topic Re: Anyone else having problems with getting Windows updates on Windows 7 computers? in Electronics

Anyone else having problems with getting Windows updates on Windows 7 computers?

qualityshopper — Mon, 18 Apr 2016 02:09:20 GMT

Just curious if others are having issues with not being to check for updates since the most recent patch Tuesday. I have a Windows 7 laptop that has never had any issues looking for updates, or downloading and installing them--that is, until this most recent batch of updates. Right after installing most of them, had problems being able to install the remaining two, either automatically or manually. Finally took care of that, but also discovered can no longer check for updates. It just spins endlessly. Since had already installed updates from Tues., I know there shouldn't be any other updates that would account for the length of time it is taking.

I've done everything I could think of to do to fix the issue, as well as to spend hours trying to get help from Microsoft. Such great customer service! Repeatedly, for three days now, I've been promised call backs which never happened. I've had to call them over and over. The first level tech couldn't fix it, nor another level two tech. In fact, this tech basically disappeared. We had discontinued our phone connection, but he had remote access. After an extremely long time, I tried to communicate with him through our connection, only to get no response. Had to call again and get someone else to go through his connection. This new guy was a real jerk and, rather than try to fix the problem, did nothing but talk about upgrading to Windows 10. Tried again today to get help (had to call twice--each time being promised someone would call back, but didn't), and finally got the same jerk. So, guess I won't be able to get any more updates.

Can't help but wonder if this is deliberate to push us to upgrade to 10. I'm not the only one to be having this particular problem according to one of the techs. He said others who have Windows 7 are also having this exact same issue, so they know about it. I don't want to upgrade to 10 on this particular computer because when I tried before, it didn't perform as well. Apple is looking more and more appealing.

Re: Anyone else having problems with getting Windows updates on Windows 7 computers?

Karnerblue — Mon, 18 Apr 2016 03:14:17 GMT

The other while shutting down I got a message that it would shutdown after updates. The next day when i booted up my laptop I got a message that I had been upgraded to Windows 10 and I just had to accept to the conditions to continue. I am constantly getting pop ups to upgrade to 10 but I "x" out of it. Now I don't know how it started the upgrade without my request, but it did. I tried three times to decline and it finally went away.

Re: Anyone else having problems with getting Windows updates on Windows 7 computers?

glb613 — Mon, 18 Apr 2016 10:03:03 GMT

Get into the control panel, programs and features and uninstall the most recent updates.

"Because updates can enhance the security of your computer, it's best not to remove an update unless you're certain that it is causing a problem. Take these steps to be certain you want to remove an update:

Open Installed Updates by clicking the Start button , clicking Control Panel, clicking Programs, and then, under Programs and Features, clicking View installed updates.
Select the update that you want to remove, and then click Uninstall. If you're prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation."

Re: Anyone else having problems with getting Windows updates on Windows 7 computers?

ValuSkr — Mon, 18 Apr 2016 11:15:03 GMT

I've had this problem too. At some point in the last six months, I started to have problems with auto updates. Now I don't think they work at all. Fortunately, my McAfee software looks for Windows updates at least once a week and installs them, so I think I'm okay. I suspect you're right - this is MS's not-so-subtle attempt to force us into Windows 10.

Re: Anyone else having problems with getting Windows updates on Windows 7 computers?

hoosieroriginal — Mon, 18 Apr 2016 11:28:49 GMT

This is exactly why I didn't go to Windows 10!

Re: Anyone else having problems with getting Windows updates on Windows 7 computers?

Nuttmeg — Mon, 18 Apr 2016 12:27:29 GMT

@hoosieroriginal wrote:
This is exactly why I didn't go to Windows 10!

Window 7 has been around a long time. It may be time for people to backup their data and look for a new computer.

Re: Anyone else having problems with getting Windows updates on Windows 7 computers?

Nuttmeg — Mon, 18 Apr 2016 12:41:36 GMT

@glb613 wrote:
Get into the control panel, programs and features and uninstall the most recent updates.

