Windows Update Searching In Infinite Loop - Not Working In Windows 7

[nyjfootball]

Hi,

I reinstalled a fresh copy of Windows 7 Premium Edition on a HP Pavilion DV6 laptop after changing the failed harddrive. My first attempt at both. After installing all the drivers I could find from the HP website, I was up and running, but realized Windows Update would search endlessly. I tried all the boards, suggestions, and driver downloads I read about, but nothing is working. Windows Update Standalone Installer cycles endlessly as well. Almost everything I download to fix this issues requires Windows Standalone Installer for installation. Coincidentally, Windows Defender won't update either.  Can anyone help this newbie? I appreciate all your help.

Thanks,

NYJ

[Chimney_83]

Welcome to HP Forums @nyjfootball,

Thanks for the post, I see you are unable to update Windows or Windows Defender after you replaced the hard drive of your computer. Kudos to you trying to troubleshoot the issue on your own. I would like to assist you from here. 

I recommend you to check the system date and time and the timezone set for the system clock on the taskbar. 

Check if the copy of Windows is activated or not. Go to control panel and select System. 

Once the copy of Windows is activated and the correct time and timezone are set. 

Open control panel by right-clicking on the Windows (Start) button.

On the top right side corner of the control panel, you have the option to search control panel. 

Type troubleshooter, run the troubleshooter for Windows update. It will automatically correct the Windows update issue. 

Also, refer to this Microsoft article for Update issues. 

Let me know if this helped or if you need any further assistance.

If you wish to help others looking for the same solution as you've found, mark the post as Accepted Solution.
If you wish to show appreciation for my effort, please click the Thumbs up icon at the bottom of my comment.

And I Hope you have a good day, Ahead.

[nyjfootball]

Hi Chimney_83,

First off, thanks for lending a helping hand.

Checked system clock and date - all correct

I have authenticated this copy of Windows. All good.

I let the Windows Update Troubleshooter run for about half an hour. I didn't get anywhere. It just searched endlessly, so I cancelled it.

I went through the Microsoft Windows Update article and completed all the steps for Windows 7. I did it twice actually using the first and second methods. No sollution unfortunatley, but it did reveal a few errors. In step 6 - "reregister the BITS and Windows Update files", Almost all went smooth, except the following DLL's had problems, were missing, had errors, or werent running:

regsvr32.exe mshtml.dll
regsvr32.exe shdocvw.dll
regsvr32.exe browseui.dll
regsvr32.exe msxml.dll
regsvr32.exe gpkcsp.dll
regsvr32.exe sccbase.dll
regsvr32.exe slbcsp.dll
regsvr32.exe initpki.dll
regsvr32.exe wuaueng1.dll
regsvr32.exe wucltui.dll
regsvr32.exe wuweb.dll
regsvr32.exe qmgr.dll
regsvr32.exe muweb.dll

I also ran a test using the DOS prompt/CMD. I'm sorry I don't know the test name. I think it was checking on DLL errors. The test came back fine showing no errors.

Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

NYJ

[Chimney_83]

Thanks for the reply, 

Recommend you to install the drivers for your computer using HP Support Assistant. 

For Windows updates, recommend you to observe it for couple days, sometimes it fixes itself automatically.

Also, you can run sfc command on the computer to try and repair files. Refer to this Microsoft article. 

Let me know if this helped or reply for further assistance. 

If you wish to help others looking for the same solution as you've found, mark the post as Accepted Solution.
If you wish to show appreciation for my effort, please click the Thumbs up icon at the bottom of my comment.

And I Hope you have a good day, Ahead.

[WAWood]

nyjfootball

I've run into the same problems trying to do Win7 Windows Updates and the fix below has worked for me ...

Download these updates before starting the installation process and copy them to a USB flash drive.

Disconnect the network cable or disable the WiFi.

Install these two updates from the flash drive before connecting to the network and running Windows Update.

KB Links:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3083710
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3172605

Have to stop the Windows Update service BEFORE installing each of these: net stop wuauserv

NOTE: KB3172605 supercedes KB3161608 which supercedes KB3102810

Then, after you re-enable Windows Update, it should only take 2-4 hours to find and do the updates, not days.

Good Luck

[nyjfootball]

Hi Chimney_83,

I installed HP Support Assistant and ran the update tool. I'm up to date surprisingly. No updates are available for me.

I ran the SFC Command and there are no errors.

Any other suggestions? I really appreciate you working with me.

Thanks,

NYJ

[nyjfootball]

Hi WAWood,

Thanks for helping out. Much appreciated. I followed your instructions and I'm having a prblem installing:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3172605 . I get an error message stating the update is not applicable. I tried all the different versions.

I was able to install the other update:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3083710

Disabling WiFi was the key in getting the update to install. Thanks for that.

Overall, still no luck though. Windows Update is still cycling endlessly.

I'll gladly take any other suggestions.

Thanks again,

NYJ

[WAWood · Accepted solution]

nyjfootball

Recently, folks have been getting an error message trying to install KB3172605 to get
their Windows Update working again.

Current suggestions for dealing with this are to manually install KB3020369 (using one
of the links below) and then try to install 3172605, again:
32-bit link:  https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=46827
64-bit link:  https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=46817

Good Luck

[nyjfootball]

That did it! Thank you WAWood! Nailed it. Thanks to Chimney_83 for all your help as well.