Problem Downloading Microsoft Updates and Patches

I am having problems trying to download the recent security and other
patches. My computer is HP, 8GB RAM, running Win 7 Ultimate.

Whenever I try to download a patch from the Microsoft website, it just
sits there as though waiting for something (I don't know what though).
I've gone through a number of suggestions from Google and none of them
have worked, such as deregistering and reregistering files, clearing
out various Temp and Cache folders. I deleted all the previous updates
just in case one of them was hanging. No success.

I deleted my antivirus (ESet) and firewall (Comodo) to see if
something in either of those two was blocking it. I ran Sophos
Rootkit detection and found nothing.

I downloaded another copy of wuaserv.dll just in case my original was
corrupt. No success there either.

One thing I noticed is that wauserv.dll is running all the time. Is
it supposed to? My laptop with Win 7 32 bit does not have it running
unless I'm downloading from Microsoft. Another thing is that when I
try to manually download updates and patches, these either do not
start to download or do not complete.

I even tried to do a non-destructive reinstall of Window from my
purchased copy of Win 7, but it hangs on the step where it is supposed
to collect information. After over an hour, the status bar hasn't
moved from its initial point (about 20 percent). I downloaded a copy
of Win 7 with SP 1 from Digital River, but that had no success either.
I'm leaving it running for the next couple of hours to see if
something develops.

In the meantime, does anyone have any other suggestions to try?

Thanks everyone.

One other thing: I can download from other sites with no problem.

wrote:


I downloaded another copy of wuaserv.dll just in case my original was
corrupt.

Naughty, naughty.

That's way, way, down the list of things to try.

*******

It's a data structure that thing is reading, that
makes it go nuts. Not the executable code itself.
This used to happen on WinXP. Wuauserv in a svchost
would go to 100% CPU on one core, for maybe 40 minutes,
because of problems figuring out what cumulative update
to use for Internet Explorer (IE has a deep patching
history, that caused some sort of problem).

I do not expect Win7 to have exactly the same root cause.
That's just an illustration of a weakness the approach
has. We don't know if Windows 7 got a rewrite with
better logic in it or not.

I mean, if a file needed to get corrupted, why wouldn't
it be a key kernel file, preventing the computer from
booting at all ? It's pretty strange for that particular
file to get nominated for some corrupting. Are any other
files corrupted ? Probably not. You could run "sfc /scannow"
or equivalent, if you wanted to check file signatures.
But again, since that hardly works, don't waste your time.

*******

I recommend a "Fixit" for a first level hammering. You've
progressed to "desperation" level, and that isn't needed
quite yet.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/971058

Microsoft is supposed to provide free Windows Update
fixing, since in many cases, it's their fault it is
broken. Lots of other problem types, they ask for
a credit card.

An "upgrade" install, using a Win7 DVD is an option.
But that would probably "preserve your settings", including
whatever data or information that is causing the thing
to loop.

Windows Update relies on a few services. For example, BITS
is used (background intelligent transfer service?). But the
Fixit in the above article, will probably give that a
poke along the way.

Paul

(Found this on Google news) hth

TECHNOLOGY LAB / INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Microsoft withdraws bad Windows 7 update that broke future Windows 7
updates
Broken update also blocks install of third-party software.

by Peter Bright - Dec 12 2014, 4:56pm EST
ShareTweet

One of this week's Patch Tuesday updates for Windows 7 has been
withdrawn after some users discovered that it blocked installation of
software containing digital signatures, including first- and
third-party software, and even other Windows updates.

The problem update is called KB3004394. The purpose of this update was
to change how Windows updates its collection of root certificates used
to authenticate SSL and TLS connections. Without the update, Windows
is meant to poll for certificate updates once a week. With the update,
this frequency is increased to once a day.

Unfortunately, this apparently simple change has had severe
consequences for some users of Windows 7 Service Pack 1 and Windows
Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1, with users reporting that Windows
Update, drivers from both Nvidia and AMD, and some third-party
software including Virtual Box are all unable to install correctly.
The error code 0x8004FF91 seems to be a common finding.

Microsoft has issued a second update to remove the bad update from
affected machines and has withdrawn the original update for Windows 7.
However, the company continues to offer, and recommend, the patch for
Windows 8, 8.1, Windows Server 2012, and 2012 R2.

This withdrawn update is the latest of several updates that Redmond
has pulled this year. The certificate update isn't the only patch from
this Tuesday that was withdrawn; an Exchange 2013 update was also
withdrawn temporarily after problems were discovered by end users. The
Exchange patch has now been updated and reissued. It's unclear how
widespread the certificate problem—or any of the previous problems
that have caused patches to be reissued—really is, but there's
nonetheless a growing sense among many Windows users that patches are
less reliable, and more frequently withdrawn, than they used to be.
This concern is compounded by Microsoft's decision to lay off many
dedicated software testers earlier in the year.

With Windows Update so important to keeping Windows users secure, a
loss of confidence would be very bad news. But if this kind of problem
continues, that seems like an inevitable outcome. While IT departments
might be able to test updates in a lab before deploying them,
providing some protection against faulty fixes, home users have no
such luxury. Users have to have confidence that installing an update
won't break their machine. Broken, withdrawn updates shake that
confidence.




On Sun, 14 Dec 2014 15:32:25 -0600, wrote:

I am having problems trying to download the recent security and other
patches. My computer is HP, 8GB RAM, running Win 7 Ultimate.

Whenever I try to download a patch from the Microsoft website, it just
sits there as though waiting for something (I don't know what though).
I've gone through a number of suggestions from Google and none of them
have worked, such as deregistering and reregistering files, clearing
out various Temp and Cache folders. I deleted all the previous updates
just in case one of them was hanging. No success.

I deleted my antivirus (ESet) and firewall (Comodo) to see if
something in either of those two was blocking it. I ran Sophos
Rootkit detection and found nothing.

I downloaded another copy of wuaserv.dll just in case my original was
corrupt. No success there either.

One thing I noticed is that wauserv.dll is running all the time. Is
it supposed to? My laptop with Win 7 32 bit does not have it running
unless I'm downloading from Microsoft. Another thing is that when I
try to manually download updates and patches, these either do not
start to download or do not complete.

I even tried to do a non-destructive reinstall of Window from my
purchased copy of Win 7, but it hangs on the step where it is supposed
to collect information. After over an hour, the status bar hasn't
moved from its initial point (about 20 percent). I downloaded a copy
of Win 7 with SP 1 from Digital River, but that had no success either.
I'm leaving it running for the next couple of hours to see if
something develops.

In the meantime, does anyone have any other suggestions to try?

Thanks everyone.