Windows 7 keeps trying to install an update every time I try to shut down the computer and it keeps giving me a message about failing. How can I find out what Windows is trying to install?
Go to the Start menu to All Programs and select Windows Update. The Windows Update box should display information about any updates it still needs to install. If there are updates listed, try clicking the Install Updates button to manually install them and see if Windows succeeds this time. If the installation fails, you should see a dialog box explaining why, with an error code and Help links you can use for researching the issue on Microsoft’s site.Windows also keeps a list of all the updates it has installed (or tried to install) that you can review. Just click the “View update history” link on the left side of the Windows Update window.Once you do, you should see a list of all the updates downloaded for Windows and other Microsoft products installed on the computer. You can see the success — or failure — of each update’s installation, as well as the installation date. To see the technical reason why a past update failed (and to get more information on the error), right-click on its entry on the list and select View Details from the contextual menu.In the box that appears on screen, click the “Get help with this error” link to open the Windows Help and Support box. Here, you can run the Windows Update troubleshooter program or get more information on the problem.The main Update History screen also has a link for troubleshooting common problems with installing updates. Clicking this link also opens the Windows Help and Support box, but provides more general articles about update issues, like how to hide updates you don’t want to install.Microsoft has much of the same information here on the Web if you want to read up on the topic before wading around in Windows Update. The company also has a more technical document that covers update issues for a wider variety of Microsoft products as well.
Windows 7 keeps trying to install an update every time I try to shut down the computer and it keeps giving me a message about failing. How can I find out what Windows is trying to install?
Go to the Start menu to All Programs and select Windows Update. The Windows Update box should display information about any updates it still needs to install. If there are updates listed, try clicking the Install Updates button to manually install them and see if Windows succeeds this time. If the installation fails, you should see a dialog box explaining why, with an error code and Help links you can use for researching the issue on Microsoft’s site.
Windows also keeps a list of all the updates it has installed (or tried to install) that you can review. Just click the “View update history” link on the left side of the Windows Update window.
Once you do, you should see a list of all the updates downloaded for Windows and other Microsoft products installed on the computer. You can see the success — or failure — of each update’s installation, as well as the installation date. To see the technical reason why a past update failed (and to get more information on the error), right-click on its entry on the list and select View Details from the contextual menu.
In the box that appears on screen, click the “Get help with this error” link to open the Windows Help and Support box. Here, you can run the Windows Update troubleshooter program or get more information on the problem.
The main Update History screen also has a link for troubleshooting common problems with installing updates. Clicking this link also opens the Windows Help and Support box, but provides more general articles about update issues, like how to hide updates you don’t want to install.
Microsoft has much of the same information here on the Web if you want to read up on the topic before wading around in Windows Update. The company also has a more technical document that covers update issues for a wider variety of Microsoft products as well.
