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Windows Update not working

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DigitelD

Vendor
Mar 21, 2006
2,014
US
I have a Lenovo ThinkPad SL510 and my HDD crashed. I had it replaced and most of my data restored. However, now Windows Update does not work. I also cannot update Microsoft Security Essentials. When I try Windows Update it says, "Windows Update cannot currently check for updates, because the service is not running. You may need to restart your computer." I have tried all the fixes on the internet including the Microsoft fixes. None has worked. I am beginning to believe that the install of Windows 7 on this new HDD has a problem. Any ideas?

Thanks

SHK Certified (School of Hard Knocks)
NCSS, ATSP/IP
 
Check if the Windows Update Service is running.
Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Services

If the Windows Update service is not running, try starting it (it should be on automatic start)

The Windows Update service depends on the DCOM and the RPC services, so if not running you may need to start them.

Failing that, you might need to do a repair install.
 
How was the windows 7 software installed on the new hdd? Lenovo doesn't include disks, and on a hard drive crash you would need to order reload disks from the website. If not, the person who loaded the drive may have used a hacked version of windows 7, which has that portion disabled so it isn't detected as a bootleg copy.
 
The service is running. The PC repair company are the ones that installed Windows 7 on the new HDD. Windows has been activated. With a repair install will I need to reinstall all my data?

SHK Certified (School of Hard Knocks)
NCSS, ATSP/IP
 
A repair install should keep all programs and data but no Windows Updates (these will have to be re-applied).

Before doing anything major like this I would ensure I have a verified working image to restore if it all goes wrong though. Commercially there is Acronis or Shadow protect. There are also various free image backup programs available. All will run off a bootable CD. I would not recommend relying on Windows built in backup program.
 
Is there any problem with the firewall blocking access to Windows Update and MSE?

How to troubleshoot a problem by performing a clean boot in Windows Vista or in Windows 7


How do I reset Windows Update components?

How to Perform an In-Place Upgrade on Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 & Windows Server 2008 R2
 
Did you update the browser to IE9? If so try to go back to IE8.
Long shot but i know with XP i have had that happen dozens of times in a fresh install and the working solution i found is manually install IE8.
I do realize this is windows 7 but it is worth a try before doing the repair install.
 
If you try all the above and no luck, I would advise a RAM test just to make sure you didnt have a multiple component failure.

Also, did you/repair company test the hard drive outside of the laptop to determine failure? Ive had false positives on HDD failure from a dieing motherboard......

Would use something free and easy like Memtest.

"Silence is golden, duct tape is silver...
 
I had the same issue. Since I couldn't get anything from MS for downloading I had to download SP1 from an alternate machine to a flash drive. I copied the SP to the problem machine and now I can do Windows updates
 
DigitelD,

Make sure you're not experience the problem described in Issue 1 here:


-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.
 
I finally took the Lenovo laptop back to the repair shop. Here is what they found. As long as they installed generic drivers, Windows Update worked fine. When they installed a Lenovo driver (not sure if it was a particular one or just a random one), Windows Update failed. They removed it and put a generic in its place and all was well. They researched this issue and found that others had experienced the same problem.

SHK Certified (School of Hard Knocks)
NCSS, ATSP/IP
 
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