Windows 7 Cannot Update

nadnerB

Have you run the Windows 7 update diagnostic?
I have a 4 step process to fix this

reinstall the update agent https://support.microsoft.com/en-au/help/949104/how-to-update-the-windows-update-agent-to-the-latest-version
run the update diagnostic https://support.microsoft.com/en-au/help/2714434/description-of-the-windows-update-troubleshooter
if there's still errors apply KB3172605
run wuauclt.exe /r /a

You may also need

s.hackleman

I have seen a few of these back in the day get stuck. Every time I would just get mad and walk away and let them sit overnight (12+ hours). The next morning hitting the update button would work after who knows what timed out. Good luck!

notverypunny

WSUS or MS as the update source? I've seen it happen here where the WSUS box gets stuck. Otherwise there's all kinds of fun to be had dicking around with the software distribution folder and friends.

scottalanmiller

@notverypunny said in Windows 7 Cannot Update:

WSUS or MS as the update source?

MS. No WSUS in the environment.

scottalanmiller

@s-hackleman said in Windows 7 Cannot Update:

I have seen a few of these back in the day get stuck. Every time I would just get mad and walk away and let them sit overnight (12+ hours). The next morning hitting the update button would work after who knows what timed out. Good luck!

These have at least several days and half a dozen reboots or more without change

Dashrender

@scottalanmiller said in Windows 7 Cannot Update:

@s-hackleman said in Windows 7 Cannot Update:

I have seen a few of these back in the day get stuck. Every time I would just get mad and walk away and let them sit overnight (12+ hours). The next morning hitting the update button would work after who knows what timed out. Good luck!

These have at least several days and half a dozen reboots or more without change

Have you reset Windows updates? This usually involves stopping windows update service and trashing the Software Distro folder, rebooting, then waiting many many hours while Windows redownloads and confirms what is and isn't on the system with MS update servers.

scottalanmiller

@Dashrender said in Windows 7 Cannot Update:

@scottalanmiller said in Windows 7 Cannot Update:

@s-hackleman said in Windows 7 Cannot Update:

I have seen a few of these back in the day get stuck. Every time I would just get mad and walk away and let them sit overnight (12+ hours). The next morning hitting the update button would work after who knows what timed out. Good luck!

These have at least several days and half a dozen reboots or more without change

Have you reset Windows updates? This usually involves stopping windows update service and trashing the Software Distro folder, rebooting, then waiting many many hours while Windows redownloads and confirms what is and isn't on the system with MS update servers.

Pretty sure both tools that we use said that they were doing that.

JasGot

Well, just for kicks, here's the script we run. It's another possible fix to your problem.
Reset-WindowsUpdate.ps1

<#
.SYNOPSIS
Reset-WindowsUpdate.ps1 - Resets the Windows Update components

.DESCRIPTION 
This script will reset all of the Windows Updates components to DEFAULT SETTINGS.

.OUTPUTS
Results are printed to the console. Future releases will support outputting to a log file. 

.NOTES
Written by: Ryan Nemeth

Find me on:

* My Blog:	http://www.geekyryan.com
* Twitter:	https://twitter.com/geeky_ryan
* LinkedIn:	https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-nemeth-b0b1504b/
* Github:	https://github.com/rnemeth90
* TechNet:  https://social.technet.microsoft.com/profile/ryan%20nemeth/

Change Log
V1.00, 05/21/2015 - Initial version
V1.10, 09/22/2016 - Fixed bug with call to sc.exe
V1.20, 11/13/2017 - Fixed environment variables
#>


$arch = Get-WMIObject -Class Win32_Processor -ComputerName LocalHost | Select-Object AddressWidth

Write-Host "1. Stopping Windows Update Services..."
Stop-Service -Name BITS
Stop-Service -Name wuauserv
Stop-Service -Name appidsvc
Stop-Service -Name cryptsvc

Write-Host "2. Remove QMGR Data file..."
Remove-Item "$env:allusersprofile\Application Data\Microsoft\Network\Downloader\qmgr*.dat" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

Write-Host "3. Renaming the Software Distribution and CatRoot Folder..."
Rename-Item $env:systemroot\SoftwareDistribution SoftwareDistribution.bak -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
Rename-Item $env:systemroot\System32\Catroot2 catroot2.bak -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

Write-Host "4. Removing old Windows Update log..."
Remove-Item $env:systemroot\WindowsUpdate.log -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

Write-Host "5. Resetting the Windows Update Services to defualt settings..."
"sc.exe sdset bits D:(A;;CCLCSWRPWPDTLOCRRC;;;SY)(A;;CCDCLCSWRPWPDTLOCRSDRCWDWO;;;BA)(A;;CCLCSWLOCRRC;;;AU)(A;;CCLCSWRPWPDTLOCRRC;;;PU)"
"sc.exe sdset wuauserv D:(A;;CCLCSWRPWPDTLOCRRC;;;SY)(A;;CCDCLCSWRPWPDTLOCRSDRCWDWO;;;BA)(A;;CCLCSWLOCRRC;;;AU)(A;;CCLCSWRPWPDTLOCRRC;;;PU)"

