Windows Update Hangs on Downloading (Windows 7 SP1)

mike99 · Jan 18, 2016

Hello,

On 1/16/2016 (first boot in a few days) I noticed that there were over 50 WU updates available.

I then noticed that Windows Update had not installed any updates since August 2015. I also noticed that Windows Defender had not scanned computer since that time.

I have the WU setting of "Check for updates but let me choose whether to download and install", and "updates for Windows only".

I clicked the Download Updates button in WU but it just hangs with no change on the green progress bar. I tried many times, sometimes waiting a few hours, but no luck.

NOTE: I have and identical computer at work, and it too did not update for 5+ months. However, WU worked fine installing the 50+ updates. So, there is something different about my home computer.

My basic questions are:

1) Why didn't it install any updates for 5 months?
2) Why isn't WU working now?

I am running Windows 7 Pro SP1 on 64bit.

---------------------------------

Here's what I've tried:

-Uninstalled ZoneAlarm free firewall (didn't help)

-Ran windows SFC tool (nothing found)

-Updated Spybot S&D and scanned computer for malware (nothing found)

-Examined Windows Update Log (mostly found errors 0x80090017 and 0x80010108)

-Checked my version of WUA (it appears to be current: 7.6.7601.18917.)

-Did a Clean Boot and tried updating Windows Defender: It worked once, but then hung while Checking For Updates a 2nd time. Tried to download a single update in WU and it failed repeatedly.

-Addressed datastore by 1) stopped wuauserv 2) Renamed SoftwareDistribution folder to SoftwareDistribution.OLD 3) Restarted wuauserv. (didn't work)

-Ran C:\Windows\system32>sfc /scannow again and made a copy of CBS.log. (attached)

-Ran SURT. It took about 4 hours. No errors detected. (Results can be seen in attached CBS folder.)

-Ran your SFCFix.exe:

SFCFix version 2.4.5.0 by niemiro.
Start time: 2016-01-17 19:17:20.554
Microsoft Windows 7 Service Pack 1 - amd64
Not using a script file.

AutoAnalysis::
SUMMARY: No corruptions were detected.
AutoAnalysis:: directive completed successfully.

Successfully processed all directives.
SFCFix version 2.4.5.0 by niemiro has completed.
Currently storing 0 datablocks.
Finish time: 2016-01-17 19:20:19.503
----------------------EOF-----------------------

MORE NOTES:

To me, it looks like most or all of these updates were downloaded when I first clicked "Download Updates" on 1/16/2016, as there are around 50 new files in C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution.OLD\Download folder. So, my guess is that the updates are downloaded but aren't installing for some reason. (Just my laymans guess.)

View attachment SFCFix.txt
View attachment CBS_20160118.txt

I also wanted to attach my zipped CBS folder, but it was too big (40Mb), as well as my CBS.txt from 1/17/16 (165MB). How can I attach these? The CBS from 1/17/16 has a lot more info than the one from 1/18/16.

Thank you for your help!!

Mike

BrianDrab · Jan 19, 2016

Hi and welcome to Sysnative. You can upload your other logs to SendSpace and provide only the link. I'll review and report back next steps. Thanks.

mike99 · Jan 19, 2016

Thanks!

I uploaded both files to here:

https://www.sendspace.com/filegroup/mKRP6K2lerEUvKcfv3nGOQ

BrianDrab · Jan 19, 2016

OK, I've reviewed the logs. Please do the following.

Step#1 - Run Windows Repairs
Warning: this fix is specific to the user in this thread. No one else should follow these instructions as it may cause more harm than good. If you are after assistance, please start a thread of your own.
1. Download Windows Repair (All-in-One) Portable to your desktop.
2. Once the file is downloaded, right-click on the file on your desktop and choose Extract All...

3. Keep the defaults and click the Extract button.
4. A folder named tweaking.com_windows_repair_aio will be extracted to the desktop. Once the extraction is complete the folder will open.
5. Inside this folder, there is a folder named Tweaking.com - Windows Repair. Open this folder as well.

