Windows Vista forum: Windows update went bad, now my PC is stuck in endless updating cycle

See the post below on resolving problems with Windows update with endless looping when you have MS Office installed. Make sure the original installation folder is present. If not, uninstall and reinstall office.

Just do a PC Restore Susannah and that should solved your problem.

With Vista Service Patch 2, on the 5 separate computers I did this on, they ALL HUNG in an endless update cycle (where the update screen was constant and unchanging for up to several hours, or even overnight)...if the UPDATE does NOT finish in under an hour, it's HUNG!

On each computer, I just did a FORCE POWER OFF (by holding the poweron button, or unplugging the computer), and then RESTARTED the computer.

In each of the 5 cases, the computer RESTARTED, and then FINISHED the update with NO FURTHER PROBLEMS.

I know this is a SCARY thing to do, but turning off the computer and simply restarting SHOULD work in most cases!


GLH from New York City

riccken that's a good point you make about the speed of your connection. I have a friend that is still using dialup internet on an XP machine. Were there also a bunch of updates released for XP on 10/13, or was it just for Vista? I'm worried my friend will run into the "hanging update" problem if she tries to install them over dialup.

I can tell you that one of te greatest features of Vista is the go back to another time went the computer didn't have problems. So this is what you do. 1.) Start Menu 2.) Control Panel 3.) System and Maintenance 4.) Backup and Restore Center; He there are two main items "Back up files" and "Restore file" You don't want either. What you want is below Restore Files, it says "Use System Restore to fix a problem and undo changes to Windows." them you pick a time a day or two before the problem started. It gives you an option to use a date it picks. I never go with that, it isn't far enough back. So check go back further an choose a date before the problem began. Good luck.

mlgrant

... or at least it was to me!

I had the precisely same problem, but it's not important you hassle with "we have that, too" on this issue. The proportion of Vista users who have encountered this very same problem is amazingly high, according to MSFT. I did the "phone routine" but employed a slick phone hack taught me by my daughter's husband.

His advice: "Dad, no sweat. What updates, please? All I need are the reference numbers. I'll hold." I looked and gave him the ref nos,, which he scanned and started barking out questions to me:

"OK Dad, did you ever install IE8 - BETA or etc?"
"No."
"Good. That's one down. W/Update doesn't like you because you refused to install IE8. Redmond is upset you're not playing by the rules. Hide that so-called update and let's move on."

"OK, next? It says .... and the REF NO is ..... ."
"Dad, have you installed a new printer / copier since the last one 'exploded' a couple months ago?"
"No, you two said you had one for me."
"Oops, well this weekend when we come over, I'll bring the copier and set you up. I'm sorry I forgot. Now, hide that so-called update and let's move on."

And on we went for about five W/Updates total. So I asked him: "Is it really this simple? Nowadays, Windows actually cries at you when you can't install an Update because the Update applies to some hardware or software that's not on your system?"

He responded: "Oh, yeah! Wait'll you see MSE - it replaces Windows Defender and adds a Microsoft Anti-Virus. Some people liked Defender, y'know? It was great at killing unwanted Start-Up programs. And the MSE A/Virus? We shall see... . Microsoft infers in future ad's that Seven's safe and solid as a rock because 'MSE's now built-in!' the implication being no more paying Symantec or Kaspersky Labs - Trust us in Redmond for free!"

All I could say was, "you must be kidding."

In the Continental USA, I called 1-800-MICROSOFT and was immediately connected over to the "VISTA / SEVEN" tech assistance line ( ! ). A certiified tech (their term - oh no..) in MSFT stuff, said "Do you mind if I take control of your system and have a look around?"

I told her "no problem, please snoop to your heart's content. I want to know how MSFT has messed things up this time - with the really important W/Updates program no less. The thing I love about the Windows o/s is that, when it screws it, it does it with style!"

She almost laughed. After study, she very much agreed and spent +/- 40 minutes inside the system. "Nice system!" I told her I was lucky to have a son-in-law who's a programmer who loves building systems as a hobby like this one, but he's away on business. And this darn W/Updates deal is hassling me in a major way.

The lady @ MSFT 800-777-xxxx said "no worries. Everything's where it belongs and has patched the system as required. No Crit/Imp W/Updates missing in action. As for the CPU and GPU, all drivers were 100% up to date. You are good to go!"

So I said to the lady, "You make this sound common: Windows Vista W/Update is wrong and its owner is right? Nah... Windows is always right, right?"

