Windows Vista SP2 Fresh Install - Windows Update doesn't work?

[ZakO]

Hi,

I hadn't touched Vista since Windows 7 came out but I've recently done a fresh install for someone (Vista SP2). Everything went okay, until I tried to run Windows Update, which just outright refuses to find updates no matter what I try. 

Upon first boot I opened windows update, "Windows update needs to update", okay... that works fine, it updates the Windows Update Agent from 7.6.7600.226 to the latest 7.6.7600.256. However, when you actually scan for updates after doing this it just sits at "checking for updates..." for hours with update service taking 100% of one core. 

I've tried manually updating the Windows Agent, running the Microsoft Windows update 'fixit' thing, stopping/starting the service, and doing a second fresh install, but nothing made any difference.

I've tested the hardware (HDD, Memory) and there were no faults. Does anyone have any ideas on how to fix it? Thanks in advance.

[Jim K Global Moderator]

See if the following is working:

a. Click on Start, click Run, type services.msc in the Open text box, and then click OK.
b. Locate Windows Update.
c. Right click on the service and select Properties.
d. In Start-up type, select Enable.
e. Click Start under Service status.
f. Click OK.
g. Repeat the steps “c to f” for the following services also: 
Background Intelligent Transfer Service
Cryptographic Services

 

 Troubleshoot problems with installing updates (FixIt).  FixIt usually "fixes it".  Now the update process can take a long time searching for updates since it is a fresh install.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-vista/Troubleshoot-problems-with-installing-updates

You can also take a look at this article which may help.  http://www.wintips.org/windows-update-cannot-check-for-updates-windows-8-7-or-vista-solved/

or..

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/2700567/

 

 

[ZakO]

Thanks for the reply, all the services are already running and I had previously tried the fixit script(s) with no luck, I've left it "checking for updates..." for hours. 

It's not actually giving any error messages like in the 1st link you provided, it just gets stuck on "checking for updates...". I tried a lot of the stuff in the links anyway but still nothing. 

Almost tempted to just install Windows 7 with a spare license I have because I've wasted hours trying to get this working.

Edited August 27, 2015 by ZakO

[ZakO]

I did a fresh install of Windows 7 SP1... and that won't update either , same thing, stuck on "Checking for updates..." for the last 2 hours. I'm confused. 

The HDD has no bad sectors, memtest reports no memory errors, the network works fine (~80/20mbps), everything else installs/works on the laptop perfectly fine, but WIndows update won't work . Any other ideas?

[c.grz]

What does C:\Windows\WindowsUpdate.log say?

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/gp/windows-update-issues/en-us

Is this the Fix it "thing" you used?

[ZakO]

Here's the WindowsUpdate.log dump:

http://pastebin.com/raw.php?i=7SUsKjSh

There seems to be a few errors, but searching about them didn't really find much.

 

Edit: Yeah, I tried that fixit.

Edited August 27, 2015 by ZakO

[Ian W]

I recently experienced a similar issue with a fresh installation of Windows Vista SP2. I tried the fix-it tool, updated to the latest version of the Windows Update Agent, ran sfc /scannow from an elevated command prompt, but none of these things solved the issue that I had in that I was stuck on "checking for updates..." Ultimately I just decided to restart and wait for all of the updates (177!) to appear.

Have you tried CheckSUR? I should note that it did not work for me when I had issues (it also hung), so perhaps you should try to wait for the "checking for updates..." message to finish and only use CheckSUR as a last resort? As I said, my update process unfortunately required patience, so my advice would be to wait it out if none of the listed suggestions work for you. Perhaps this could be done overnight or something.

[Astra.Xtreme]

I'm going to ask a really stupid question because I've had this happen before, but is the time and date set correctly?

I've fresh installed Win 7 before and it refused to install updates due to the date and time being out of sync.
I imagine you have that covered, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to ask.

[+Warwagon MVC]

Also look at this

[+Warwagon MVC]

As for the checking for updates, for me it sits there A LONG TIME. Last time I checked for updates I had it sit there for an hour.. Finally it came back with 180 updates. Just walk away it will eventually finish.

[DemonicHawk]

I recently did a clean install of windows server 2008 r2 and had a similar problem, stuck at "Checking for updates.." for HOURS at 100% CPU and RAM (it only had 2GB though). I just left it alone and I think it eventually prompted me to install the ~110 updates or so after 4-6 hours.

[Jim K Global Moderator]

Yea, I would just give it time.  Fresh installs of Vista/7 can take awhile to come back with updates.  Forgot (and haven't tried) that Dot Net Frame Work ... though I did find it interesting when it was posted.

[+Warwagon MVC]

sounds like the XP issue all over again.

[ZakO]

Thanks for all the replies, I'll leave it "checking for updates..." overnight and see if anything has happened by morning. I had previously left it for 3 hours and nothing happened, but perhaps it just needed even longer .

Have you tried CheckSUR? I should note that it did not work for me when I had issues (it also hung), but YMMV. As I said, the update process unfortunately required patience, so my advice would be to wait it out of none of the listed suggestions work for you. Perhaps this could be done overnight or something?