"Because updates can enhance the security of your computer, it's best not to remove an update unless you're certain that it is causing a problem. Take these steps to be certain you want to remove an update:
Open Installed Updates by clicking the Start button , clicking Control Panel, clicking Programs, and then, under Programs and Features, clicking View installed updates.
Select the update that you want to remove, and then click Uninstall. If you're prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation."

Removing Window Updates can make a computer stop running.

Re: Anyone else having problems with getting Windows updates on Windows 7 computers?

glb613 — Mon, 18 Apr 2016 21:59:27 GMT

I've removed a Windows update that caused a conflict and nothing bad happened. In fact, the computer started working correctly again.

Re: Anyone else having problems with getting Windows updates on Windows 7 computers?

qualityshopper — Mon, 18 Apr 2016 23:18:55 GMT

Glb613--I've actually restored my computer back to previous dates twice now (dates back in March), which of course, got rid of the latest patch Tuesday's updates. Didn't help. I've checked to be sure local services are running, did a system scan, two Malwarebytes scans, ran the MS troubleshooter, the FixIt tool, diagnostic scan--nothing fixes the problem. Microsoft did their thing, including installing their standalone installer. This thing ran for about 90 minutes, and only found one update in all that time, which was already installed. They say there's nothing else they can do except to set it back to factory conditions. Well, I can do that myself. Frankly, though, I don't know what good it would do to do so because, if something in their updates caused this, then when I would run updates again, I'm guessing I would encounter the same problem. Right now, my computer has been set back to March 22, and I have no way to run the "check for updates" feature to get back those that are gone. It simply no longer functions. According to MS's forums, I'm not the only one.

Re: Anyone else having problems with getting Windows updates on Windows 7 computers?

glb613 — Tue, 19 Apr 2016 09:31:29 GMT

I've only had this happen and it screwed my computer so much, I restore it back to out of the box and started over.

Re: Anyone else having problems with getting Windows updates on Windows 7 computers?

qualityshopper — Tue, 19 Apr 2016 03:14:16 GMT

Glb613--When you say "I've only had this happen," are you talking about the same problem--the "checking for updates" function not performing? If I reset back to factory settings, do you think I will encounter the problem again when I install Windows updates again? Thanks.

Re: Anyone else having problems with getting Windows updates on Windows 7 computers?

Gokat — Tue, 19 Apr 2016 03:35:31 GMT

Why don't you give a look at the thread below with a Fix for the Windows 10 updates, @qualityshopper? This sounds to me like MS has downloaded Windows 10 files to your computer. The fix will take care of it, if that indeed is the problem. I had all kinds of problems when I attempted to install Windows 10 when it was first introduced. Had to uninstall it. You can always restore to factory, if the GWX program doesn't fix it.

Re: Anyone else having problems with getting Windows updates on Windows 7 computers?

qualityshopper — Tue, 19 Apr 2016 08:37:06 GMT

Gokat--I've read about the GWX program. Haven't tried it yet, but think I will. I uninstalled KB3035583 and hid it, but I know I need to do more. For now, I've installed a fix mentioned in the Microsoft forums--KB3145739. It's an "update standalone installer." Microsoft had installed a different one--Kb3102810--which did nothing, but this other one has finally allowed me to check and download updates. There's a lot of discussion on the forums concerning this problem.

Re: Anyone else having problems with getting Windows updates on Windows 7 computers?

glb613 — Tue, 19 Apr 2016 09:45:57 GMT

@qualityshopper wrote:
Glb613--When you say "I've only had this happen," are you talking about the same problem--the "checking for updates" function not performing? If I reset back to factory settings, do you think I will encounter the problem again when I install Windows updates again? Thanks.

I had to restore my computer once because a Windows update was causing so many problems. Sometimes an update will have a conflict with one of your programs or hardware installed. Sometimes it's malware you don't know you have. If I couldn't find an easy fix, like uninstalling the update or doing a system restore to a earlier date, I would restore my Windows computer. I also would do a complete redo about every 3 years just to get them to function like new. I'm thinking of doing it to my iMac when I'm not so busy.