"Wrong! Many of the W/Updates beginning with Vista are wrong at worst or extra baggage at best and the user - you - is right. Isn't that too cool? I've got Seven Professional and W/Updates is messed up and funky for many including me ... the trend started with Vista. All Seven is, really, is a Vista update. And we just demo'ed how expert Windows is at fixing those Updates, right?"

The Conclusion, amazing as it maybe: W/Updateable Stuff was all perfectly current and healthy. But Windows has decided that it doesn't wish to read it correctly, amazing as that sounds.

That's one of the reasons I'm keeping Vista for at least another year. By Autumn 2010, hopefully we'll have the laptop / desktop Google Chrome and / or Ubuntu Linux widely pre-installed as the world's new operating system(s) that are the faves of Dell, HP,
Acer, Sony, Toshiba and Lenovo??

In my experience, system restore is a totally inadequate program for what it has to do. I have a relatively small (main) hard drive, 80 gb used for programs with a 250gb secondary drive for data. There is always room (currently over 15gb) on the 80gb drive to maintain System Restore points, however there is usually only one restore point a day, some days there are none at all, even though the computer is in use every day from 9am to midnight or later. When installing programs, system restore often does not record this as it should.
For some time I have been using a program called ERUNT (Emergency Recovery Utility NT). This program makes a backhp of the registry at first startup every day, and can make further backups on demand. The program can be downloaded at http://www.snapfiles.com/get/erunt.html
I have lost count of the times this program has come to the rescue.

I have the same problem with Windows XP. I get updates every day and it's a pain, but you don't dare stop them.

Maybe you can try this it worked for me.Shut down your pc and when it starrts back uo keep hitting the F8 key until u see where you have choices.The you will pick use last know good configuration.It worked great for me.Good Luck..

Hi Suzanna, I am having the same problem and got this responce from Microsoft, hope it helps you
Thank you for choosing Microsoft Online Support Service for Windows. My name is Deepa Batheja and I will be assisting you with this Service Request # SRX1115312927.



From the information provided in your email, I understand that we are unable to install Service Pack1.



Here are few steps that should help us resolve the problem:



ACTION PLAN:



1. Click Start and type MSDT in Start Search or Run and then press Enter or OK.



2. Click on THIS COMPUTER to get to the next Window.



3. Enter the following Passkey when prompted : 4333803313



4. Follow the on-screen instructions and send us the diagnostic report.



Now perform the following steps mentioned below:



5. Delete the temporary files from the following folders:



Click Start, type the names of the folders given below one by one in the Start Search or Run and press Enter or Click OK to open the following folders: -



temp

prefetch

%temp%



6. Click Start -> Control Panel -> User Accounts and click on Turn User Account Control On or Off.



7. Uncheck Turn UAC (User Account Control) to help protect your computer and click OK.



8. Restart the computer on prompt.



9. Click Start, type services.msc in the start search and press "Enter" key to open the Services window.



Right click on the following Services and click STOP to stop the services.

Background Intelligence Transfer Service.

Cryptographic Service

Windows Update



NOTE: Do not close the Services Local Window as it will be required after following the next few steps.



10. Click Start and then click Computer.



11. Open the C: Drive and then open the Windows Folder.



12. Look for SoftwareDistribution Folder and rename the folder to SDold.



13. Now look for System32 Folder in C:\Windows and open it.



14. Look for Catroot2 folder and rename to CT2old.



15. Close the current Window.



16. Now go back to Services Local Window and right click on the same Services we stopped in Step 5.



17. Uninstall the anti-virus software, firewall and spyware or adware protection software installed on the computer.



Click Start > Control Panel > Programs and Features to get the list of installed programs on the computer.

Select the anti-virus software from the list and remove it from the computer.

Restart the system when it is uninstalled successfully.



NOTE: After uninstalling the Security Software and once SP1 is installed and configured successfully, we will be reinstalling the Security Software. If you have the disc for the security software can reinstall it. If not and was provided along with the computer can contact the computer manufacturer or can contact the Security Software developers for further assistance.



18. Downloading the update KB947562



To install the KB947562 update manually, you can also use the following Microsoft support site:



For 32-bit Vista:



http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=49AA7826-8543-4F24-8F88-46E454DF3063&displaylang=en



For 64-bit Vista:



http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=9554B1DC-5271-41D1-884F-AD0E58BED4F8&displaylang=en



Download the update and save it on the desktop.



NOTE: If while trying to install KB947562 it give the message as This update does not apply to your system this indicates that the update is not required on the computer and can proceed to the next step.



19. Check if the update has been installed completely onto your computer.



Click Start>Control Panel>Programs and Features>View Installed Updates in the left hand side Tasks.