I did try CheckSUR on the Vista install, but not on the 7 install (which exhibits the same problem on the laptop). I'll try this on the 7 install if nothing has happened by morning.

I'm going to ask a really stupid question because I've had this happen before, but is the time and date set correctly?

I've fresh installed Win 7 before and it refused to install updates due to the date and time being out of sync.
I imagine you have that covered, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to ask.

Yeah, the time is set correctly. I've actually had that problem in the past too so it was one of the first things I checked.

[ZakO]

Okay, I left it overnight and after nearly 6 hours it finally decided to display a list of updates. That's crazy, what could Windows Update possibly be doing that it can take 6+ hours to display a list of ~150 required updates, and not even show any useful visual feedback on a task that can potentially take that long. 

Thanks for the advice everyone, without it I would probably still be testing things thinking Windows Update was broken, rather than it just being a POS

[The Evil Overlord]

it might have something to do with https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1270618-level3-suffering-major-outages-effects-are-felt-worldwide/#comment-597004616 <-- this

I'm not saying it does, but the problem you were experiencing might not be your hardware

 

also have you tried deleting everything that is deletable from C.Windows>software distribution>download?

[ReddCurrlz]

I have the same problem since I updated to Vista SP2. Windows Update has been running for almost 24 hours and still nothing <sigh>. I've done all the aforementioned things, but to no avail. It also says there's NEVER been any updates. <SMH>

 

What is wrong with my computer????

[phansen]

I've just completed this process and wanted to share my experience.  I started with a fresh install of Vista Business 64-bit with SP2 on an old Dell computer.  After reading this advice I let it run for two days before giving up.  Then I downloaded and installed the .NET framework and IE9 as mentioned.  I started checking for updates again and decided to leave it.  After almost 3 days (67 hours!) it has now finally found the updates and is installing them.  This is a dual core machine and one core was running the entire time.  Throughout the process I periodically checked task manager to confirm that the svchost.exe process was still doing something.  I can't image why it needed to spend 67 hours checking for updates, but eventually it did finish.

[erpster3]

it's a major flaw with the outdated Windows Update Agent/Client application for Windows Vista having problems checking for 250+ worth of post-SP2 updates for Windows Vista, phansen.  The last version of the WUA for Vista is v7.6.7600.256 dated 6/2/2012 and lately it takes many hours for WU to check for updates under Vista.

 

Microsoft had permanently fixed this problem for Windows 7 users by updating the Windows Update Client app to v7.6.7601.23453 for Windows 7 SP1 starting with the KB3161608 June 2016 update rollup and with the KB3172605 July 2016 update rollup.  So far Microsoft has not issued a long-term fix for Windows Vista.

 

For those Vista SP2 (and some Win7 SP1) users still having problems with Windows Update taking so long in checking for updates, see this page for the solutions:

http://wu.krelay.de/en/

 

anyways, I've upgraded any of some old PCs I found using Vista to Win7 since Microsoft will end all support for Vista on April 11, 2017.

 

[Jason S. Global Moderator]

as others have said, the 1st run-through of WU on a fresh install can literally take hours. i've run into this on server builds before. i just ended up leaving it overnight so it could finish the scan.

[erpster3]

On 11/2/2016 at 11:21 AM, Jason S. said:

as others have said, the 1st run-through of WU on a fresh install can literally take hours. i've run into this on server builds before. i just ended up leaving it overnight so it could finish the scan.

 

well you have that luxury of leaving your systems running overnight but I don't.

 

I'm a home PC user and I would never do such a thing since that would jack up my family's electric bill leaving a Vista based desktop PC on for many hours checking for Vista updates.

 

Thank goodness for tools like WSUS Offline Update and Autopatcher.  I'll use any one of those tools to manually update Vista on a fresh Vista installation, along with installing the very latest WIN32K.SYS update which is now KB3198234.

 

Check out the comments made on this Askwoody.com page:

https://www.askwoody.com/2016/vista-is-broken/

[Jub]

24 minutes ago, erpster3 said:

I'm a home PC user and I would never do such a thing since that would jack up my family's electric bill leaving a Vista based desktop PC on for many hours checking for Vista updates.

Not sure if serious…

[+Warwagon MVC]

On 11/2/2016 at 1:21 PM, Jason S. said:

as others have said, the 1st run-through of WU on a fresh install can literally take hours. i've run into this on server builds before. i just ended up leaving it overnight so it could finish the scan.

 

 

I always though with Vista it takes that long everytime you check for updates.

[Neyht Member]

I still have a vista machine in my home.  You should edit your title, you have an question mark where a period should be. 

 

They took steps to alleviate this issue in windows 7...not sure about vista.   Had to run the WSUS offline update (a third party tool?)  to update my dad's computer recently.  He wasn't getting updates because windows update wasn't completing in a logical amount of time.

 

[edit] I didn't realize that this thread was started on 2015.  erpster gave a really good post on the subject though, thanks for the info.

[seeprime]

You may need to let it run for several days. Vista will eventually update. It's just so slow it's pathetic.