6. Double-click on Repair_Windows.exe to open. Note: Please make sure all of your programs are closed and anything you were working on is saved as we will be rebooting.
7. When the program opens, click the Reboot to Safe Mode button at the bottom of the screen. Answer Yes to allow.
8. Once rebooted into Safe Mode, open the program again. When the program opens, click the Repairs tab and click the Open Repairs button.
9. A backup of your registry will be made. After a few moments you will have many options from which you can choose.
10. Please click the Unselect All button and then click to enable only the following ones:
01 - Reset Registry Permissions
02 - Reset File Permissions
03 - Reset Service Permissions
04 - Register System Files
05 - Repair WMI
06 - Repair Windows Firewall
10 - Remove Policies Set By Infection
14 - Remove Temp Files
15 - Repair Proxy Settings
17 - Repair Windows Updates
21 - Repair MSI (Windows Installer)

11. Ensure the Restart check box is selected and click the Start Repairs button in the lower right of the screen. This may take some time to run so be patient.

12. Once the fixes are complete you will be prompted to restart your machine. Answer Yes.

mike99 · Jan 19, 2016

OK, I did just as you said.

Should I try Windows Update now?

The Windows Repair tool recommends to run it twice because it catches things the 2nd time after restarting. Should I do that first?

Or any logs you need me to upload?

Thanks for your help!

BrianDrab · Jan 20, 2016

Should I try Windows Update now?

Yes please do.

The Windows Repair tool recommends to run it twice because it catches things the 2nd time after restarting. Should I do that first?

Not yet.

Or any logs you need me to upload?

Nothing at the moment.

mike99 · Jan 21, 2016

It worked!

It took about 2 hours to Check for Updates and then about 1 hour to install 38 updates. Seems like it took a really long time(?) but at least it appears to be working now.

Now, I am left with a few issues:

1) Any idea what happened to cause this problem?

2) The WU notification icon no longer seems to be working (as it stopped around July 2015). I do have several available updates, but the icon isn't appearing. Is there a way to make this work again?

3) I missed out on MANY updates (a lot more than 38) since July 2015. So, I know that there are more out there but WU doesn't seem to be finding them. I know specifically that there are updates to IE11, SQL Server, etc because I have installed them on my other identical computer. Is there a way to force WU to find these?

4) There were also many updates that I had hidden previously that I'd like to get back now, such as security updates for MS Office 2010. But since I created a new C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\ folder (something I tried before I found this forum) there is now nothing listed in my Restore Hidden Updates list. Can I swap the folder names back now - would that be safe and would it even work? Or is there some other way to force WU to do a "deep" search for all available updates that are not already installed?

OK, I know this is a lot of questions! If I need to start a new thread I can do so.

Thank you!

BrianDrab · Jan 22, 2016

It worked!

Great news.

It took about 2 hours to Check for Updates and then about 1 hour to install 38 updates. Seems like it took a really long time(?) but at least it appears to be working now.

This is expected because of the previous fix we did. Your machine had to completely rebuild its Windows Update cache.

1) Any idea what happened to cause this problem?

Unfortunately I couldn't tell you specifically what caused the issue on this machine. There are so many reasons this could happen. It could happen if the machine shut off suddenly (power outage) or if you had memory issues, low disk space, an errant update, etc.

2) The WU notification icon no longer seems to be working (as it stopped around July 2015). I do have several available updates, but the icon isn't appearing. Is there a way to make this work again?

This is a first for me but we can take a look.

4) There were also many updates that I had hidden previously that I'd like to get back now, such as security updates for MS Office 2010. But since I created a new C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\ folder (something I tried before I found this forum) there is now nothing listed in my Restore Hidden Updates list. Can I swap the folder names back now - would that be safe and would it even work? Or is there some other way to force WU to do a "deep" search for all available updates that are not already installed?

You definately don't want to go back to your old SoftwareDistribution folder. In our previous fix we reset Windows Update which would automatically unhide all hidden updates so there is no issue with this. One thing Windows Update is extremely good at is detecting if an update needs to be installed.

You may have already done this but please continue going to Windows Update and checking for updates and installing any critical/important (and if you want recommended) updates until there are no more left. Let's start there.

mike99 · Jan 24, 2016

From what I have researched online, the GWX update in July of 2015 caused MANY people with Win 7 or 8 to suddenly lose the notification icon for updates. (Although it probably didn't affect people who "automatically download and install updates" as they probably don't look for the icon anyway.) Like me, many people went MONTHS without realizing that they hadn't installed updates. Is GWX what you suspect is happening in my case and do you have any recommendation?

