Fix Problems with Windows Update in Windows 7

Windows 7 comes with all sorts of built in troubleshooters that fix a variety of issues such as network connectivity problems and enabling the transparent glass effect on your desktop when it is not working. One major issue that people may come across is Windows Update not working properly or offering you updates which you have already installed.

Normally, fixing this under Windows XP would involve a trip to the command line and a whole bunch of commands to stop and restart services which can be time consuming and hard to follow for some people. Windows 7 has taken a step towards making this problem easier to fix by including a troubleshooter to do all the hard work for you.

All you need to do is click on “Start” and type in “troubleshoot” and click on “Troubleshooting” in the list. You should then see a window like this one:

Troubleshooting in Windows 7

Troubleshooting in Windows 7

The item you will be interested in will be the “Fix problems with Windows Update” item under “System and Security” at the bottom. Clicking on that will open the following screen:

Windows Update Troubleshooter

Windows Update Troubleshooter

All you need to do is following the troubleshooter and if it finds something wrong it’ll fix it up for you with the final result looking something like this window:

Completed Windows Update Troubleshooting in Windows 7

Completed Windows Update Troubleshooting in Windows 7

This helped me fix an issue on a computer today that kept offering Internet Explorer 9 as an update and refused to offer Service Pack 1 for Windows 7. I also rebooted for good measure and did a manual check for new updates and it worked a treat. Hopefully, you won’t need this tip but it’s worth keeping in mind if you get stuck in this situation.

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