On Sat, 31 Dec 2016 02:24:17 -0000, Jason wrote:

I dug out an old, little-used netbook that my wife had used for a course
and no longer uses. I want to hook it to my wi-fi weather station to put
it on Weather Underground's network.

The machine hadn't been used in two years. It runs something the Windows 7
"Starter Edition" - which was ok last time we used it. Since it hadn't
been updated in two years, I clicked to check for updates.

Two and a half hours later, it's still checking. Any idea where the
problem lies?

When running update on an old PC, I leave the task manager open and make sure it's either using the disk, the CPU, or the internet connection to a decent amount. If it stops, I reboot it and tell it to get updates again.

--
I used to work in a fire hydrant factory. You couldn't park anywhere near the place. -- Steven Wright