windows update just seems to hang while checking.

[lmacri]

I saw no improvement when I tried to install this month's September 2015 Patch Tuesday updates for Vista. I ran a manual Windows Update on 10-Sep-2015 and got stuck at Checking for updates... for 40 min before WU reported that 1 recommended and 14 important updates were available for download. The entire update process, including downloads and installs, took just over one hour.

Here's what the CPU consumption looked like for my 10-Sep-2015 Windows Update, with:

• "Checking for updates..." running for 40 min between the 73 and 33 min marks (with svchost.exe saturating one of my cores and constantly consuming 50% of CPU between 60 and 33 min marks)
• Downloads, installs and monthly Malicious Software Removal scan between 33 and 13 min marks
• Re-boot to finish installation (dark grey band) at 8 min mark

------------
32-bit Vista Home Premium SP2 * Firefox 40.0.3 * NIS 2014 v. 21.7.0.11
HP Pavilion dv6835ca, Intel Core2Duo T5550 @ 1.83 GHz, 3 GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS

 

[poorguy]

ever since windows 10 came out i have had to wait on windows updates and after doing a complete install of vista basic i had to wait for 2 days before i even received any updates. i believe that there servers are all focused on windows 10 and they couldn't give a rats ass about anyone that is still using vista. it is also the same way with windows 7 so you are just going to have to wait and they will download to you.

this is why i am moving away from microsoft windows. i did the windows 10 upgrade and all my updates and everything was right on cue and no waiting.

 

[Vistaar]

I normally let Windows check for updates automatically (but not download and install them). On September 8, the automatic check had occurred several hours before the updates became available, so I later checked for updates manually. The check took 25 minutes, the entire update process took nearly an hour.

 

[poorguy]

yeah after i did my last vista install i just let it set for a few days and all of the sudden it had and still is getting all of its updates. i believe that since the release of windows 10 that all priority is focused on it and they don't care about vista.

 

[poorguy]

well no more updates and an almost perfect install only had 1 update fail kb3073921 and don't care because i am almost 100% that it will fail again and then i will have 2 failed. i used to be able to get 100% on these updates and now i don't know why some of them fail other than lack of update maintenance on microsofts part due to failure to keep their site maintained due to not giving a damn.
i know microsoft would love to see vista go and be gone for good when it does get removed from its life support. i have always had only minimal issues with vista and will use it until it is no longer supported. and will also do the same with windows 7 and then migrate to linux which i use now.

life is good.
the poorguy

 

[Vistaar]

Well the entire update process took only about 20 minutes today, and the check for updates was complete within 4 minutes. On the other hand, it was a relatively small Patch Tuesday (only half as many updates as August). I guess the rush to download Windows 10 must be winding down now.

 

[lmacri]

Well the entire update process took only about 20 minutes today, and the check for updates was complete within 4 minutes. On the other hand, it was a relatively small Patch Tuesday (only half as many updates as August). I guess the rush to download Windows 10 must be winding down now.

Hi Vistaar:

I observed the same improvement for this month's October 2015 Patch Tuesday updates on my Vista machine. I ran a manual Windows Update today (14-Oct-2015) and Checking for updates... was completed in under 10 min before it reported that 1 recommended and 7 important updates (including 2 security updates for MS Office) were available for download. The entire update process took about 25 min using a 5 MB/sec internet connection.

The image below for CPU consumption for my October 2015 Patch Tuesday updates shows:

• Beginning of "Checking for updates..." at 60 min mark
• Re-boot to finish installation (dark grey band) around 45 min mark

 

[poorguy]

yes i agree i think the rush for windows 10 has somewhat slowed down for awhile for now.
i let my computers download and i have my settings to where i choose when and what updates are to be installed.

i did the windows 10 upgrade but after that i unplugged it and it is sitting on the floor in my shop / office where if i need to use it i will already have it. but for now it is where it will do the best.
i will stay with vista till MS buries it.

life is good.
the poorguy

 

[Cammygirl192]

Actually, my computer also hung when checking for updates straight after installing Service Pack 2, and is fine now, for some reason.
I had all the updates for SP1 before upgrading (except useless junk like Windows Live Essentials).

Probably, because it is trying to do about 160-odd updates after SP2 installed, it is hanging. Try letting it autoupdate at a certain time every day (default set to Every day at 3am) and it should be fine.

