windows update just seems to hang while checking.

[Vista1972]

Windows Update is still telling me that no updates are available this morning but it's possible that a new definition set hasn't been released for the anti-spyware version of Windows Defender for Vista SP2 since my definitions were updated to v1.259.37.0 yesterday . Checking from inside Windows Defender at Help | Check for updates didn't find any new definitions either, so I'll post back after I've done some more testing.

Hello Imacri,

Both of my Vista machines updated today with Defender definition version: 1.259.37.0

No other updates were available as of 11:15 am (GMT -05:00) Eastern Time

 

[lmacri]

...I didn't experience this Windows Update error 80248015 but I know of one other Vista SP2 user that did. See Phil 1953's thread Windows Vista Update in the MS Answers forum - I'm posting there as user Great White North.

Good news. I ran Windows Update today and received the latest Definition Update for Windows Defender - KB915597 (Definition 1.259.172.0) so last week's glitch that Vista1972 described in post # 619 doesn't seem to have done any permanent damage to Windows Update on my Vista SP2 machine.

Just an FYI that Volume Z has already updated his download links on page 1 of peggybeggs' thread why has vista stopped automatic updates? for today's December 2017 Patch Tuesday updates. There were no new "speed up" patches released this month for my MS Office Compatibility Pack SP3 but there were patches released for Word 2007 and Word 2010 that will have to be pre-installed before running Windows Update if you were fully updated as of 11-Apr-2017 and have these MS Office products installed on your Vista SP2 machine.
------------
32-bit Vista Home Premium SP2 * Firefox ESR v52.5.2 * NS Premium v22.11.2.7 * MS Office 2003 Professional SP3

 

[erpster4]

try installing the latest win32k.sys update you can find.
KB4048970 should do the trick for Vista (unless there's a newer win32k.sys patch released). you'll have to manually download this yourself instead of letting WU or any other tool to do it.

 

[it0uchpods]

I did a WSUS Offline Update, Then installed KB4014661, KB4015195, and KB4015380. I got 78 updates from Windows Update with 15mins from searching. After that, Windows Update was once again stuck. I tried installing all the Windows Server 2008 Updates as well, but no improvement.

I tried installing KB4048970, but I get this update does not apply to your system, so I cannot advise if it works or not.

Kind Regards,
Josh

 

[Volume Z]

It's a misconception installing the very latest release of the update for Kernel-Mode Drivers will solve it all.

It's a misconception any version of a Windows update released after EOL is required to solve the issue. Also, KB4048970 has been superseded on January 9th.

I do have Office 2010 installed

You may be missing KB4011660 and KB4011659.

why has vista stopped automatic updates?

 

[it0uchpods]

Hi,
It's Office 2007 now, I prefer that version.

Same updates?

Kind Regards,
Josh

 

[Volume Z]

KB4011605, KB4011607, KB4011602 and KB4011657. Valid until next Patch Day...

 

[it0uchpods]

Got em, will try tonight and report.

Thanks,
Josh

 

[it0uchpods]

40 Updates found. Thank you!
That should be all of them, right? Since Vista and Office 2007 no longer receives patch Tuesday updates. I'll just continue installing the Server 2008 Updates.

Kind Regards,
Josh

 

[Volume Z]

Much to the surprise of many, including myself, Office 2007 has continued receiving security updates even after end of support. Also support for Compatibility Pack will officially continue until April 2018.

Regards, VZ

 

[tgp1994]

@Imacri I have a Vista system that has been experiencing this "stuck on searching for updates" bug for several months, maybe over a year at this point. My general google searching has just about failed me, until I decided to just open the vistax64 forums and see what people have been posting. Turns out that the most active topic in this subforum potentially has the answers I'm looking for.

So if I understand what you've been writing here correctly then, Windows Update on Vista is essentially "bricked" until a certain number of recent updates are installed (listed at the Microsoft Answers post here)?

 

[lmacri]

...So if I understand what you've been writing here correctly then, Windows Update on Vista is essentially "bricked" until a certain number of recent updates are installed (listed at the Microsoft Answers post here)?

Hi tgp1994:

Yes, the instructions on page 1 of m#l's thread Updates not working, it has been searching for updates for hours are still valid (Note: I post in the MS Answers forum as user Great White North). You will have to manually pre-install a small number of Windows kernel-mode (Win32K.sys) driver, graphics component and IE9 security updates listed in STEP # 2 of those instructions to fix the "Checking for updates..." hang if any of those recommended "speed up" patches are currently missing from your system. All credit goes to Dalai who originally proposed this solution back in June 2016 on his website at Search for Windows Updates takes forever? - A possible solution.

MS Office 2010, MS Office 2007 and/or the MS Office Compatibility Pack SP3 will now trigger the same "Checking for updates..." hang so you must pre-install additional "speed up" patches if any of these older Office products are installed on your Vista SP2 computer, even if Vista SP2 / IE9 is fully patched to April 2017 (i.e., the end of extended support for this OS). Fortunately, Volume Z maintains a list of required Office "speed up" patches on page 1 of peggybegg's thread why has vista stopped automatic updates? and revises that list every Patch Tuesday (the second Tuesday of the month) with any new Office updates that must be pre-installed to get Windows Update working again.
------------
32-bit Vista Home Premium SP2 * Firefox ESR v52.5.3 * NS Premium v22.11.2.7 * MS Office 2003 Professional SP3

 

[tgp1994]

Thank you, installing those updates as mentioned seems to have finally fixed this problem! You're doing amazing work here trying to spread that. Do you think you could get a post stickied in this forum that has the info in it?

