Past month or so when I go to windows updates to download them, it will just say 'downloading updates' at 0% and stay that way seemingly forever without downloading. I've tried to download like one at a time but it does the same thing and will not download.
Windows updates won't download I've been notified of new updates in the past few days, but they won't download. The window constantly says 'Downloading xxx updates, 0% completed'. Vista users may therefore download and install security patches for Windows Server 2008 to keep their system up to date. How to install Server 2008 patches on Windows Vista. Since Windows Update won't work anymore on Vista machines, updates need to be downloaded and installed manually. Windows Vista users and administrators may install.
What is really strange is that after a couple shutdowns of my computer, i've noticed that the bottom left corner 'power' button will be red with 'install updates and shutdown' indicator available. When I click that, it has downloaded anywhere from 1-3 of the close to 30 needed updates. It will not download them all. ALso, that 'install and shutdown' button isn't available everytime.
Windows Updates Won't Download In Vista
I have 3 Vista PCs in my office which won't download Windows Updates, either automatically or manually. When I click on 'Check for Updates', I get the message 'Windows could not search for new updates', error code 80072EFD. I have tried the suggestions in the Help and KB articles which the error links to (mainly regarding firewalls and antivirus software), but to no avail. I suspect there is some setting on my server (SBS2003) which is preventing these updates, though all the XP machines on the network have no problem with updates, only the 3 Vistas.Any thoughts on where I might look for a setting which might be causing this problem? These PCs have not been able to be updated since they were first added to the network 2 years ago (though I didn't notice it till about 6 months ago, and have been trying to solve it since then).Thanks!
user5793
7 Answers
This frequently happens on some machines when Microsoft changes service packs. I never understood why it happens, but the solution is quite simple.
The solution is to download the Standalone version of vista service pack 2 and install by hand. After the installation, Windows Update will start functioning again.
If google is not playing me false, the download location is here.
harrymcharrymc
Microsoft has a KB article that describes this error as well as several more. It is KB 836941 You may encounter temporary connection-related errors when you use Windows Update or Microsoft Update to install updates . There are seven possible resolutions, so you may need to try each one until it is resolved.
For your information, the KB discusses the following Windows/Microsoft Update errors:
Error 0x80070008
Error 0x800705B4
Error 0x8007000E
Error 0x80072EE2
Error 0x80072EFD
Error 0x80072EE7
Error 0x80072EEF
Error 0x80072EFE
Error 0x8024400E
Error 0x80072F76
Error 0x80244016
Error 0x80072F78
Error 0x80244022
Error 0x80090305
Error 0x8024402F
Error 0x8009033F
Error 0xC80003FA
Error 0x80244008
Error 0xC800042D
Error 0x8024400A
Error 0x80071A90
Error 0x8024400D
These errors may occur caused by any of the following issues:
Applications or processes that interfere with Internet communications
Resource issues on your computer
Too much activity on the update site
High Internet activity
Recoverable database errors
Server time-out issues on the Windows Update or Microsoft Update site
shuflershufler
80072EFD. Hmm...
Go into the registry on the Vista machines and check the value of the registry key UseWUServer in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESoftwarePoliciesMicrosoftWindowsWindowsupdateAU.
Is it 1?
Windows Vista Home Premium Won't Download Updates
If so, set it to 0 and restart.
A forum thread on this very problem can be found here.
KezKez
I had the same issue
To fix this I opened the update log located at
There I found
And then I remembered I had Fiddler installed. Fidler is used as local proxy to display HTTP traffic, so when it wasn't started, the proxy server effectively didn't work and that prevented Windows from downloading updates. To add more confusion, I was able to access websites and manually download things from the local browser. It's only automated stuff was not going through and I misinterpreted this as some sort of malware.
I fixed Fiddler by unchecking the proxy checkboxes
oleksiioleksii
I've had the same problem as you with Vista Business. It happened after I had just reinstalled Vista. I did the updates that were available; after that, it just kept saying 'Windows could not search for new updates'.
The solution to my problem was installing a fresh copy of Vista Business and installing SP1 manually (or just try to find a DVD with Vista already patched).
alexalex
Last time I saw this problem, it was due to the Conficker worm. Do the other MS security elements work fine? I don't know, Conficker might be quite irrelevant by now, but run this simple check:Conficker eye chart
outsideblastsoutsideblasts
I'll suggest you to follow a REPAIR INSTALL, as soon as possible, this tutorial proved all its valor many times and i've used personally for our 'fragile' Vistas.
'Litte off-topic'If you are responsible of your office LAN you are taking needless risks leaving this pcs without updates and linked to the net for so long especially if we seen the huge quantity of bugs viruses and vulnerabilities developed and discovered during these 2-3 years, that kind of errors may cause a lot of problem to your company and yourself.