Dealing with Windows 7 won’t update, not working, or failed issue when downloading it.
Users complain that Windows 7 update not downloading instead it repeatedly indicates that the update download is stuck at 0% or Win 7 update just spins continuously, never identifying anything at all.
After Microsoft ended support for Windows 7 it has become difficult to update Windows 7 in 2022. Users are reporting that Windows 7 won’t update, it’s a very frustrating situation and you are also not the only one to deal with this situation.
Why Won’t My Windows 7 Update
There are multiple reasons why Windows 7 won’t update on your PC. You might have clean installed Windows 7 with Service Pack 1.
If the Windows 7 clean install won’t update it’s because Microsoft has made changes to Windows Update that require updated components. Also when Win 7 does not download updates after Windows 7 installation it’s because you haven’t created a recovery image.
Other causes include your PC doesn’t have enough storage to download the update or Windows 7 wrong configured settings.
How to install initial needed Windows 7 SP1 Updates
If you have recently clean installed the Operating System on your PC, then follow these steps to download the Win 7 updates.
Step 1. Disable BitLocker Drive Encryption
If you have enabled the BitLocker Driver Encryption then first disable it to manually download the update. Follow these steps:
- Click Start
- Go to Control Panel > System and Security > BitLocker Drive Encryption
- Select Suspend Protection (you may be prompted to select Yes to confirm)
- Once you install the update, repat the above step to re-enable the BitLocker Drive Encryption.
Step 2. Download Internet Explorer
The upcoming methods involve downloading the Windows 7 updates manually from the Microsoft Update Catalog. For this purpose, it’s recommended to download Internet Explorer 11.
This browser is more reliable to download Windows updates, if you visited the Microsoft Update Catalog with another browser these downloads will not work.
Step 3. Manually Download Windows 7 Update
Once you have performed the above two steps you need to disable the Win 7 automatic updates and install them manually. Follow the below steps:
- Open Control Panel > Windows Update > Change Settings.
- Under the Important Updates select Never Check For Updates and then OK to confirm changes.
- Restart the system.
- Download and Install Microsoft KB3020369 (Servicing Stack Update April 2015)
- Restart the system.
- Download and Install Microsoft KB3125574 update from the update catalog.
- Restart the system.
- Again Turn on Automatic Windows Updates from Control Panel. (It will take up to 10 minutes to display the next set of updates).
- Download the remaining important updates & restart the system if required
This is how you update Win 7 after a clean install.
How To Fix Windows 7 Won’t Update Problem
If the problem persists and you are unable to update Windows 7 then try these fixes below. You don’t need to apply all of them just work your way down the list until you found the right one.
Method 1. Download Windows 7 Updates Manually
- Change Windows Update settings to Never Check For Updates.
- Now click on the Start button and type Services to open it.
- Find and right-click on Windows Update (service) and choose Stop
- Close the Windows Update window. If it will not close, use Task Manager (right-click on task bar) and End the Task.
- Now go to this site and download all the updates listed there on your desktop.
- Double-click and start each one at a time. Do not be surprised if one or more respond with already installed.
- Don’t Restart your PC after each update finishes.
- Restart and wait for the Windows Update process to complete and automatically restart your computer.
- Open Windows Update again and wait till you see the percentage at the bottom reach and stay below about 10%
Method 2. Download KB3020369 and KB3172605 Updates Manually
If the above method doesn’t work don’t worry you can adopt an alternate way. In this method, you will have to install the KB3020369 and KB3172605 updates manually.
Follow these steps:
- First login Windows 7 as an Administrator.
- Switch the Win 7 update settings to Never check for updates and restart the PC.
- Manually download and install KB3020369 update and let it bee located by the Windows update service.
- After that manually download and install KB3172605 on you PC.
- Once you have installed both the updates switch Windows 7 update settings back to Automatic.
- Now click on check for updates button to manually check the pending updates and the rest should show up shortly.
Now the Windows 7 won’t update issues should be resolved if the problem persist then move to our next solutions.
Method 3. Run the Windows Update troubleshooter
Alternativly you can also use the Windows 7 Built-in feature that scans and fix the Windows 7 won’t update problems.
- Click the Start button and type Troubleshooting to open it.
- From here click on the Fix problems with Windows Update > Next.
Now wait for the process to complete and if you see any error or problem, follow the on-screen instruction to fix the issue.
Method 4. Reset Windows Update components
The Windows 7 component not responding can also be the cause of Windows 7 won’t update. You need to reset them using the command prompt and then manually install the updates.
- Click on the Start button and type CMD.
- Right-click on it to Run it as Administrator.
- Type these command lines and press Enter after each one. These command will disable Windows 7 update related services.
net stop bits | net stop wuauserv | net stop appidsvc | net stop cryptsvc - After that type these command and press enter to rename SoftwareDistribution and catroot2 folder
ren %systemroot%\SoftwareDistribution SoftwareDistribution.old | ren %systemroot%\system32\catroot2 catroot2.old - After that you need to again start the Windows update services for that type these commands.
net start bits | net start wuauserv | net start appidsvc | net start cryptsvc
Method 5. Free Disk space
If you are keep seeing Windows Update Error 0x80070057, then you need to free up disk space on your PC.
Another common issue why Windows 7 won’t update is the PC that ran out of storage. The system can’t install the downloaded updates due to short space. You need to delete unwanted files from your PC or invest in getting more GBs.