If it is mentioned there it means that it has been installed and then we can try to download and install SP1 on the computer otherwise do let me know before you try to download SP1 and install it.



20. Try to install SP1 manually.



To install the Windows Vista Service Pack 1 manually, you can also use the following Microsoft support site:



For 32-bit Vista:



http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=F559842A-9C9B-4579-B64A-09146A0BA746&displaylang=en



For 64-bit Vista:



http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=86d267bd-dfcd-47cf-aa76-dc0626dcdf10&displaylang=en



Download and save the All Language Standalone Package of SP1 on the desktop.



21. Try to install Service Pack 1 from the downloaded package and check whether SP1 is getting installed and later configured or not.



NOTE: Please provide us with any Error Code or message if the installation or configuration fails.





You can also find these steps on our support website http://www.microsoft.com/uk/support and the article # is KB936330

i want fujitsu siemens amilo D7820 sound driver sound is not coming can any tjing can i get

Hi Susannah,
I had exactly the same problem when I re installed Vista on my PC everytime I start the computer it said:

Configurating updates: stage 3 of 3 - 0% complete

And then reboots, and reboots, and reboots ... I had it rebooting for over an hour before I stopped the madness.

I went to the Microsoft update production team blog which had this information on its site:

"So what caused the problem? Well, the SSU has special code to check whether there are any pending reboots or other updates to install. If it sees either of these circumstances, it prevents the install from starting. During our investigation, we discovered that there were a few unknown and rare events during the middle of the installation of the update that could cause the update to think it needed a reboot to complete the installation. If this happened, the system entered a repeating reboot loop".

So how do you fix it?
well if you have this issue installing from Windows Update, please see this KB article from Microsoft titled:
"The update is not installed successfully, you receive a message, and the computer restarts when you try to install an update in Windows Vista and Windows 7", you will find it hear:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/949358

Follow the instructions given at the Microsoft site to roll back your software to a working state before the problem update.
However before you then let automatic updates start updating your computer again which will just cause the same problem all over again.
Read then used the how to avoid this problem instructions at the bottom of the Microsoft document to do a succesfull update of the problem file.
Then you can let automatic updates update your computer again without problems.

If you do not have an original Vista DVD as requested in the Microsoft online document to boot from and do a restore(your pc or laptop came pre loaded with Vista), or for some reason the F8 method does not work.
Then you can download and burn to disk a Vista Recovery CD Avilable from here:
http://neosmart.net/blog/2008/windows-vista-recovery-disc-download/

Boot from this disk instead and restrore your computer to an earlier working state.

You can if you wish do a quick fix instead of the above, using any of the 3 boot methods (original disk F8 or recovery disk)by doing the following:

1. Insert your Vista Media and boot from it or press F8 while booting.
2. Select "Repair your Computer" from the list.
3. Select "Command Prompt" from the recovery choices.
4. At the command prompt change your directory to C:WindowsWinSxS
5. Type: del pending.xml
6. Exit and reboot

This will fix all Windows update reboot loops and does not require you to restore your PC to and earlier state.

However it does not address the fact that your automatic update failed.
To fix the failed update problem you must follow the instructions given at the start of this document.
Hope this helps best regards Ed Haddon.

Here's another question-if I startup in safe mode with command prompt, can I do these steps
4. At the command prompt change your directory to C:WindowsWinSxS
5. Type: del pending.xml
6. Exit and reboot

without the Vista DVD?

ANd I assume I would have to change my Boot to the hard drive ( i changed it to the CD for the previously tried option.)..???

I have no idea why there were no restore points, but I have seen others write in to forums about this issue with the same lack of restore points.

I read the microsoft resolution and tried it, didn't work. I tried using the Vista recovery disk to repair, couldn't do it. So I deleted the pending file. Now I am waiting to see what problems arise from that!

Some forums have an older Microsoft fix, which has you re-name the pending file, the make changes to the registry. I didn't make those changes, since I deleted the file.

I have reviewed the restore points, after making on immediately after deleting the pending file. There are additional restore points that were done automatically. And, it had been set up to make restore points. So I have no idea why there were no restore points when the looping occurred.

Does anyone know about issues arising after the pending.xml is deleted?

U can bypass the process by log in to safe mode which can be done by pressing F8 while the pc is booting up. then restart ur pc. I faced the same problem a few times.

My problem was caused by a software called Spyware Terminator. It blocked all the attempts of changes in my pc. But after I uninstall the software, I still encounter the same issue once in a while.

Cant wait to get a copy of Windows 7!