Set-Location $env:systemroot\system32

Write-Host "6. Registering some DLLs..."
regsvr32.exe /s atl.dll
regsvr32.exe /s urlmon.dll
regsvr32.exe /s mshtml.dll
regsvr32.exe /s shdocvw.dll
regsvr32.exe /s browseui.dll
regsvr32.exe /s jscript.dll
regsvr32.exe /s vbscript.dll
regsvr32.exe /s scrrun.dll
regsvr32.exe /s msxml.dll
regsvr32.exe /s msxml3.dll
regsvr32.exe /s msxml6.dll
regsvr32.exe /s actxprxy.dll
regsvr32.exe /s softpub.dll
regsvr32.exe /s wintrust.dll
regsvr32.exe /s dssenh.dll
regsvr32.exe /s rsaenh.dll
regsvr32.exe /s gpkcsp.dll
regsvr32.exe /s sccbase.dll
regsvr32.exe /s slbcsp.dll
regsvr32.exe /s cryptdlg.dll
regsvr32.exe /s oleaut32.dll
regsvr32.exe /s ole32.dll
regsvr32.exe /s shell32.dll
regsvr32.exe /s initpki.dll
regsvr32.exe /s wuapi.dll
regsvr32.exe /s wuaueng.dll
regsvr32.exe /s wuaueng1.dll
regsvr32.exe /s wucltui.dll
regsvr32.exe /s wups.dll
regsvr32.exe /s wups2.dll
regsvr32.exe /s wuweb.dll
regsvr32.exe /s qmgr.dll
regsvr32.exe /s qmgrprxy.dll
regsvr32.exe /s wucltux.dll
regsvr32.exe /s muweb.dll
regsvr32.exe /s wuwebv.dll

Write-Host "7) Removing WSUS client settings..."
REG DELETE "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate" /v AccountDomainSid /f
REG DELETE "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate" /v PingID /f
REG DELETE "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate" /v SusClientId /f

Write-Host "8) Resetting the WinSock..."
netsh winsock reset
netsh winhttp reset proxy

Write-Host "9) Delete all BITS jobs..."
Get-BitsTransfer | Remove-BitsTransfer

Write-Host "10) Attempting to install the Windows Update Agent..."
if($arch -eq 64){
    wusa Windows8-RT-KB2937636-x64 /quiet
}
else{
    wusa Windows8-RT-KB2937636-x86 /quiet
}

Write-Host "11) Starting Windows Update Services..."
Start-Service -Name BITS
Start-Service -Name wuauserv
Start-Service -Name appidsvc
Start-Service -Name cryptsvc

Write-Host "12) Forcing discovery..."
wuauclt /resetauthorization /detectnow

Write-Host "Process complete. Please reboot your computer."

Obsolesce

@scottalanmiller said in Windows 7 Cannot Update:

That pretty much sums it up. We get this message and one telling us that we need to restart in ten minutes. But when you restart it never tries to apply any updates and reboot after reboot we come to the same message:

Can you still update Ubuntu 8.04?

JaredBusch

@Obsolesce said in Windows 7 Cannot Update:

@scottalanmiller said in Windows 7 Cannot Update:

That pretty much sums it up. We get this message and one telling us that we need to restart in ten minutes. But when you restart it never tries to apply any updates and reboot after reboot we come to the same message:

Can you still update Ubuntu 8.04?

Nice try, but Windows 7 is currently still supposed to support updates. Ubuntu 8.04 is not.

Dashrender

@JaredBusch said in Windows 7 Cannot Update:

@Obsolesce said in Windows 7 Cannot Update:

@scottalanmiller said in Windows 7 Cannot Update:

That pretty much sums it up. We get this message and one telling us that we need to restart in ten minutes. But when you restart it never tries to apply any updates and reboot after reboot we come to the same message:

Can you still update Ubuntu 8.04?

Nice try, but Windows 7 is currently still supposed to support updates. Ubuntu 8.04 is not.

I wasn't sure if he was trying to be funny with 8.04 vs 18.04?

Obsolesce

@JaredBusch said in Windows 7 Cannot Update:

@Obsolesce said in Windows 7 Cannot Update:

@scottalanmiller said in Windows 7 Cannot Update:

That pretty much sums it up. We get this message and one telling us that we need to restart in ten minutes. But when you restart it never tries to apply any updates and reboot after reboot we come to the same message:

Can you still update Ubuntu 8.04?

Nice try, but Windows 7 is currently still supposed to support updates. Ubuntu 8.04 is not.

Right, and it works for me.

Emad R

@scottalanmiller

delete temp and try again

Fredtx

Stop Windows Update service. Delete everything in the Software Distribution directory. Start back WU service. Try again.

brandon220

@Fredtx This has usually worked for me in the past.