Windows Server 2012 R2 DC's take almost exactly an hour to reboot after Windows Updates
Solution 1:
Created an account just to share my experience with this issue today.
Virtual 2012r2 DC/File Share/Print Mgmt server was being extremely slow. Shutdown/restart buttons did nothing, and running a shutdown via Hyper-V caused a blue screen that stuck around for long than I wanted to wait for (work hours, production server).
Hard-shutdown the VM process and started it back up. Windows updates were pending, unknown to me, and after arriving at the "Shutting down service: Windows Module Installer", the server took a full hour (like yours, almost exactly 1 hour) before successfully rebooting.
Every post I read said to be patient, and that was indeed the case. A look at the event viewer after the reboot showed two 7043 ID entries - One for the Windows Module Installer service, and one for the Group Policy Client service. "The Windows Module Installer service did not shut down properly after receiving a preshutdown control."
Best suggestion I've found for a potential fix is to "reset" the SoftwareDistribution folder:
- Stop the Windows Updates service
a. Open services.msc (Services)
b. Right-click the "Windows Updates" service
c. Click "Stop". The service will take a moment to stop
Rename the SoftwareDistribution folder at "C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution" to something like "C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution_old"
Restart the Windows Updates service.
a. Return to services.msc (Services)
b. Right-click the "Windows Updates" service
c. Click "Start". The service will take a moment to start
Hope this helps someone in the future! (and let me know if this solution helps you out! I'm curious to hear other experiences/suggestions)