Problems with Windows Update with new laptop running Win 7 Professional
July 19, 2016 5:50 AM Subscribe
A new HP Probook 470 G3 that came loaded with Windows 7 Professional: Windows Update process gets hung in "Downloading updates...." with nothing ever coming down or getting installed (0 KB total, 0% complete).
Hi Guys:
I have a new HP Probook 470 G3 that came loaded with Windows 7 Professional and a license and reboot disk for Windows 10. I'm holding off on Windows 10 as I'd prefer to let the kinks get worked out first (and Windows 7 Professional is more than adequate for now).
Here's the problem: when I first unpacked and set up the machine a week ago, one of the first things I tried to do was run Windows Update. It seemed to hang in the download process, and I gave up after a number of hours. Early this morning, I connected to the web to try again: same problem. I've tried running it in small batches (e.g., just Securities Essentials updates), and get the same result.
Note: when I replaced the hard drive in my Dell mini-tower a couple of months ago, I had a similar problem after reinstalling Windows 7 Ultimate. In that case, downloads were in fact coming through as, after a while, a click on the Startup button revealed the little shield next to the shut down button (even though the Windows Update process seemed hung up). The solution was to cancel the Windows Update process; reboot to install whatever had come through; and return to Windows Update. I kept repeating this process until I caught up with more recent updates, after which point Windows Update functioned normally.
With the laptop, however, the system does not seem to pull anything down at all.
A web search indicates that there have been problems with Windows Update in Win 7, but I have not found any definitive explanations or solutions for it.
Any ideas?
Note: general web access and software downloads for other things (e.g., CCleaner, Malwarebytes) work fine so there does not appear to be a connection problem.
For what it's worth, the laptop -- for now at least -- will not be routinely connected to the web. I've shut off the wireless antenna and intend to use a hard wired Ethernet connection for periodic connections to run Windows Update and what-not. The point here is that security risks are probably minimal. (The Windows firewall and Security Essentials antivirus are up and running, although the Security Essentials virus definitions are probably not up to date as a result of the Win Update problem.)
Thanks!
Hi Guys:
I have a new HP Probook 470 G3 that came loaded with Windows 7 Professional and a license and reboot disk for Windows 10. I'm holding off on Windows 10 as I'd prefer to let the kinks get worked out first (and Windows 7 Professional is more than adequate for now).
Here's the problem: when I first unpacked and set up the machine a week ago, one of the first things I tried to do was run Windows Update. It seemed to hang in the download process, and I gave up after a number of hours. Early this morning, I connected to the web to try again: same problem. I've tried running it in small batches (e.g., just Securities Essentials updates), and get the same result.
Note: when I replaced the hard drive in my Dell mini-tower a couple of months ago, I had a similar problem after reinstalling Windows 7 Ultimate. In that case, downloads were in fact coming through as, after a while, a click on the Startup button revealed the little shield next to the shut down button (even though the Windows Update process seemed hung up). The solution was to cancel the Windows Update process; reboot to install whatever had come through; and return to Windows Update. I kept repeating this process until I caught up with more recent updates, after which point Windows Update functioned normally.
With the laptop, however, the system does not seem to pull anything down at all.
A web search indicates that there have been problems with Windows Update in Win 7, but I have not found any definitive explanations or solutions for it.
Any ideas?
Note: general web access and software downloads for other things (e.g., CCleaner, Malwarebytes) work fine so there does not appear to be a connection problem.
For what it's worth, the laptop -- for now at least -- will not be routinely connected to the web. I've shut off the wireless antenna and intend to use a hard wired Ethernet connection for periodic connections to run Windows Update and what-not. The point here is that security risks are probably minimal. (The Windows firewall and Security Essentials antivirus are up and running, although the Security Essentials virus definitions are probably not up to date as a result of the Win Update problem.)
Thanks!
This is a fix I've used with success.
Also, sometimes if I disable many of the updates and only do a chunk at a time, it seems to help it along.
posted by getawaysticks at 6:47 AM on July 19, 2016
Also, sometimes if I disable many of the updates and only do a chunk at a time, it seems to help it along.
posted by getawaysticks at 6:47 AM on July 19, 2016
See this.
The way it was explained to me, Windows Update has a limited number of patches it can manage, and Win 7 just exceeded that number. The only real solution is to install a "wrapup" update, which resets the number of patches being managed.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 6:59 AM on July 19, 2016
The way it was explained to me, Windows Update has a limited number of patches it can manage, and Win 7 just exceeded that number. The only real solution is to install a "wrapup" update, which resets the number of patches being managed.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 6:59 AM on July 19, 2016
By the way, I don't think Microsoft is particularly eager to make this easy to fix, because upgrading to Win 10 also fixes it.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 7:03 AM on July 19, 2016
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 7:03 AM on July 19, 2016
This happened to me when I restored my desktop. I can't remember which sites I looked at while researching this issue, but the only solution I found that worked for me was to wait it out. I started the update process (using small batches of updates) and ignored it for the rest of the day and overnight. When I woke up it was done. I went through this process several times, until all the updates were loaded.
