Solved Windows Update can't check update

[papin97]

Now, I can't download anything from Windows Update.

 

[GMan]

Hey there....try rebooting, then go to C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download

and delete the entire contents of that folder. Try again.

 

[papin97]

OK. I'm just deleted the contents. The size is huge big (721 MB)
I'll try again tonight (GMT+7) because I'm in Windows 7 now

 

[papin97]

OK. Problem solved.

Thanks A Lot

 

[Mark Phelps]

Hey there....try rebooting, then go to C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download

and delete the entire contents of that folder. Try again.

Have same problem -- Windows Update never finishes, just keep searching.

Tried this -- no change. Rebooted, tried again -- no change.

Let Windows Update run for over an hour, was still searching when I shut it down.

Now what?

 

[GMan]

Any 3rd party firewalls or antivirus? If so, uninstall to test.

If you have auto updates enabled, try turning it off, rebooting then run it again manually.

 

[Mark Phelps]

Any 3rd party firewalls or antivirus? If so, uninstall to test.

NO ... none.

If you have auto updates enabled, try turning it off, rebooting then run it again manually.

NO ... have it set to notify me.

Have tried several times to run it manually, and it just searches and searches and searches ...

 

[GMan]

I dunno - another thing to try I suppose is to rename this folder to something else first, then reboot - C:\Windows\System32\catroot2

Name it to original if it hadn't helped.

Running this also from an Admin prompt (elevated) can not hurt either -

sfc /scannow

 

[Mark Phelps]

I dunno - another thing to try I suppose is to rename this folder to something else first, then reboot - C:\Windows\System32\catroot2

Name it to original if it hadn't helped.

Running this also from an Admin prompt (elevated) can not hurt either -

sfc /scannow

Tried the first, made no difference. It saysI have 4 updates, but even after a wired network connection of over 2 hours, still had not downloaded ANY of the updates.

Tried the second but doesn't open as Admin. No right-click selection option on CMD, no apparent way to open with Admin rights.

 

[GMan]

You could check the Event Viewer for any related clues. Make sure the services that are necessary for Windows Update are set to their default settings: Windows Update, BITS, Com+ Event System, Remote Procedure Call, DCOM server, RPC Endpoint

Other than that, you definitely stand a shot at figuring out the problem by watching your network packets. You could install 1.7.1 Wireshark and then install WinPcap driver necessary for it to run. Wireshark attempts to install WinPcap but it can't because of Windows 8. When you install WinPcap, use compatibility mode for Windows 7.

 

[GMan]

<<Was just playing around with Wireshark while I did a Windows Update. One obvious thing was this:



DNS settings: You can run the app attached to this post to see which is the fastest DNS server for you. Then you can manually set either your router or your network card in Windows to always use that for DNS lookups. In many cases, it is faster than your own ISPs server anyway.

You can then also either reset the DNS cache on the machine or disable the DNS service all together. Again, disable is alright to do with such a fast DNS lookup you've found in the app, anyway.

If some kind of DNS issue was the culprit, the above steps will definitely fix the issue.

 

[Mark Phelps]

Sorry to say it, but I still can't get Windows Update to work right. Did get a notice of 4 updates, and it did try to apply them -- but indicated that three failed. When I tried to check again, it hangs on searching. Hope this works better when the RC comes out.

 

[GMan]

Ya man, sorry I don't know what else to tell ya. I don't think RC is going to change anything. The WU works well for me on all of my 8 installs.

Actually, I do know what to tell ya. It's a worthy effort anyhow. Copy the information to the patches you need from Windows Update and Google them. Find them on MS server and install manually. Then after all, reboot and delete the SoftwareDistribution contents as before.

That may in effect "reset" your Windows Update mechanism. I've seen it work in the past.

And also, I did run into a little problem where Windows Defender kept trying to get 64 MB updates and would not install. But that was because I used CCEnhancer to clear the Windows Defender stuff....so I recommend not to do that to all unless you feel like taking extra-special steps to fix it lol.

 

[Mark Phelps]

Finally fixed it! What didn't work, not surprisingly, was the MS Fix-it. Downloaded and ran it, and it said it's not for this version.

Then, I used the Win7 forums tutorial on resetting Windows Update with the two downloadable batch files. I ran the first to remove the history -- it worked. I then ran the second to reset WU -- it also worked.

When I rebooted, there were no updates in the history, I did a check and this time, it ran and found 8 updates. I applied those, rebooted, ran a second check, and this time, it found no updates.

So, it looks like I'm good to go with WU again.

(I'm posting this from my Win8 CP session).

 

[GMan]

Then, I used the Win7 forums tutorial on resetting Windows Update

Glad to hear it! The tutorials on there and here are invaluable to the community.

 

[edmorris826]

I had a choice win 8.1 or Linux unfortunately I choose 8.1

 

[rohitbhatnagar]

Solution 1 from here worked for me: Fix Cannot Download Windows Updates in Windows 10 and 8