Checking for updates slow

I have found that in addition to disconnecting the internet while installing, downloading in small groups seems to help speed the process if there are a lot of updates.
 
I found this post very helpful.

http://wu.krelay.de/en/2016-07.htm

After reading that I found the following steps worked somewhat well after a Win764SP1 fresh install.

1. Disconnect network cable from PC.
2. Download appropriate Windows Update Client to a flash drive on another PC.
3. Install that one update.
4. Reboot.
5. Run WSUSOffline as normal while network is disconnected.
6. Eventually finish offline and revert to online.
 
Metanis said:
I found this post very helpful.

http://wu.krelay.de/en/2016-07.htm

After reading that I found the following steps worked somewhat well after a Win764SP1 fresh install.

1. Disconnect network cable from PC.
2. Download appropriate Windows Update Client to a flash drive on another PC.
3. Install that one update.
4. Reboot.
5. Run WSUSOffline as normal while network is disconnected.
6. Eventually finish offline and revert to online.
Click to expand...
one of the first things wsus offline does is put the latest update client on.
 
Sorry to have to ask this, but can someone link to a valid page where WSUSOffline update can be safely downloaded. I'm in the same boat as many of you. I can't even find some of the hotfixes anymore, MS's links are going dead it seems, for Win 7. I just spent a couple of days trying to iron out a fresh installation and this is just a sickening waste of time. I did get an ISO made that is effectively Win 7 SP2 but even that is unable to pull down the remaining updates after hours of waiting. Has anyone created an ISO with most of what's needed baked in? That would be a lifesaver to all of us if so. I doubt I'll ever go Win 10. What a mess for those of us spurning their recent practices.
 
Having not previously needed that I was reluctant to accept it from any site initially. I did run WSUSOffline and am still stuck with a seemingly endless waiting period for updates... Still trying to perfect my Win 7 x64
"SP2"ISO to reduce this nuisance... No luck yet.
 
nsomnius said:
Having not previously needed that I was reluctant to accept it from any site initially. I did run WSUSOffline and am still stuck with a seemingly endless waiting period for updates... Still trying to perfect my Win 7 x64
"SP2"ISO to reduce this nuisance... No luck yet.
Click to expand...
It could still take hours but will be much quicker than online updates. Make sure you're offline when you run offline updates.
 
And remember WSUSOffline needs to be cycled several/many times (or check the box) to complete the rounds of updates in the order needed.
 
Thanks guys, still at it again today after no joy with Windows Update sat overnight and went no where apparently.
Has anyone created an ISO that is capable of turning the WU nightmare into something actually manageable?
The idea of going through this even one more time is infuriating.
 
WSUS Offline update did the trick for me at last. There were only 25 or so updates remaining and I didn't have to wait to get them. It downloaded a couple of gigabytes of data and I don't know which was the critical bit or I'd try to add those to the ISO.
 
nsomnius said:
WSUS Offline update did the trick for me at last. There were only 25 or so updates remaining and I didn't have to wait to get them. It downloaded a couple of gigabytes of data and I don't know which was the critical bit or I'd try to add those to the ISO.
Click to expand...
Somewhere in these forums I spoke of using "RT 7 Lite" complete with links to the program (make sure you get the correct bit version if/when you should download it.) I used it to make an installable version of Win7Pro64bit with several rollups and other updates in the installable software (I use USB for my media.) If you search for my article / message you will find that what I have done helps greatly. In fact the latest image I created runs as an unattended installation of the O/S with the extra updates. All I do afterwords is run WSUS Offline, install extra software, then finish up with running Windows 7 updates. It has worked great for the last 3 or 4 installs I've done.
 
nlinecomputers said:
This is what I do now on Win 7.

1. Install Win 7 with SP1
2. Install April 2015 Service Stack KB3020369
3. Install Rollup KB3125574
4. Install WSUS update KB3138612
5. Install IE11
6 Setup Microsoft Update
7. Run Microsoft Update
Click to expand...
Just did this again - on a pretty plain install of Win7 Home Prem., 64 bit. Worked like a dream :)

The only difference I do with this routine is to run WSUS Offline Update before I run any type of Updates.
 