 

[lmacri]

Hi tgp1994:

Thanks for the feedback, and glad to hear the instructions on page 1 of m#l's thread Updates not working, it has been searching for updates for hours got Windows Update working again.

Now that you're patched to April 2017 (i.e., the end of extended support for Vista SP2) be sure to read the supplemental thread More Shadow Brokers Exploits Patched June 2017 for Win XP and Vista about five emergency out-of-band security updates for Vista SP2 in that were released in June 2017. These updates will patch vulnerabilities for the NSA-leaked exploits EnglishmanDentist, EsteemAudit and ExplodingCan and were not delivered to Vista SP2 machines via Windows Update, so standalone .msu installers must be downloaded from the Microsoft Update Catalog and installed manually.

I'm not sure what the process is for getting posts pinned at the top of this board but I assume one of the forum moderators would have to be involved. There are several other users in this thread who ran monthly tests of Dalai's suggested "speed up" patches each Patch Tuesday and provided important feedback dating all the way back to August 2015 when reports of these slow Windows Updates first appeared, but I'd be happy to compile a summary that includes a link to my step-by-step instructions <here> if one of the mods would be willing to pin it at the top of this VistaForums board.
------------
32-bit Vista Home Premium SP2 * Firefox ESR v52.5.3 * NS Premium v22.11.2.7 * MS Office 2003 Professional SP3

 

[lmacri]

...Do you think you could get a post stickied in this forum that has the info in it?

Just an FYI that I've written a FAQ about these "Checking for updates..." hangs at How to Fix Vista SP2 "Checking for Updates..." Hangs and Slow Windows Updates and forum admin Brink has kindly pinned that post at the top of this Windows Update board. That FAQ has been locked and I've requested that readers who need further assistance either post their questions here in ScousaJAY's thread (or start their own topic) so that users aren't cross-posting in multiple threads.
------------
32-bit Vista Home Premium SP2 * Firefox ESR v52.6.0 * NS Premium v22.11.2.7 * MS Office 2003 Professional SP3

 

[tgp1994]

Splendid, thank you again for your hard work Imacri!

 

[erpster4]

It's a misconception installing the very latest release of the update for Kernel-Mode Drivers will solve it all.

It's a misconception any version of a Windows update released after EOL is required to solve the issue. Also, KB4048970 has been superseded on January 9th.



You may be missing KB4011660 and KB4011659.

why has vista stopped automatic updates?

mostly true when installing Vista from scratch (a fresh or clean install of Vista) and installing only the newest win32k.sys patch alone does not directly solve the WU problem. that still requires installing the other "Kernel" updates (updated advapi32.dll, gdi32.dll, NTOSKRNL, kernel32.dll, shell32.dll, user32.dll along with the Vista platform updates) before installing the newest win32k.sys patch.

KB4048970 has been superseded by KB4056944.

I manually install the old Vista Updates using LDRInstaller to install the LDR (or QFE) branch of the updates instead of the normal GDR branch.

It's too bad M$ did not bother updating the WU client for Vista like they did for Win7 with KB3172605 & Win8.1 with KB3172614. a newer WU agent/client app greater than v7.6.7600.256 would have been a more permanent solution to the problem.

Edit 1/31: On my Vista Ultimate x64 laptop (an old Dell Inspiron e1405 laptop) I was missing the latest user32.dll fix - KB3205638. Installed that one along with KB4012583, KB4014793, KB4056941 (KB4015380 is superseded/replaced by KB4056941), KB4056944 (KB4015195 is replaced by KB4056944) and for KB4056568 for IE9 [supersedes KB4041661] and a fresh WU scan took about half an hour to show available Vista updates.

 

[Volume Z]

Hi erpster4,

the list of Security Updates providing inapplicability of KB3087039, KB3185911, KB3191203 and KB4015195 does not include KB4014793...

 

[townsbg]

WU isn't finding any new updates on 2008 now. I haven't updated since November. Have there been any released since then?

 

[lmacri]

WU isn't finding any new updates on 2008 now. I haven't updated since November. Have there been any released since then?

Hi townsbg:

Extended support for Vista SP2 ended on 11-Apr-2017 and there will be no further security updates released for Vista SP2 and IE9 via Windows Update after this date (see the Microsoft support article Windows Vista Support Has Ended for more information) but if Windows Update is working correctly it should still run to completion and find available security updates for other Microsoft products that are still supported like MS Office 2007, etc., assuming that Windows Update | Change Settings | Microsoft Update | Give me updates for Microsoft products and check for new optional Microsoft software when I update Windows is enabled.

Here's what was installed on my system when I ran a manual Windows Update on 10-Jan-2018 after installing the latest "speed up" patches for my MS Office Compatibility Pack SP3 add-on (KB4011605 and KB4011607, both released 09-Jan-2018 - see Volume Z's list of Office "speed up" patches on page 1 of peggybeggs' thread why has vista stopped automatic updates? ) for the January 2018 Patch Tuesday :


------------
32-bit Vista Home Premium SP2 * Firefox ESR v52.6.0 * NS Premium v22.12.0.104 * MS Office 2003 Professional SP3
HP Pavilion dv6835ca, Intel Core2Duo T5550 @ 1.83 GHz, 3 GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS