SOLVED] Windows Update insists on reboot but installs nothing

[HunterZ]

I'm in a state on Windows 7 x64 SP1 where Windows Update says "Restart your computer to install important updates" in the Control Panel, and has a persistent "Restart your computer to finish installing important updates" notification in the system tray.

When I restart, no update is installed, but Windows Update remains in the same state.

I've tried a bunch of well-known fixes already, but nothing has helped.

As per the posting instructions, I've attached my SFCFix.txt and CBS logs. I am only included a dir output for the CBS directory itself, as the files are too large to attach.

Thanks!

 

[BrianDrab]

Hi and welcome to sysnative. Let's see if we can get you fixed up. Can you please do the following?

1. Click your start button and type cmd in the search box.
2. Right-click on cmd that comes up in the search results and select Run as administrator. Answer Yes to the UAC prompt if it appears.
3. Copy/Paste the following into the command-prompt window and hit enter.
reg query HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate /s >1.txt && notepad 1.txt

4. Notepad will open showing the WU info. Can you copy and paste this into your next reply?

 

[HunterZ]

Thanks. Here you go:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate
    SusClientId    REG_SZ    4277f6f6-42a1-4ff9-8733-ee715cbeb3c5
    SusClientIdValidation    REG_BINARY    06022801020220002000200020002000570044002D0057005800370030004300380039004100340033003300330006001FBC0886A420002000
    LastRestorePointSetTime    REG_SZ    2015-11-08 19:50:16

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate\Auto Update
    ElevateNonAdmins    REG_DWORD    0x1
    NextSqmReportTime    REG_SZ    2015-11-10 03:28:56
    FeaturedUpdatesNotificationSeqNum    REG_DWORD    0x1304
    FeaturedUpdatesNotificationSeqNumGenTime    REG_SZ    2015-10-17 22:00:04
    AUOptions    REG_DWORD    0x3
    ScheduledInstallDay    REG_DWORD    0x0
    ScheduledInstallTime    REG_DWORD    0x1
    IncludeRecommendedUpdates    REG_DWORD    0x1
    ActionCenterLastPossibleRestartNotification    REG_SZ    2010-01-21 11:00:00
    EnableFeaturedSoftware    REG_DWORD    0x1
    LastRestoreId    REG_SZ    {686E0364-E81F-4F35-BE26-B6C9873CBD1E}
    NextDetectionTime    REG_SZ    2015-11-10 20:41:30
    NextFeaturedUpdatesNotificationTime    REG_SZ    2015-11-09 00:15:38

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate\Auto Update\RebootRequired
    AULastForcedRebootType    REG_DWORD    0x5

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate\Auto Update\Results

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate\Auto Update\Results\Detect
    LastSuccessTime    REG_SZ    2015-11-10 02:07:25
    LastError    REG_DWORD    0x0

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate\Auto Update\UAS
    UpdateCount    REG_DWORD    0x0

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate\OSUpgrade
    ReservationsAllowed    REG_DWORD    0x2
    KickoffDownload    REG_DWORD    0x0
    KickoffSource    REG_DWORD    0x0
    Refresh    REG_DWORD    0x1
    AllowOSUpgrade    REG_DWORD    0x0

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate\OSUpgrade\State
    OSUpgradeState    REG_DWORD    0xe
    OSUpgradeStateTimeStamp    REG_SZ    2015-11-08 20:12:51
    OSUpgradePhase    REG_DWORD    0x2

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate\Reporting
    BatchFlushAge    REG_DWORD    0x1fa
    SamplingValue2    REG_DWORD    0x238

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate\Reporting\EventCache

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate\Reporting\EventCache\7971f918-a847-4430-9279-4a52d1efe18d
    CurrentCacheFile    REG_SZ    C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\EventCache\{6970381E-65A5-423D-8DD9-1C70DD92F0B7}.bin
    FlushCacheFiles    REG_MULTI_SZ    C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\EventCache\{6970381E-65A5-423D-8DD9-1C70DD92F0B7}.bin

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate\Reporting\RebootWatch

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate\Services
    DefaultService    REG_SZ    7971f918-a847-4430-9279-4a52d1efe18d

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate\Services\7971f918-a847-4430-9279-4a52d1efe18d
    AuthorizationCab    REG_SZ    authcab.cab

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate\Services\Pending
    ValidatedPreWsus3RegistrationRequests    REG_DWORD    0x1

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate\Setup
    SelfUpdateStatus    REG_DWORD    0x0
    SelfupdateUnmanaged    REG_DWORD    0x1
    ServerId    REG_SZ    9482f4b4-e343-43b6-b170-9a65bc822c77
    SetupHandlerUpdateId    REG_SZ    61ca813a-7585-442e-a66b-b0d15ce6bdc0
    UpdateSessionId    REG_DWORD    0xffffffff

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate\Setup\Results

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate\Setup\Results\SelfUpdate
    LastSuccessTime    REG_SZ    2014-09-01 16:19:44
    RebootFailCount    REG_DWORD    0x0
    LastError    REG_DWORD    0x0

 

[HunterZ]

Update: I think I just fixed it by renaming the RebootRequired key to _RebootRequired and restarting the Windows Update service.

 

[BrianDrab]

Correct. I would have had you delete that key so you should be all good. Nice job.