Has Microsoft stopped updates for Win 7?
When I check for updates I can see the updates I need. However they only pretend to download. I don't like auto updates btw.
Anyway to make sure it wasn't me I checked only one update.
It seems to be downloading but an hour later it is still downloading with 0% downloaded.
What gives, I never had this happen before. BTW I have this problem on two Win 7 computers.
Could it be retaliation because I didn't update to Win 10?
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Question
Windows 7 updates.
Discussion is locked
8 Posts
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Answer
I often find overzealous antivirus suites that break updates or Windows System Restore. So to write it's a Microsoft problem is a stretch.
The office made the decision to go to 10 in a big way. That's where all the new machines are at and we have to be sure our apps work there. XP and 7 owners do get upset over being left behind and we know that so we do test there as well.
The Windows 7 update system is soon to change to the W10 model. After letting us pick and choose updates, the problem that created was self evident so that's going away soon. That's in the news and I agree that had to go.
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...has worked for me.. Both my Windows 7 machines and a few customer's Win7 comps have updated fine by opening the Control Panel - Windows Updates, then allowing the app to scan and download the updates from within the application. Of course, all these machines are updated on the second Tuesday of every month and are current as of today. The last couple of months have been no problem. I turned off Automatic Updates long ago and decided to do them manually because we had fewer problems and we were able to "hide" or disable unwanted updates easier.
With MS moving to the larger/all-in-one "Cumulative updates" on Windows 7/8.1 in October we won't be able to disable individual updates as easy, but the updates should download much the same manually.
Hope this helps.
Grif
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Thanks for the input. I've been doing that for a long time already. The problem is updates and security patches never really download. They appear to be downloading but never do. I've let one patch download for over an hour with no result. The green download bar just keeps moving with no download taking place. I've never had this happen before.
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Here's the link. The Update Troubleshooter works for some while others have to perform the reset manually. Both options are given in the link.:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/971058
And remember, it IS possible to manually download each offline update installer by typing the KnowledgeBase number into Google, visiting the Security page, then downloading the offline installer and install it.
Hope this helps.
Grif
Post was last edited on August 30, 2016 10:47 AM PDT
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you can rename the software distribution folder and start all over. I can't give step-by-step from memory but that method is on the web and I did use it on one PC. However, I would highly recommend creating a complete image of your hard drive before doing such things. Windows keeps a database of already installed updates in that folder and the file gets huge. Windows reads that file during the update process as well and that, alone, can take time. What should happen if Windows update is working and that folder is renamed using the .old extension is to recreate the folder and start from scratch. You'd be able to use Windows Explorer during the update process to see if it was created as well as being able to view folders and files inside of it that were date stamped with the current date and time. If the folder was not created, some more serious problem likely exists.
As for waiting an entire hour, I've seen it take longer. During the period that MS was pushing its Windows 10 update program, I've sometimes needed to let Windows Update run overnight. Good luck with this one. I've fought with it more than once only to learn that an hour of being patient wasn't always enough.
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My solution to win7 getting stuck in updating is to give win7 more virtual memory: a memory swap file on its drive, where an ssd handles that swap file faster than an hdd.
My pc has 4096MB RAM (4GB). Go to Control Panel, (System and Security), System, Advanced system settings, tab Advanced, Performance Settings, tab Advanced, Virtual memory Change, remove the checkmark in front of Automatically manage paging file size for all drives, tick Custom Size, enter 8192 for Initial Size (8GB), and enter 16384 for Maximum Size (16GB), click Set, then click 3x OK.
After rebooting my pc win7 easily updates. Do not criticize Microsoft, but happily use its win7.
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Same here until May when mine also started the 90-100% constant CPU usage. I did manage to turn off the process and have since set 'Never check for updates' and disabled Windows Update on startup . Didn't really want to, but can't do much when the CPU is 100% while doing nothing. On mine, the problem process/service is 'wuaserv' . I found the following steps on some website and it worked. (If I later even opened the Windows Update window via Control Panel, the wuaserv process would start again, so I went the full route and disabled it.)
Task Manager --> Processes --> Show processes all users (checkbox on lower left)
Right-click svchost.exe --> Go to services
(then look for highlighted services on the screen that appears to see what is using all the CPU)
Right-click to 'stop service' on culprit service (in my case, wuaserv)
That dropped my CPU use to where it should be when idle ~ 0-2%
To disable the service,
Windows key + R --> run command window --> type 'services.msc' (no quotes) --> enter
Right-click culprit service --> Properties --> change startup type to disabled --> OK --> reboot
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