Windows 7 Stuck On Updating

After trying the multitude of suggestions on how to get Windows 7 to update, the sequence described here is the only one that worked for me.

http://superuser.com/questions/951960/windows-7-sp1-windows-update-stuck-checking-for-updates

I’ll repeat the steps here with the links in case the content above moves:

1) Install SP1 for your machine.

2) Download KB-3138612 and save it where you can find it later

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3138612

3) Download SUR Tool save it to same place

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/what-is-the-system-update-readiness-tool

Restart the PC and disconnect from internet before Windows loads, this is important because at every boot windows will check for updates in the background and this will start the checking for updates hang all over again and will prevent the install of the downloaded packages until it finishes checking, so disconnecting from the internet before Windows loads prevents this.

Once booted install KB-3138612, if reboot is required do so and stay disconnected from internet.

Now install the SUR Tool package, this is a big package and will install many updates along with cleaning up and repairing the Windows update store. It will also cut down on how many more Windows updates will need to be installed later.

After install of SUR package reboot, connect to internet and do a manual Windows Update, it should work much faster now. Even after these fixes I have seen some W7 PC’s take up to an hour to finish checking for updates if launched from Control Panel manually.

If you have other Windows updates issues and the 2 updates above are installed, download this Microsoft Windows Update fixit tool (right click “save link as”) run it and select aggressive mode to completely reset Windows updates. Reboot and try Windows Updates from the Control Panel again.

http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=9665683

Prevent Windows 10 From Installing

Run this utility from well-respected computer authority Steve Gibson:

https://www.grc.com/never10.htm

It will disable automatic installation of Windows 10. You can always re-enable the automatic installation of Windows 10 by rerunning the program.