Pc hogged Windows Update

[RonH]

I am starting a separate thread to http://www.eileenslounge.com/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=22869 since my problem appears to differ, though this may be due to something I have done.
On my lady's Vista (sorry, still a Vista ) I sat waiting for the advised download; nothing showed so eventually I rebooted the pc. Windows Update then showed no downloads which suggests that they may possibly have been downloaded. I rebooted again in an attempt to 'see' the downloads but nothing except the download process was and is consuming some 50%of processor.

I think that I will have to stop 'whatever is going on' and start again. Are either of these options OK to try or do you suggest another approach:
1. Go back to the last Restore Point
2. Stop this process tree by rt clicking Windows Update/Stop Process Tree:

50% Processor Windows Update.jpg

[HansV]

You might try stopping and restarting the Windows Update service...

[RonH]

Tried that thanks Hans. Rebooted after restart and looked OK for some minutes but now its again popped up.

[HansV]

It appears to be a widespread problem - see windows update just seems to hang while checking. Not sure what to suggest...

[stuck]

..I sat waiting for the advised download...

How long did you wait? At it's worse on my Win 7 Starter Ed netbook I would leave it running overnight before the check for updates would find anything and then it would take most of the next day to download and finally install the updates.

Ken

[RonH]

Hei Ken,

I only let it run the Update checking for maybe two hours ... being impatient!
After a reboot the Windows Update said that there were no updates but my pc was at 50% processor. Left it for some hours, no change and no information. Since then I tried a Restore Point which did not solve and just now the Microsoft FixIt programme for Windows Update. This programme said that it had made some fixes, I rebooted and guess what ... looking at Processes in Task Manager the Windows Update is still running.

I am now out of ideas so may just resort to stopping the Windows Update process for the time being. I guess that it does not matter so much on the old Vista, which in any case is going to be 'let loose' in 2017 by Microsoft. We have both Malewarebytes and Avast installed so this should give some protection until I get around to getting the lady a new W10 machine. But she loves what she has and does not want to change ... who am I to argue

[RonH]

Run out of brain Windows Update is now stopped and the processor is very happy ... as is my lady since the pc is more speedy. No doubt when the pc is restarted the WU will also restart. Maybe the next load of updates will sort things out ... in the meantime

[RonH]

Just for info ...
I restarted Windows Update in Task Manager and finally ... after many hours ... WU advised that Updates were available to install. The install process was without drama. From searching around this seems to be a common problem with Vista/Windows 7 users and as yet without solution.

Next time around I will just have to be more patient