Windows update never stops searching

[grofaty]

On Windows XP sp3 I have opened Internet Explorer 8 and in URL pasted the following link:

http://update.microsoft.com/microsoftupdate/v6/default.aspx?ln=en-us

Web page dialog opened and I clicked on Express button. Now I am waiting more then 30 minutes and getting no response, just "Checking for the latest updates for your computer..."

P.S. I am having two computers and both having the same problem.

 

[goombawaho]

Use windows update instead, but realize that XP is having a major problem with updates and slow computers, so you might have that situation percolating.

Link
There is NO fix yet, so you might want to disable the automatic update service until microsoft issues a patch. But, by April the point will be moot as no more updates will be issued. So, regardless of a fix or not by April, turn off auto updates since there won't be any more.

"Living tomorrow is everyone's sorrow.
Modern man's daydreams have turned into nightmares.

 

[cdogg]

grofaty,

This may or may not fix your issue, but it has resolved a few weird XP update issues for me in the past...

Internet Explorer 8 has a new security feature enabled by default that wasn't present in earlier versions of IE. It's called "Enable memory protection to help mitigate online attacks", and it's under Tools -> Internet Options -> Advanced, and then under the Security section. Disable it, close IE, and then try to run the update again. For some reason, it causes issues with Windows Update.

Here's a screenshot:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/d27yenjyl33lk43/IE - memory protection.jpg

Also make sure the date/time is correctly set on the workstation.

-Carl
"The glass is neither half-full nor half-empty: it's twice as big as it needs to be."

[tab][navy]For this site's posting policies, click [/navy]here.

 

[grofaty]

@cdogg, I have already had this option unchecked, so this is not the solution.

@goombawaho, I tried to use Automatic Update from Control panel, but all of the options are disabled, see print-screen:

http://i.imgur.com/ka3XXn8.png

Me as a user on Windows XP have administrator rights.

 

[goombawaho]

Link

Registry file to put into notepad and then double-clik
Reboot PC
See what happens

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Group Policy Objects\LocalUser\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\WindowsUpdate\DisableWindowsUpdateAccess]

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
"NoWindowsUpdate"=dword:00000000

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
"NoWindowsUpdate"=dword:00000000

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate\AU]
"NoAutoUpdate"=dword:00000000
"AUOptions"=dword:00000000

[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate]
[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\WindowsUpdate]

[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
"NoDevMgrUpdate"=dword:00000000

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main]
"NoUpdateCheck"=dword:00000000

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\WindowsUpdate]
"DisableWindowsUpdateAccess"=dword:00000000

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
"NoWindowsUpdate"=dword:00000000

"Living tomorrow is everyone's sorrow.
Modern man's daydreams have turned into nightmares.

 

[cdogg]

grofaty,

Are the computers joined to a domain? There may be group policy settings or other network security measures in place to prevent access to Windows Update.

-Carl
"The glass is neither half-full nor half-empty: it's twice as big as it needs to be."

[tab][navy]For this site's posting policies, click [/navy]here.

 

[grofaty]

@Link, I executed registry changes and restarted PC, then from Control Panel started Automatic Updates and set them to automatic and OK. But now I see my computer is 100% CPU occupied with svchost.exe process. Now I remember few months back I disabled Automatic Updates because this was THE only working solution so stop my CPU eaten up by this process. Is there a way to get Windows updates and not get eaten by this svchost.exe process?

@cdogg, no computer is not in a domain. This is my notebook using at job and at home and updates are not working either.

 

[edfair]

Fix the svchost problem.

Download and run the cumulative security update for the version of IE on the machine.

Ed Fair
Give the wrong symptoms, get the wrong solutions.

 

[rclarke250]

You did read Gooms first post, did you read the article on the link? It talks about the svchost.exe issue. well, it should be all fixed, with last Tuesdays black Tuesday patch updates. Link Read article at link.

 

[goombawaho]

Download and run the cumulative security update for the version of IE on the machine.

edfair: That "fix" did NOT fix the SVCHOST problem for many people, including my old XP laptop!!!

If hope this latest round of patches will fix it, but then again I'm close to saying goodbye to XP.

"Living tomorrow is everyone's sorrow.
Modern man's daydreams have turned into nightmares.

 

[grofaty]

I installed cumulative fix for IE8 as suggested by edfair and now problem does not appear anymore.

Back to my original problem. I still don't get updates. I have turned on Automatic Update from Control Panel, but I do not get updates downloaded. Any idea how to FORCE automatic update checking?

 

[grofaty]

Hi,
I tried all sort of suggestions from multiple web pages and finally I have found out that Control Panel | Services | Automatic Update service was in "Stopping" state. I restarted Windows and exactly after Windows booted I got balloon message that "updates are ready". I clicked on balloon, dialog opened and I selected "Custom", looking through the list of updates and clicked on button to update. Updates are finally getting downloaded and installed. 37 fixes.
Thanks. Problem solved.