Windows Update cannot currently check for updates, because the service is not running

This morning I attempted to run Windows Update on two of my Windows 7 PCs (both are virtual machines), and I ran into this interesting pop-up error message. I have never encountered this problem before, so I was somewhat perplexed.

From the message, my first thought was to see if the Windows Update service was running. It was. As usual, the solution is never so simple. I attempted to restart the service and reboot the PCs to no avail.

So, I am off to the interwebs for a solution. I did find a solution to the problem, so I thought to post it for my future reference and for anyone else who may encounter this problem. I will be posting the answer shortly.

If you have alternate solutions that have worked for you, please feel free to leave a post or comment.

Solution 1:

Apparently, the problem is with a corrupted windows log file.

In order to get Window Update running again, you have to:

1. Go to Services, and temporarily Stop the "Windows Update" service
2. Go to c:\windows\softwaredistribution\datastore\logs\
3. Find the file edb.log
4. Rename or delete the file
5. Once the file is renamed or deleted, go back to Services, and Start the "Windows Update" service
6. Try to run Windows Update again. It will work normally.

So far, I have not had any problems with this solution. I have successfully installed updates on one of the PCs.

References:

• Fixing “Windows Update Cannot Currently Check For Updates, Because The Service Is Not Running”
• Fixing "The action can't be completed because the file is open in application experience"
• Cannot Run Windows Update on a Windows 7 PC?

Solution 2:

Essentially the same thing as the answer above, but a little easier in my opinion:

1. Stop the Windows Update service under services.msc (leave the services window open)

2. Go to C:\Windows

3. Rename the SoftwareDistribution folder to something like SoftwareDistribution_OLD

4. Go back to services and start the Windows Update service (this will also create a new SoftwareDistribution folder automatically)

5. Wait a few minutes and try again!

6. If it works and you want, go ahead and delete the SoftwareDistribution_OLD folder, otherwise you can revert back

This has worked numerous times for me. Although, full disclosure, I have never checked Windows Update History to see if it still knew what updates were installed and when. The machine is smart enough though to know going forward what updates you do and don't need. My two cents!

Solution 3:

Here's a really non-technical fix, but it seems to work consistently among people who have this problem with Windows 7 or Vista.

Go to your windows update settings, and change it to "Never Check for Updates". Apply the change.

Then change the setting again to your preferred option. I used "Check for updates, but let me choose whether to download and install them". Apply this change.

Once I applied the second change, the updating process returned to normal.