Windows has been updating for weeks

firbyfred

For many weeks when my two son's turn off their computer there is a windows update logo on the shut down tab, it then takes ages to turn off.
Now we have resorted to turning it off via an other tab to by pass this.
Why is it taking so long to update?

Belnahua

Do a manual update by clicking on the yellow shield while the computer is running, and it should show an update which has failed.

If you search for the failed update in Google, it will tell you how to go about freeing it up.

penrhyn

You don't say which version of windows you son is running, or the speed of his internet connection.
Windows Vista service pack 1, and XP service pack 3 have been available for some time now and are both huge.

exprog

Not sure I entirely understand what you are saying but I may have recently had a similar problem.

I use dial-up (not BB) so MS downloads can take quite a while.

There was recently an enormous one. Because it was so big I kept the machine online for two hours. The next day I gave it another two hours. It still had not downloaded. I think it continued a bit the next day. Then it seemed to disappear. Subsequently I received notification of two downloads available. The first one was fairly big but not huge and downloaded reasonably quickly. The second one appeared to be the one that had gone missing. It then downloaded in under an hour.

Soon after there was another very small MS download that was quickly done.

I concluded that there may have been a problem with the big download and then it somehow got fixed.

M4RKM

one option is to turn off automatic updates if you are on dial-up...

firbyfred

penrhyn wrote: »

You don't say which version of windows you son is running, or the speed of his internet connection.
Windows Vista service pack 1, and XP service pack 3 have been available for some time now and are both huge.

HI, back again,
it is XP
media center edition
version 2
service pack 2

Our broadband downloads about 512mb.(not sure if that's the correct letters)