Restoring a computer back to it's out of the box condition can make an old computer run like new. It's not difficult but, it does take time. You must have your files saved somewhere, external drive or the cloud, before you start. I prefer to not use a backup program. I like to drag and drop files to an external drive. I really think using a backup made when a computer isn't working well will just put back the settings causing the problems.

Another poster said this is a fix to try. Try it before doing a factory restore.

Re: Anyone else having problems with getting Windows updates on Windows 7 computers?

Gokat — Tue, 19 Apr 2016 14:40:04 GMT

The GWX program will take care of the files we need to manually hide, clean out any Win 10 files residing on your computer, AND keep MS from reinstalling them, @qualityshopper ...provide some peace of mind. I commisserate with you on this issue as I know it can often take awhile for MS to come up with a complete fix when they've put out a faulty update.

Re: Anyone else having problems with getting Windows updates on Windows 7 computers?

chickenbutt — Tue, 19 Apr 2016 19:08:46 GMT

qualityshopper wrote:
Gokat--I've read about the GWX program. Haven't tried it yet, but think I will. I uninstalled KB3035583 and hid it, but I know I need to do more. For now, I've installed a fix mentioned in the Microsoft forums--KB3145739. It's an "update standalone installer." Microsoft had installed a different one--Kb3102810--which did nothing, but this other one has finally allowed me to check and download updates. There's a lot of discussion on the forums concerning this problem.

Another thought, aside from KB3035583, there are several updates that will come under 'optional' that are also to prepare the computer for Win10.

I noticed this because I started clicking on them when they came up in 'Updates' to see what they were.

Unfortunately, it's a little bit of a pain if you have a bunch of them, because you have to click on it. Then you get that screen to the right that says a lot of blathering nothing. Then there is a choice to click on for more information. That will open up a Window that actually tells you something. You can pick out the ones that are Win10-related right away.

Re: Anyone else having problems with getting Windows updates on Windows 7 computers?

qualityshopper — Wed, 20 Apr 2016 03:59:02 GMT

Looking for more help again. As I mentioned previously, installing KB3145739 enabled me to once again check for Windows updates. But, the option under settings to "give me updates for other Microsoft products when I update Windows" is gone. It was there prior to April 12's update mess, but is now missing. I think it disappeared when one of the MS techs were fooling around with my computer to fix the issue (they failed, of course). So now, I have no way to check for Microsoft's updates (Office).

I just wasted two hours on hold with Microsoft. When I finally got someone to talk to, both that person and a different one just could not seem to understand what I was talking about. All they could say was that Office updates were included with Windows updates, even though I kept explaining that there should be a separate section to check for that, which is now missing. Geez, what's wrong with these people?????

Would anyone has any ideas about what else I could try to once again be able to check for Office updates, besides uninstalling and reinstalling Office? I'd really be afraid to do that because it's Office Home & Student 2010. Chances are I'd have some kind of problem reinstalling, and I know I won't get help from MS because they'd want me to get Office 365.

Re: Anyone else having problems with getting Windows updates on Windows 7 computers?

qualityshopper — Wed, 20 Apr 2016 04:11:39 GMT

Glb613--thanks for the advice. I keep trying to fix the issues MS has created, but may have to do this. Just wondering, doing a system recovery is not quite the same as doing a factory reset, right? (It's been years since I did anything like this, so I've gotten a little confused.) If I'm understaning correctly, I should try a system restore first. Is that correct? Thanks.

Re: Anyone else having problems with getting Windows updates on Windows 7 computers?

qualityshopper — Wed, 20 Apr 2016 04:18:55 GMT

Gokat--thanks for commisserating with me. MS doesn't seem to have any interest in fixing this. At least, it seems that way when you read the comments in the forums from all the people who are having issues with this. Need to strike it rich and buy Apple

Re: Anyone else having problems with getting Windows updates on Windows 7 computers?

qualityshopper — Wed, 20 Apr 2016 04:21:10 GMT

Thanks, Chickenbutt for the advice. Will do this once I finally finish fixing everything that's currently wrong.