I did what i said in my above post to a Win 8.1 machine the other day. The updates were going nowhere overnight. I cancelled the update, downloaded and installed the first four (about 25MB worth) and that took about 30 minutes. Then I started over with the rest (139 updates) that took about two hours.

I don't know why this works, it just does.
 
Just download/install KB3020369 and KB 3172605 (combined..takes under 5 minutes on a slow rig, under 2 minutes on a fast rig)....reboot, let it sniff for updates (around 5-15 minutes)....tons of updates will show up like normal, download/install, done.
Those 2 updates get rid of that painfully long "first check for updates" that seems like a takes a day or overnight lately.

Some rigs, depending on what level Windows is, suggest you stop the Windows Update service before running the downloads above.

Been doing it this way for months...works well. No more hours of wait. Just a couple of minutes at the most.
 
Last edited:
Glenn said:
Hi
Has anybody found a real fix for the slow update process after installing windows 7 sp1 ?
It sticks on checking for updates for ages, got a laptop here that has been trying for 20 hrs now.
Regards
Glenn
Click to expand...

I have tried so many things to make it work properly I was at my wits end. this however from TomsHardware did the job.

"I had a similar problem but just busted it. I wanted to do a clean install of my Win7-Ultimate(64) to upgrade a computer to Win10, while I still could. Although the install media is SP-1, there are still about 250 important and optional updates to catch up on (hello SP2?). As soon as the new install was done, I tried to update - left it running for over 24 hours - with no progress after "searching for updates." After doing some research, several people had good results with downloading KB3102810(update client improvements for speed), KB3138612(latest Update Client) and KB947821(SUR Tool) and installing in that order to improve update speed.

However, when I tried them, the process stalled at "Standalone Installer is searching for updates on this machine." I noticed that the updates were creating a "sandbox" folder in the root, but it appeared that it could not find the cab, etc once it did. So, I rebooted to stop all of the update processes and then used the Package Manager in the following manner. I deleted the previous locked folders (with names like "C:\42c85776e1df4d1b8b5495" etc.) so I knew which update I was working with. I launched KB3102810 and then closed the window from the taskbar when it stalled. I opened a cmd window (as administrator) in the new protected folder (C:\42c85776e1df4d1b8b5495) and did a directory to find the *.xml file, which is the command file for the Package Manager (and in this case is "Windows6.1-KB3102810-x64.xml"). I then ran the Package Manager with the command:

pkgmgr.exe /n:Windows6.1-KB3102810-x64.xml

Shortly after, I got a message that the Package Manager needed to restart the computer - HOORAH!

I allowed the system to restart and then repeated the same procedure for KB3138612 (folder was called C:\1503477940f2dae5bbe33a246dcc this time). Again, I got the message that Package Manager needed to reboot the computer,so I did.

When I started the procedure for the SUR Tool, the process did not stall,but instead made it all the way through. Apparently installing KB3138612 had fixed whatever issue was preventing the Standalone Installer from finding the updates once expanded. Not only did the update make it through, but now even without a restart, the windows update page showed 194 important and 67 optional updates available. I let update start and left the computer overnight and it was waiting this morning for me to restart. It did a 5 phase update during shutdown and restart. I had 9 updates remaining that had either not been selected or had initially failed, but those installed fine on the second attempt and I am now writing this on the fully updated computer."

here is the link to the original post.

http://www.tomshardware.com/answers...te-download-updates.html?57dae0f287e6c=reload

rgds
Badger
 
YeOldeStonecat said:
Just download/install KB3020369 and KB 3172605 (combined..takes under 5 minutes on a slow rig, under 2 minutes on a fast rig)....reboot, let it sniff for updates (around 5-15 minutes)....tons of updates will show up like normal, download/install, done.
Those 2 updates get rid of that painfully long "first check for updates" that seems like a takes a day or overnight lately.

Some rigs, depending on what level Windows is, suggest you stop the Windows Update service before running the downloads above.

Been doing it this way for months...works well. No more hours of wait. Just a couple of minutes at the most.
Click to expand...
Are we going to be able to install these 2 specific KB when MS reverts to roll-ups in October?
 
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