posted by rakaidan at 7:06 AM on July 19, 2016
posted by rakaidan at 7:06 AM on July 19, 2016
Worked for me: Early results look promising: the many-hours-long Win7 waits may be behind us. The author wrote that headline about a month ago. His advice hasn't changed.
posted by Homer42 at 7:25 AM on July 19, 2016
posted by Homer42 at 7:25 AM on July 19, 2016
I ran into this last month with my 3 W7 systems and did a lot of research. Used GWX to close up the holes, though I'd already blocked the 10 updates by KB numbers. Simplest fix instructions here. It is kept updated monthly, which is good because this is an ongoing issue not a one-and-done fix.
posted by monopas at 7:33 PM on July 19, 2016
posted by monopas at 7:33 PM on July 19, 2016
Also, I have turned off any checking for updates because the constant 25% CPU load was causing all the laptop fans to scream and giving me headaches. Also, killing my laptops.
posted by monopas at 7:39 PM on July 19, 2016
posted by monopas at 7:39 PM on July 19, 2016
Response by poster: Thanks folks!
I tried getawaysticks' suggestion:
Click the start button and type in services.msc
Stop the Windows Update Service.
Delete the contents of the C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution folder
Start the Windows Update Service.
Try Windows Update again.
but in my case it didn't make a difference.
I did discover on the laptop an HP utility, HP Softpaq Download Manager, for running software updates for device drivers and "critical' Microsoft operating system components. (There is also an HP Software Setup utility that seems less comprehensive than HP Softpaq Download Manager, but looks like a decent tool for period checks on hardware device driver updates.)
This may be a coincidence (and I'm guessing is), but after running the HP Softpaq Download Manager which updated various device drivers as well as some unspecific Microsoft Windows 7 Professional components, Windows Updates began to make very slow progress. As time went by and bits came down (as indicated by the shield on Start => Shutdown), I periodically cut out of Windows Update; rebooted; and re-engaged with Windows Update.
Windows Update ran overnight, and by 6 AM most important updates had come down. By about 7:30 I had the updates on the updates as well as the optional updates done, and was caught up.
And, yes, spacewrench, I will be migrating to Windows 10 on both the mini-tower and the new laptop. I just haven't had time to read the Que guide, Windows 10 In Depth, to prepare for what little extras our Microsoft friends have added that I might want to know about.
I'm sure I'd be fine without reading the book first, but I'm just that kind of gal. (When my neighbor was surprised a few weeks back when Microsoft automatically updated her Windows 7 Home and came to my door in a panic, I checked the setup and think I caught most of the "Microsoft-wants-to-see-your-stuff-thank-you-very-much" holes.)
As to the Windows 7 Update problem, I had never run into it before replacing the hard drive in the mini-tower as described above; checking Windows Update weekly has long been part of my routine computer maintenance process so it is possible I never had enough of a backlog of updates to run into much trouble.
Many thanks again for all your help and suggestions!
posted by cool breeze at 2:42 PM on July 20, 2016
I tried getawaysticks' suggestion:
Click the start button and type in services.msc
Stop the Windows Update Service.
Delete the contents of the C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution folder
Start the Windows Update Service.
Try Windows Update again.
but in my case it didn't make a difference.
I did discover on the laptop an HP utility, HP Softpaq Download Manager, for running software updates for device drivers and "critical' Microsoft operating system components. (There is also an HP Software Setup utility that seems less comprehensive than HP Softpaq Download Manager, but looks like a decent tool for period checks on hardware device driver updates.)
This may be a coincidence (and I'm guessing is), but after running the HP Softpaq Download Manager which updated various device drivers as well as some unspecific Microsoft Windows 7 Professional components, Windows Updates began to make very slow progress. As time went by and bits came down (as indicated by the shield on Start => Shutdown), I periodically cut out of Windows Update; rebooted; and re-engaged with Windows Update.
Windows Update ran overnight, and by 6 AM most important updates had come down. By about 7:30 I had the updates on the updates as well as the optional updates done, and was caught up.
And, yes, spacewrench, I will be migrating to Windows 10 on both the mini-tower and the new laptop. I just haven't had time to read the Que guide, Windows 10 In Depth, to prepare for what little extras our Microsoft friends have added that I might want to know about.
I'm sure I'd be fine without reading the book first, but I'm just that kind of gal. (When my neighbor was surprised a few weeks back when Microsoft automatically updated her Windows 7 Home and came to my door in a panic, I checked the setup and think I caught most of the "Microsoft-wants-to-see-your-stuff-thank-you-very-much" holes.)
As to the Windows 7 Update problem, I had never run into it before replacing the hard drive in the mini-tower as described above; checking Windows Update weekly has long been part of my routine computer maintenance process so it is possible I never had enough of a backlog of updates to run into much trouble.
Many thanks again for all your help and suggestions!
posted by cool breeze at 2:42 PM on July 20, 2016
This thread is closed to new comments.
Are you sure you wouldn't like to upgrade to Windows 10? I hope we haven't annoyed you with this message. We're only going to ask you just this one last time. Unless the adoption numbers don't improve, then we might have to ask you again, or just schedule the update and surprise you...
posted by spacewrench at 6:33 AM on July 19, 2016 [1 favorite]