Windows 7 updates

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moonbounce

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I am trying to get updates for my computer, approximately 10 meg worth and my computer has been hooked up to MS computers for hours trying to download a measly 10 meg. I cannot believe these guys, what's their problem? Anyone else experiencing this problem?

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bharvey2

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While my Windows 7 updates usually complete without incident, I've have an occasional SNAFU wherein one of the updates (usually Internet Explorer) is awaiting my response. Any chance you have a window that is closed or hidden behind another?
 

moonbounce

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No nothing running just open to my desktop.

Update, finally got the updates but it took two days, I started yesterday. Now I have to get the bigger update of 57 Mgb. I think I will have to plan that one out so the computer will out of commission for a couple of days lol.

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CCT

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I am trying to get updates for my computer, approximately 10 meg worth and my computer has been hooked up to MS computers for hours trying to download a measly 10 meg. I cannot believe these guys, what's their problem? Anyone else experiencing this problem?
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That's pretty common on win7. Conspiracy theorists will tell you this is intentional by Microsoft trying to get people to give up on win7 and just upgrade to win10.

Check this blog on how to resolve these issues:
https://blog.krissmilne.tech/windows/windows-7/windows-7-stuck-on-checking-for-updates

Getting the latest update client is a good start and usually a minor reset fixes it for me. After a minor reset you'll be waiting a while for windows to scan the system to see what updates it needs.
I also found if you have a lot of updates to do, defer the ".net" updates until the regular windows updates are done. (Do ".net" updates separately from other updates.)
 

moonbounce

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That's pretty common on win7. Conspiracy theorists will tell you this is intentional by Microsoft trying to get people to give up on win7 and just upgrade to win10.

Check this blog on how to resolve these issues:
https://blog.krissmilne.tech/windows/windows-7/windows-7-stuck-on-checking-for-updates

Getting the latest update client is a good start and usually a minor reset fixes it for me. After a minor reset you'll be waiting a while for windows to scan the system to see what updates it needs.
I also found if you have a lot of updates to do, defer the ".net" updates until the regular windows updates are done. (Do ".net" updates separately from other updates.)

So I did add the updates and my desktop has been trying to download for 18 hrs now but no downloads appear in the download history and it is still trying to update?

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n5ims

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There are known issues with Windows Update and various virus scanning programs that cause them to fight over the system and grinding everything to a halt. Basically the system is doing nothing but swapping between WU and the virus scanner and not doing any actual work (think of it like WU tells the system it needs to process and the virus scanner tells the system that it needs to scan that before WU can have it and neither wins but you lose). Check the Microsoft Knowledge base for details on your specific versions of Windows and Virus Scanning program for how to resolve issues specific to that combination. Also try checking the support for your virus scanner since they may also have some solutions.

There is also an issue where Windows Update consumes a huge amount of memory and CPU, causing everything to basically freeze up. Microsoft has a "fix" for this issue in their Knowledge base here https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3102810 Note that the fix varies based on your specific version of the OS so make sure you get the correct one for your system!

There are other issues that may cause similar issues so if neither of these help, search the Knowledge Base for others using information specific to your issues.
 

moonbounce

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I have three computers one desktop and two laptops, I can't get any downloads for the desktop, one of the laptops ( Lenovo ) has had most of the updates, the other laptop ( Dell ) has had no updates.

The desktop hasn't had an update for about 9 months, the Lenovo about four months, and the Dell has never had an update. For the Dell I bought and registered Windows 7, I have never been able to update it. The Dell is not used for internet access unless I am trying to get updates.

As an experiment I did run the update program with the Windows 7 firewall on, after a full day I still had no updates. I did try all the fixes and ran the update again for a full day using only Windows 7 firewall, still no updates. At a later time I decided to download a free copy of Zonealarm and it downloaded without any issue and Zonealarm is a pretty big program to download so I know the download problem is not my computer.

I currently have downloads disabled on my computers as I hate seeing my cpu's and ram being maxed out for such long periods, I don't think that is good for the computer.

There is just no winning when it comes to Microsoft downloads.

P.S. I have had my desktop computer for five years, in that time I have taken it back to factory setting twice. After the restore to factory setting I would get all of the downloads without a problem. The problems on downloading updates seems to have started with the push for free Windows 10 started.


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corbintechboy

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I currently have downloads disabled on my computers as I hate seeing my cpu's and ram being maxed out for such long periods, I don't think that is good for the computer.

Unused RAM is wasted RAM. And using your CPU is fine. I have worked on computers for years. I have gamed, I have watched high resolution video, I have done benchmarks and many times have pegged my CPU for hours on end. Using your CPU and RAM causes no damage to the computer. Even if you managed to overheat your machine, it would shut down/throttle and it would hurt nothing.

It's almost like not starting your car because the engine generates heat.

Your chance of having a hardware failure due to using the computer as intended is the same as letting the computer sit there. So many things can fail from just hitting the power switch and sending a surge of power.

Don't worry about it.
 

moonbounce

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But also who wants to tie their computer up for days trying to get updates? The update process kind of ties up the cpu and ram so doing anything with your computer is out of the question.

I know Microsoft knows about the problem, I am sure they could easily send a download to Windows 7 users to fix it but it seems like there have a who gives a @@@@ about their customers attitude we already have there money..

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iMONITOR

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I recently did a clean install of Win 7 Pro on a Dell Precision M4700 laptop. The first round of updates were found in about ten minutes, downloaded quickly, and installed quickly. It appears Microsoft has finally fixed the Windows 7 Update problems!

It is also rumored that Microsoft is about to release a new Service Pack for Windows 7. That would be awesome!
 

Blackink

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I recently did a clean install of Win 7 Pro on a Dell Precision M4700 laptop. The first round of updates were found in about ten minutes, downloaded quickly, and installed quickly. It appears Microsoft has finally fixed the Windows 7 Update problems!
I agree that Microsoft has fixed the "Searching for Updates" problem as I did a clean install on my old Dell 530 Inspiron that I installed a SSD on and did a clean install of Windows 7 Pro 64Bit. Once the search started, I too had updates within 10 minutes and continued getting them throughout the day as I checked.
I think 3 hours after I first started checking for updates, all available updates were installed.

It is also rumored that Microsoft is about to release a new Service Pack for Windows 7. That would be awesome!

I'd like to see what that's about when released......
 

moonbounce

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I also finally got all three of my computers updated last week and all three were done within one day so yup I think they fixed the problem.

I did read that they want to make the home page of Windows 7 look like the Windows 10 home page. So what else are they going to send in the updates. Also what about all of those optional updates, I didn't install them.

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