Windows 7 hanging on ‘Checking for Updates’

Recently I’ve had to install a fresh copy of Windows 7 in order to build up a SOE for a client.  The first thing I realised is that there’s an update for the Windows Update agent itself.  DON’T DO THIS UPDATE!  Whatever you do!

This will update the Windows Update to version 7.6.7600.320.  There are many issues that  have been documented with this version.  The most important I would say is the fact that you suddenly can no longer search for Windows Updates.  If you check for new updates, it will sit there saying “Checking for Updates” indefinitely.

When imaging a new machine, ensure that you don’t have it connected to the network, and when it asks to install updates, click “Ask me later”.  Once you’ve done that, you will need to install two Windows Updates.  These you will need to download from another computer and it would be the best idea to copy it over through USB drive.

They are the following updates:

1. KB3020369