Hello everyone,

The great majority of my customers live in a resort/retirement community here in central Tennessee. Since they are older, they don’t like change just for change’s sake. Most of them are quite happy with Windows 7 and have no need nor desire to update to Windows 10. Windows 7 will continue to be supported by Microsoft until 2020 so why change from something that is familiar and works great?
I have installed and re-installed Windows 7 dozens of times. The installation goes very smooth but many times the Windows 7 operating system will then not update properly. It will not download nor install any updates. Windows update just “hangs” on the “Checking for updates………” window and does nothing. The update mechanism is broken. I have literally waited hours for the updates to download but the “Checking for updates……….” progress bar window just keeps churning away without doing anything. Has it happened to you?
Here is the fix (it has worked for me every time). This fix is not only for new installations but also for any current installation that just won’t update.

1. 1. Start Windows Update and change the Setting to Never check for updates. Restart the machine.
   2. Click on the Windows start globe and type “services” into the text box. Click on Services in the list that pops up. In the window that then pops up (its alphabetic), find Windows Update. Right-click on it and choose Stop.
      Now, you are going to reset Windows Update components:
   3. Start> All Programs> Accessories> Right-click on Command prompt> Choose Run as administrator> OK. Type the following in the black box:
      net stop wuauserv
      net stop cryptSvc
      net stop bits
      net stop msiserver
      ren C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution SoftwareDistribution.old
      ren C:\Windows\System32\catroot2 catroot2.old
      net start wuauserv
      net start cryptSvc
      net start bits
      net start msiserver
      Exit
   4. Tip: Instead of typing each line, just copy and paste the above commands into the command prompt black box> Enter.
   5. If steps 5 or 6 do not allow the operation, go back and click on the Start globe and type services into the text box. Click on Services in the list that pops up. In the window that then pops up (its alphabetic), find Windows Update. Right-click on it and choose Stop. It may have re-started itself.
   6. You are now going to download and install either one or two updates manually. In most cases only the first (KB3172605) of these is needed. If that produces a result that says the update is not appropriate for you computer, you need to first install the 2nd of these (KB3020369), then install the first (KB3172605). Choose the one that is for your machine — 32 bit (X86) or 64 bit (X64).
      KB3172605:
      32 bit
      https://download.microsoft.com/download/C/D/5/CD5DE7B2-E857-4BD4-AA9C-6B30C3E1735A/Windows6.1-KB3172605-x86.msu
      64 bit
      https://download.microsoft.com/download/5/6/0/560504D4-F91A-4DEB-867F-C713F7821374/Windows6.1-KB3172605-x64.msu
      KB3020369:
      32 bit
      https://download.microsoft.com/download/C/0/8/C0823F43-BFE9-4147-9B0A-35769CBBE6B0/Windows6.1-KB3020369-x86.msu
      64 bit
      https://download.microsoft.com/download/5/D/0/5D0821EB-A92D-4CA2-9020-EC41D56B074F/Windows6.1-KB3020369-x64.msu
   7. After restarting your computer, wait about 10 minutes until Windows Update completes its tasks. Do not use the computer for any other purpose during this wait period.
   8. Start Windows Update. It will take only a few minutes to come up with a list and download the updates you select. The process is quite normal as it always was from this point onward. If your computer has not been updated for a long time, it may take longer.
   9. Enjoy your updated machine!

Best wishes,
Randy The Tech Professor