I consider the lack of icon notification to be minor; I can just remind myself to check for updates. The bigger problem for me is that:

1) Although I have checked for updates every day since your last post, WU has not found any new ones. I KNOW that there are dozens of new updates out there because I've installed them on my other W7 machine with identical setup. Specifically I know there are some IE and SQL Server updates.

2) I still don't know how to go about getting the hidden updates from the past. If I know the specific KB number can I manually go onto MS website and download them? And then will they show up in my Installed Updates list? (I know they won't show up in my History list, but hopefully they'd show up in my Installed Updates list.)

Thank you.

BrianDrab · Jan 24, 2016

Is GWX what you suspect is happening in my case and do you have any recommendation?

Yes I believe that is why. Do you intend on updating to Windows 10?

1) Although I have checked for updates every day since your last post, WU has not found any new ones. I KNOW that there are dozens of new updates out there because I've installed them on my other W7 machine with identical setup. Specifically I know there are some IE and SQL Server updates.

New updates come out the 2nd Tuesday of every month so I wouldn't expect any until next month. If you can let me know an update that is on your other machine that isn't on this one I would be interested to hear.

2) I still don't know how to go about getting the hidden updates from the past. If I know the specific KB number can I manually go onto MS website and download them? And then will they show up in my Installed Updates list? (I know they won't show up in my History list, but hopefully they'd show up in my Installed Updates list.)

As mentioned, there aren't any hiddent updates anymore. That was handled with a previous fix that we did.

mike99 · Mar 11, 2016

Well, I'm sad to report that the problem persists...

Windows Update will not download updates, and has not found any new updates since Jan. Windows Defender will also not update, it just hangs on "checking for updates".

Are lots of Win 7 users having this issue? It's like Microsoft wants to intentionally break Win 7 so that people will be forced to upgrade to Win 10.

I do not plan on upgrading to Win 10 on this machine, if that in any way helps us fix this problem.

What's your advice?

BrianDrab · Mar 11, 2016

Are lots of Win 7 users having this issue?

No.

This is an interesting problem. Let's take a look. Please do the following.

Retrieve List of Updates

Click on the Start

button and in the search box, type Command Prompt
When you see Command Prompt on the list, right-click on it and select Run as administrator
When command prompt opens, copy and paste the following command into it, press enter

wmic qfe get /format:csv > %userprofile%\desktop\updates.csv

Wait for this to finish before you continue

4. This will create a file, updates.csv on your Desktop. Please zip up and attach this to your next post.
Please Note:: if the file is too big to upload to your next post please upload via a service such as Dropbox or One Drive or SendSpace and just provide the link.

mike99 · Mar 11, 2016

Done.

View attachment updates.zip

BrianDrab · Mar 11, 2016

Thanks. Please manually download and install the following update and let me know if it is successful.

Download Security Update for Windows 7 for x64-based Systems (KB3126593) from Official Microsoft Download Center

mike99 · Mar 12, 2016

I downloaded and ran KB3126593.

It started by taking at least 30 minutes to "searched for updates". I left the computer and when I came back 2 hours later and it had a message asking to install KB3126593.

After two minutes I got this message:

"The following updates were not installed: Security Update for Windows (KB3126593)"

It is now listed under WU history as Failed.

BrianDrab · Mar 12, 2016

Thanks. Please zip/attach a copy of your c:\windows\logs\cbs\cbs.log

mike99 · Mar 12, 2016

OK. I uploaded to sendspace:

Download CBS 2

312.zip from Sendspace.com - send big files the easy way

mike99 · Mar 12, 2016

I also just noticed in Services that I have Windows Update, Windows Defender, and BITS on Delayed Startup. I don't know if that was the default or if I changed it at some point.

Could this be an issue?

BrianDrab · Mar 12, 2016

I also just noticed in Services that I have Windows Update, Windows Defender, and BITS on Delayed Startup. I don't know if that was the default or if I changed it at some point.

Could this be an issue?

No, that's normal.

Please do the following.

Remove Update Manually
1. Click on the Start

button and in the search box, type Command Prompt
2. When you see Command Prompt on the list, right-click on it and select Run as administrator
3. When command prompt opens, copy and paste the following command into it, press enter
wusa /uninstall /KB:3126587

4. Let me know if it says it was successful or if there are any errors.

mike99 · Mar 13, 2016

It gave response "The update KB3126587 is not installed on this computer."

Windows Update Hangs on Downloading (Windows 7 SP1)

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