"Configuring Windows updates" freezes at 13%?

I'm trying to get our office loaner laptop (Thinkpad E420, Windows 7) up and running smoothly as a weekend project. Being a loaner laptop, it appears that nobody updated Windows for the past year and a half, and there were 50-something updates when I ran Windows Update. For several hours now, it's been configuring and installing them as I power down. Every hour, it'll come back to the log-in screen, and then it'll either kick me out to the desktop (where shut-down allows me to install updates and shut down) or recommence the process.

The question I have, other than why it's taken probably six hours of computing time and the updates still aren't installed, is this: every time I commence a shut-down, it works it's way from 0% up to 13% in about fifteen minutes, and I've never ONCE today seen it at any percentage above 13%. It'll stay at 13% for an hour, I'll leave and come back, and it's ready for a login or something.

Is this normal? If not, any idea what's going on?

 

I just got a refurb PC for a HO track I am setting up. It also is a Windows 7 machine. I can tell you it took forever to do all the updates and if I remember correctly I had a hang up at a percentage as well. the scary part is it sounded like HDD activity ceased but after leaving it alone for a while it came back and then it was time for the next round. Damned you M$ and no SP2 for Windows 7.

 

Yes, Windows Updates can sometimes seem to be stuck and they "unstuck" after some time. The worse part is that if you are used to SSDs, you forget how slow updates can get on a HDD.

 

Agreed there, spoiled by my laptop.

 

True on the spoiled-by-SSD thing.

That said, I let it run all night and it still didn't make it any farther, and I looked up the update log in Windows Update and about 40 of the last 50 updates are listed as "failed." I think it's repeatedly trying and failing to update some of the more recent security updates for some reason.

 

Have you ran Lenovo's System Update?

My normal procedure on ThinkPads is to run that first and then proceed to WU.

I'm not saying that this approach will resolve your issue, but it might be worth a shot. Reverting the system to an earlier (pre-WU) date might be required in the given set of circumstances.

My $0.02 only...

Good luck.

 

I'll give that a shot, thanks for the tip.

 

ajkula wins! It's fully updated and running perfectly now.

I'm also impressed with the quality of the OEM software. I generally ignore the OEM software and consider it worthless bloat; I hadn't even thought to try it. But that's by far the best Windows OEM software I've ever played with.

 

Thank you for the kind words. I'm glad that you got the machine going properly.

Yes, Lenovo's Power Manager is by far the most impressive utility of its kind that I've ever come across. Unfortunately, it died with Windows 7...

Access Connections - depending on one's preferences and requirements - can also be very usable although I've personally haven't been utilizing it for years now.

 

[tangent]

Have you used any of the Win8 Thinkpads? With VAIO's new owners pulling it out of the US market, I was considering a Thinkpad Yoga for my next device, and I'm curious how well-executed the OEM software is.

[/tangent]

 

Used? No.

Played with? Yes.

Yoga is definitely an interesting device, and Lenovo has pretty decent return policies. If you feel that it's worth a shot given your own set of requirements, you should probably go for it.

If I were shopping for a similar piece of hardware, I'd likely go with Fujitsu, but that's because I had sworn not to buy a new Lenovo product ever again after they've killed the "old" 7-row keyboard layout...and I happen to have a soft spot for Fujis...