Is anyone else experiencing problems with Windows Update?

[John Gray]

I'm finding that it is taking literally HOURS (and a significant number of these) for Windows Updates to Check for Updates and Download updates for a couple of laptops which haven't been connected to the internet for six months or so. Almost no CPU usage, and minimal Bytes per second Received...

[StuartR]

No issues here, but I don't have any PCs that have been disconnected for that long

[John Gray]

Hmmm - I'm waiting to download 56 updates (283 MB) on one machine...

[stuck]

WU taking ages is a known issue but it doesn't affect everyone. Woody has something fairly recent on it here:
http://www.askwoody.com/2016/the-window ... r-problem/

As far as I know stuckling2's Win 7 Home Prem. laptop is fine but my Win 7 Starter Ed. netbook has to be left checking for updates at least overnight (and on one occasion well into the next day) before it tells me how many updates are waiting. This doesn't bother me as this netbook is not essential to me so I just it let take as long as it needs.

I could try installing whatever the latest patch is that's supposed to fix this issue but I strongly suspect if I do that I'll infect the machine with 'Get Win 10' and I'm not going to risk that.

Ken

[John Gray]

It seemed to speed up somewhat this afternoon, and I managed eventually to get all the updates to, well, update. But that's well over 24 hours since I started!

[JoeP]

According to Microsoft MVP Susan Bradley you should install Windows Update Client for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2: March 2016 or Windows Update Client for Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2: March 2016 depending on your OS.

Joe

[John Gray]

Thanks, Joe! I've just tried to install this fix on my 64-bit Windows 7 Pro PC, and find it's already been installed. I would expect that it's also on all my other PCs, but will check.

[stuck]

KB3138612 wasn't listed on my Win 7 Starter Ed netbook so I checked for updates at about 3:00pm yesterday. When I went to bed around 23:00 it was still checking for updates. This morning I found it had finally checked for updates at about 23:30. It then took about another 3 hours to download and install the 21 Important updates, one of which was KB3138612.

I will be pleasantly surprised if it cures the problem but given that John reported he already had it and yet still was less than happy at the speed of WU I'm not confident that I'll see any change when I next run WU at the end of April.

Ken

[stuck]

Woody has a new post about this issue:
http://www.askwoody.com/2016/possible-f ... ate-scans/

Ken

[John Gray]

I've had to reinstall a Windows 7 SP1 laptop from scratch, with the first tranche of patches comprising 221. The total number after repeated running of Windows Update was well over 300.

Curiously, Windows update appeared to do nothing at all for over two hours. Rebooting and restarting caused the updates to happen quite regularly - less than three hours.

[viking33]

I reluctantly have to join the list of users with Windows 7 Update problems.
Checking for Updates ran on and on forever.
Had to use Task Manager to stop it "running."
Windows Troubleshooter for Updates would not run at all.
Downloaded the "Fix-it Tool and tried to run it and it came back and said it couldn't find the file?
Read Woodies blurb and I matched it almost line for line with the problems found on my machine. ?????
I suppose I'll try a few of the other suggested fixes and see what happens.
Not a happy camper regarding MS these days!

Thought I would add this"error message."

BS.JPG

[viking33]

After making the last post I found, buried under a lot of other screens, yet another copy of "Fix-it."
SO what the H***, I ran that. It went through many checking this and that, like registry keys and Store data, etc, etc. I thought possibly it may have actually done something.
This is the last screen it displayed.

BS2.JPG

Didn't explain WHY it did not fix things.

[DaveA]

We have not had any errors just the fact that it takes forever to find the new updates and then installs as normal.
This happened on all 4 of our Windows 7 machines, but not on my 8.1 or 10 machines.

[PJ_in_FL]

My computer went through an update today and now I get the totally blank Excel screen when I click to open an Excel file from Explorer, Access has amnesia toward what file types it supports, and Outlook is STILL SLOW

Turning off hardware accelerator (as some posts suggest) didn't correct the Excel issue. I'm considering using the Office Repair function that the MS person recommends.

Just shoot me! It'd be less painful!!!!

[HansV]

About Excel: check File > Options > Advanced > General section > Ignore other applications that use Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE). Make sure that this check box is clear (not ticked),

[viking33]

So far, still no success after trying some of the "fixes?"
Since it seems like there a lot of people out there who are experiencing this phenomenon, you would think there would be a real fix available?

[John Gray]

There is always the cynical view that the recent slowness of Window 7 updates may be a cunning ploy to get people to move over to Windows 10...

[viking33]

There is always the cynical view that the recent slowness of Window 7 updates may be a cunning ploy to get people to move over to Windows 10...

Yes. I have heard that one, John.

[viking33]

There is always the cynical view that the recent slowness of Window 7 updates may be a cunning ploy to get people to move over to Windows 10...

Yes. I have heard that one, John.

Scanning around various Windows Forums and help sites, etc., I found this post which seems to echo MANY users feelings:

------------------------------------
Understand, a new OS was released. When VISTA was released, XP updates had problems, Windows 10 is released and Windows 7 starts having problems. Root cause is that Microsoft provisions their premium resources to what they are promoting to be their more relevant OS, then they tell us to look at the problems with Windows 7 but also make sure to point out how great things are with Windows 10. The Microsoft solution:

If you have problems with Windows 7, then upgrade to Windows 10.
-------------------------------------

Many responses to these complaints were the usual ones and said I fixed it! Not true it seems.

My reaction is WHY doesn't Microsoft itself come out with a REAL answer to these problems?

[John Gray]

Surely the Windows updates for all versions of Windows should carry on like they used to before - unless some changes are made to the download mechanism?

I've just tried to download updates on a laptop [which had been reimaged from one which hadn't been updated for some time and had Office 2003 on] since lunchtime yesterday, left it overnight, found a reboot had occurred, and then that there were 58 updates, about half of which Office 2010 [which I'd installed instead of Office 2003]. It is quite happily downloading and installing them as I type.