 

[Mooly]

This is how I got a super clean install last time around,
http://www.vistax64.com/general-dis...e-think-ms-really-do-want-kill-off-vista.html

 

[ilikefree]

A lot of Windows update problems can be fixed by following the following steps

Go to start search box and type

cmd
Right click and select run as administrator

In the box that opens type

net stop wuauserv

press enter

type

ren c:\windows\softwaredistribution sd.old

press enter

type

net start wuauserv

press enter

restart computer

Windows updates are kept in a folder called Software Distribution
This series of commands stops Windows update service
Renames the software distribution folder to softwaredistribution.old
restarts the Windows update service

When you restart the computer the software distribution folder is recreated.
Windows will look again for updates

 

[Vistaar]

I'm afraid this issue went retrograde this month, at least in my case. The check for updates took 22 minutes, which was nearly as long as the September Windows updates. I decided I would rather eat lunch than time the downloading and installing phase, but at least it was requesting a restart by the time I got back.

 

[ilikefree]

Sound like they got installed then

 

[lmacri]

I'm afraid this issue went retrograde this month, at least in my case. The check for updates took 22 minutes, which was nearly as long as the September Windows updates. I decided I would rather eat lunch than time the downloading and installing phase, but at least it was requesting a restart by the time I got back.

Hi Vistaar:

I also observed that this month's November 2015 Patch Tuesday updates seemed to hang on "Checking for updates..." again. I ran a manual Windows Update today (11-Nov-2015) that delivered another large batch of updates on my 32-bit Vista machine (14 important updates, including 2 for .NET Framework and 3 for MS Office). The "Checking for updates..." phase ran for 40 min and the entire update process, including downloads, installs and the monthly Malicious Software Removal Tool scan, took about one hour.

Here's what the CPU consumption looked like for my November 2015 Patch Tuesday update, with:

• "Checking for updates..." running for 40 min between the 75 and 35 min marks (with svchost.exe saturating one of my cores and constantly consuming 50% of CPU for 30 min between the 65 and 35 min marks)
• Downloads, installs and Malicious Software Removal Tool scan between the 35 and 20 min marks
• Re-boot to finish installation (dark grey band) at the 15 min mark

------------
32-bit Vista Home Premium SP2 * Firefox v42.0 * NIS (2014) v21.7.0.11
HP Pavilion dv6835ca, Intel Core2Duo T5550 @ 1.83 GHz, 3 GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS

 

[Mooly]

I had the same problem as earlier, CPU pegged at 100% for around 20 minutes until the update check completed.

If MS are stuck for bandwidth/server capacity then why not put older systems on a different schedule, say last Tuesday in the month.

 

[TwilightRavens]

I am also having a similar problem, I just reinstalled Vista yesterday. I've installed Vista hundreds of times before and never had this problem before, Trying the WSUS client to see if that fixes it.



Edit: I also noticed when i try to update Internet Explorer to IE9, it also doesn't want to install. I don't know if that's linked to anything or not.

 

[ilikefree]

I installed windows 7 64bit with service pack 1 on a computer for someone last night, 214 updates took most of the night and still had 2 to do this morning. All good though, got it done and they were very happy.

 

[Cammygirl192]

ever since windows 10 came out i have had to wait on windows updates and after doing a complete install of vista basic i had to wait for 2 days before i even received any updates. i believe that there servers are all focused on windows 10 and they couldn't give a rats ass about anyone that is still using vista. it is also the same way with windows 7 so you are just going to have to wait and they will download to you.

this is why i am moving away from microsoft windows. i did the windows 10 upgrade and all my updates and everything was right on cue and no waiting.

Windows 10 forces you to upgrade, meaning you'll lose everything just because of KB54369231 (Security Update for Microsoft Edge x86 Version) or some other thing.

I hate how MS are so lazy about Vista, yet they promote the **** out of 8.1 despite it being a shell of Vista with other stuff, conning the public. I should open up a site about saving Windows Vista, but MS would take no notice and instead gloat how 8.1 is the best and Vista sucks, while knowing 8.1 is Vista.

 

[ilikefree]

You can remove the Windows 10 notification and any downloaded files and other associated bits with the small program included in this zip folder View attachment 29222

 

[lmacri]

Bad news. I had major problems with the December 2015 Patch Tuesday updates on my 32-bit Vista machine today. Not only did Windows Update get stuck on "Checking for updates..." for one hour (much longer than what I've observed since August 2015), but I also received an error message stating "Updates were not configured correctly. Reverting changes. Please do not turn off your computer" after my machine was re-booted. Seven updates for Vista and IE were rolled back and marked as Failed.

Screenshots and further details are posted in Nikilet's thread Updates were not configured correctly, who also reported similar update failures for this month's Patch Tuesday Updates.

If you haven't tried running your December 2015 updates yet, I'd suggest trying to install updates in smaller batches this month and not try to install all available updates in a single update session.
------------
32-bit Vista Home Premium SP2 * Firefox 42.0 * NIS 2014 v. 21.7.0.11
HP Pavilion dv6835ca, Intel Core2Duo T5550 @ 1.83 GHz, 3 GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS