Been There
Member
- Joined
- Apr 23, 2016
If you didn't have SP1 installed that yes you would not get updates. Windows 7 SP1 does have security updates until 2020. There are various prompts etc that will tell you to go to Windows 10 since it is Microsoft's latest OS.
Hi beenthere,
Yep. I've seen this one before. It appears that you attempted to revert from W10 back to W7 AFTER 30 DAYS OF INSTALLING YOUR W10!
This never works, sorry to say.This is not well publicized by Microsoft, and I didn't know about it for several months even though I was a W10 Insider Tester since Sep. 2014.
The other possibility, and this seems to be especially true with HP's made with W7 due to poor manufacturing quality, is that your hardware may have failed.Usually this is 1 or more RAM memory sticks or more frequently the Hard Drive. Have you tested either your RAM sticks or your
Hard Drive in that computer? Since you have multiple computers, I'm sure your aware that desktop hard drives are only designed to last for 3 years before failure; and laptops only 2 years. Has this HP desktop computer had it's hard drive replaced since you purchased it back in 2009?
Here's some links for testing both the RAM and your hard drive:
Here's the link to test your RAM:
Memory Diagnostics
Here's the link to test your Hard Drive:
Hard Drive Diagnostic Procedure
Since the chances of your hard drive failing in a 6 year old computer are better than 90%, it should really be tested and if errors are returned, of course replaced. One of the most common symptoms I see in older computers (older than Win8x) are that Windows updates stop working and all the software tools and fixes mentioned on forums just don't seem to fix it. This is because NO SOFTWARE ON THE PLANET CAN FIX BROKEN HARDWARE!!
This is not a Microsoft problem if you have failed or outdated hardware. If you carefully read Microsoft's W10 license agreement it clearly states that your older computer hardware needs to be running 100% with no failures in order to properly run their installation program. Since you do have other W10 machines that are working, it's not a problem with W10 design. And since there are thousands upon thousands of W7 machines that still work with MS updates, there is not a problem there either. I fix hundreds of W7 machines that stop updating correctly, and the majority of them are due to failed hardware. Since very few home users perform annual maintenance on their computers since they don't know how or can't afford to pay a Tech to do so, 6 year-old hardware rarely provides a clean upgrade path to W10 or back again since those computers often have a hardware failure and it's never noticed or detected until OS upgrades, reversions, or clean installs are attempted.
Replace any broken parts after testing and try to do a clean install of W7 on that computer and the updates should start working again.And as neemo mentions, it's very important to update to W7 SP1 to get this to work. Computers that came with W7 and no SP1 usually fail to update. This was true with Vista SP2 and XP SP3, etc.
<<<BIGBEARJEDI>>>
Hi beenthere,
Yep. I've seen this one before. It appears that you attempted to revert from W10 back to W7 AFTER 30 DAYS OF INSTALLING YOUR W10!
This never works, sorry to say.This is not well publicized by Microsoft, and I didn't know about it for several months even though I was a W10 Insider Tester since Sep. 2014.
The other possibility, and this seems to be especially true with HP's made with W7 due to poor manufacturing quality, is that your hardware may have failed.Usually this is 1 or more RAM memory sticks or more frequently the Hard Drive. Have you tested either your RAM sticks or your
Hard Drive in that computer? Since you have multiple computers, I'm sure your aware that desktop hard drives are only designed to last for 3 years before failure; and laptops only 2 years. Has this HP desktop computer had it's hard drive replaced since you purchased it back in 2009?
Here's some links for testing both the RAM and your hard drive:
Here's the link to test your RAM:
Memory Diagnostics
Here's the link to test your Hard Drive:
Hard Drive Diagnostic Procedure
Since the chances of your hard drive failing in a 6 year old computer are better than 90%, it should really be tested and if errors are returned, of course replaced. One of the most common symptoms I see in older computers (older than Win8x) are that Windows updates stop working and all the software tools and fixes mentioned on forums just don't seem to fix it. This is because NO SOFTWARE ON THE PLANET CAN FIX BROKEN HARDWARE!!
This is not a Microsoft problem if you have failed or outdated hardware. If you carefully read Microsoft's W10 license agreement it clearly states that your older computer hardware needs to be running 100% with no failures in order to properly run their installation program. Since you do have other W10 machines that are working, it's not a problem with W10 design. And since there are thousands upon thousands of W7 machines that still work with MS updates, there is not a problem there either. I fix hundreds of W7 machines that stop updating correctly, and the majority of them are due to failed hardware. Since very few home users perform annual maintenance on their computers since they don't know how or can't afford to pay a Tech to do so, 6 year-old hardware rarely provides a clean upgrade path to W10 or back again since those computers often have a hardware failure and it's never noticed or detected until OS upgrades, reversions, or clean installs are attempted.
Replace any broken parts after testing and try to do a clean install of W7 on that computer and the updates should start working again.And as neemo mentions, it's very important to update to W7 SP1 to get this to work. Computers that came with W7 and no SP1 usually fail to update. This was true with Vista SP2 and XP SP3, etc.
<<<BIGBEARJEDI>>>
>>>I'm sorry you feel that way. But, I am glad you were able to find a solution to your problem yourself. Don't feel that you are the only who blasts us for not providing a solution or solutions that doesn't provide a fix the first time. We get that every so often. It's the price of volunteerism here on WF and trying to help people for free who couldn't otherwise afford to pay for help. I didn't mean that your efforts were wasted, as different individuals have different amounts of time and energy to put into solving complex problems with their computer. I also didn't ever use the words "...no good, worthless, computer..." to paraphrase what you said. I simply pointed out the fact that in my business I see I a lot of computers with a similar problem to what you described, and most turn out to be unsolvable with software solutions. And that if that's the case, you may wish to skip that particular troubleshooting procedure as it rarely yields a positive result. I was trying to save you some time and frustration. As far as the diss I made about HP computers, that's been well documented on the web and on many other Tech Forums, and anyone that repairs computers for a living is aware of this ever since HP outsourced their factories that produce computers in China, their quality has seriously dropped. Now I used to be a big fan of HP computers when they were made domestically here in the U.S. prior to 2006. In fact, they were a #1 brand for a while. What I'm referring to is not just an HP problem, but is endemic to ALL computers made offshore with the exception of Dell and Samsung. Manufacturing quality in the sense I mean it is that the components and methods used to manufacturer computers as well as Quality Control aren't what they used to be. HP and others used to build reliable computers that lasted 10 years or more, usually through multiple versions of Windows during their lifetime. This is no longer true, as I referred to. The only computers I see coming in for repair that are still running reliably after 10 years are 2 brands; Dell, and Gateway. (and some Macs; but we're not talking about those here). And I'm also not saying your HP is not worth repairing; on the contrary I asked you whether you have tested your components, gave you links to do those tests and check that. You chose not to do that or not to answer me. That's ok, many people don't wish to do hardware testing as it takes time and patience and is a new experience for many, so they simply don't do it and go off in another direction, such as you did and keep trying to find a software solution. In your case, that worked and that's a good thing. As I said, I see many Win7 computers with all kinds of problems including failure to update to the latest W10 OS from Microsoft. We get hundreds of help requests here per month on this, so we see these types of problems a lot. We also can't see your computer in front of you, and we can't even get the gist that's gathered during a phone conversation with vocal inflections and all. We also don't know what programs and data you've put on your computer for the last 6 years, so we guess based on what we've seen hundreds or thousands of others do, and make some general recommendations. I also have had to tell good Customers that sometimes their hardware is outdated, and won't take an upgrade to the newest Windows OS version, as the manufacturer has decided not to support the new version yet, or ever, and despite weeks of effort cannot be upgraded. This results in the Customer having to make a decision on whether to repair the computer and continue running the Windows that they already have on the machine, but make it functional, or to simply replace it and go and buy a brand new W10 computer, pre-loaded with the new version and has guaranteed W10 compatible hardware. In some cases, Customers get mad at ME for this problem, rant at Microsoft, or whatever and tell me to give them their computer back without fixing it, and simply go somewhere else and I never hear back from them again. I understand this and it happens. Sometimes, a Customer will call me back and tell me they took their computer to 2 other shops and they verified my diagnosis; the computer wasn't worth saving or at least wasn't worth the money it would cost for a proper upgrade. They would then tell me that one shop wanted $300 to fix it back to the Windows that came with the computer and another one wanted $200. They called me back since I said I could do if for say $140. I then get their business, due to the fact that I was the first to uncover the real problem, and then after they verified what I was telling them, I had the best price on the repair. Sometimes, too the computer will be shared among family or friends in a household and there can be from 2-10 people sharing a single computer, and therefore that's a very difficult decision to make. Like I said, I never hear back from people in this situation, so I don't know what the deciding factors were. Sometimes, it's a price issue and sometimes, they just don't believe me and take it to another Tech and hope they can fix it for free or for less than I do.Important Notice to: BIGBEARJEDI,
I generally don't blast anyone on the Internet for their mis-guided comments or un-informed information, but, I have to reply to your post that you were wrong saying my computer was out-dated and wasn't worth the time and effort to do any updates that Microsoft requires to run a computer. I take things seriously when someone claims to the "expert" and finds that isn't anyway near what is the problem.
So, here goes on how I solve the Microsoft Update problem. I've located a person that I think may be the best in his field how to get "all" computer owners that have reverted back to WIN 7 and can't get the updates to work.
Here is the website. Search for Windows Updates takes forever? - A possible solution
These are the Knowledge Base Windows Updates that one can install and all is well after this install. I know, I did all these as listed and my HP Pavilion p6750f (no good, worthless, computer as one member on here claims) is now downloading and installing 227 updates.
First. Go to control panel and System and Security-Windows Update-Change settings to "Never check for Updates, and click Ok.
Shut down the PC and restart, and start installing these KB's updates, and when all is done, go back to the page and reset to Automatic Updates, and click on Searching for Updates,, and wait , You will get those required update.
Now, that qualifying me to become the new " Computer Guru" on the block here.