MS Windows Problem

Thank you for the reply Paul.

Out of desperation, I took the computer to a service center and they fixed it up within the hour. The tech explained just what he did, but it went right over my head. Right now, it's working perfectly.

Thanks for all your help and suggestions.

Paul

Just a question for OP.

After using the Fixit program, the Windows7 update program would be expected to again inform you that the updates have not been installed yet.

Did you actually hit the install button to allow the download and install take place? Letting the computer take the needed time to install, and then hitting "restart" with extra time allowed should work this time.

The fix program may have worked removing a bad install. Although; in less you actually shut down the computer during the install, the computer would not have installed any marked "failed". A warm "restart" is not the same as shutting off the computer, and then starting up again a little while later. That is a "cold start"

Windows7 saves a backup point right before the install. The computer program will automatically revert to this point for a failed install. This may be the case and the reason the fix program found nothing wrong after rechecking again.

There are times when a certain update might fail on a retry or two. One of the Silverlight updates was one from about two years ago. The update can be checked and "hidden" so the reminder does not keep coming up. I left that one "hidden" for a few months, and then "unhide" it to allow another chance at installation. It worked that time since they finally got the bugs out.

TEO wrote:
I'm not terminally stupid, but it's a good thing that I don't have access to high voltage electricity, toxic chemicals, or dangerous machinery. I followed the directions by Gdetrailer and by running Fixit twice, the problem was solved. Unfortunately, a few days later I got a message that 14 updates were ready and I clicked on it. I guess that 6 updates were new, but the 8 that have been such a bother were there also, because when I shut down the computer I got the message to leave the computer on to down load 8 updates. I figured that I could just run Fixit again and all would be fine. Nope. I ran Fixit three time and each time it said it found no problems. When I clicked on more help, I found that Fixit is a beta program that Microsoft no longer supports. I guess I will try a computer repair shop tomorrow.

Bummer :M

Doesn't surprise me that MS would discontinue the "fix its", they had a lot of them often issuing new ones (new "fix it programs)for each "bad" update release (which seems to happen a lot).

Many updates can be skipped without any major problem, I often look and read the update info a determine if it is really needed. I skip a few here and there that tend to be minor fixes.

Unfortunately MS has made a real mess of how the updates are handled and doesn't look like they are going to fix the problems...

Computer shop should be able to manually remove the bad updates in the registry (I have been dealing with PCs well before Windows existed and I am still not comfortable editing the Registry) then once cache is cleared should be able to skip the bad update..

I'm not terminally stupid, but it's a good thing that I don't have access to high voltage electricity, toxic chemicals, or dangerous machinery. I followed the directions by Gdetrailer and by running Fixit twice, the problem was solved. Unfortunately, a few days later I got a message that 14 updates were ready and I clicked on it. I guess that 6 updates were new, but the 8 that have been such a bother were there also, because when I shut down the computer I got the message to leave the computer on to down load 8 updates. I figured that I could just run Fixit again and all would be fine. Nope. I ran Fixit three time and each time it said it found no problems. When I clicked on more help, I found that Fixit is a beta program that Microsoft no longer supports. I guess I will try a computer repair shop tomorrow.

Good advice Gdetrailer!

TEO wrote:
I have a new HP laptop that I've been using for the past month, running 64 bit Windows 7. A couple of weeks ago I got the message "Please do not shut down or unplug installing update 1 of 8". Now, every time I shut down the computer I get the same message and when I check the update log it shows that installing updates 1 through 8 failed. When I look at the log, I can see all the times 1-8 failed and I can also see all the other updates that loaded fine.

I've searched the web and tried a couple of things including a program recommended by Microsoft, but nothing works. Would anyone have the key to this problem?

Thanks,

Paul

OK, what has happened is just one of the updates was corrupted during the download process. This jams up the whole entire update process causing all the other updates in the cue to also fail.

What you are going to need to do is a search for the update "fix it" tools from the MS update website (search for failed win7 updates).

You may need to run this tool SEVERAL times to actually correct the problem. The fix it tool will attempt to remove the updates from the cue, then clean the internet file cache plus fix the entries in the registry.

You might be able to find the "fix it" tool by manually launching the Windows update program manually.

Once you are in the Windows update website you want to MANUALLY CHOOSE the updates ONE AT A TIME (in other words choose the first one, let it install and reboot then lather, rinse and repeat until all updates have installed.

How to avoid this from happening again?

First is to SET Windows update to NOTIFY BUT DO NOT DOWNLOAD AUTOMATICALLY. THIS IS THE ONLY WAY TO AVOID FUTURE PROBLEMS with Win7 updates. It is a FLAW in Win7.

Under NO circumstances allow updates to happen automatically while you are not connected to a GOOD HIGH QUALITY WIRED NETWORK CONNECTION.

Allowing automatic download and install is the problem especially if you have a sketchy wireless connection.

using WiFI or any non wired network connections can damage the update file as it is being transferred to your PC if the connection has any momentary disconnections. Once damaged the file simply STAYS in the cue forever until you either use a fix it tool or manually do the steps the tool does.

I ran into this problem before and it took me several months to finally get past the error.

You can also do a internet search using "win7 failed updates", you will get lots of hits on this.

Install updates one at a time until you find the one causing the problem. Sometimes just one will cause all to fail.

System restore in safe mode -- I agree.

This is not an uncommon problem.

Email Microsoft tech support.
I had that problem and emailed them. They were very knowledgeable and helpful. They followed up with me until the issue was fixed.