Windows 7 (Guest) stuck on "Checking on Upates"

I'm having a bad time with Parallels for the first time since I first downloaded version 3!
Windows 7 won't fetch updates - that is one issue but the worst is that Windows 7 won't install a Windows program I need (for Win7SP1) because it gets stuck with a stand-alone installer "searching for updates on this computer". I am in a circular problem from IT Hell!
It is endless. I don't know if it is a Windows problem or a Parallels problem.
I've looked at every Window Forum and although many people have had this problem none of their answers solved mine.
After spending a day trying to fix this :-
(1) Created a new machine
(2) Went through the registration with M/S
(3) Disabled the firewall
(4) Clicked on "check for updates" which normally produces a long list but now nothing just "Checking..."
(5) I have now been working on this since 09:00 (14 hours) I hope that maybe someone else has had this problem and could give me some guidance.

Thanks in advance,

Jon

 

Hello jonathanR2,
Kindly follow the steps mentioned in the article and let us know how it works.

 

Hey jon,
Yes we feel your pain. While I'm waiting for the last of 248 W7 updates to install on my Mid 2010 Macbook Pro (4gb RAM / 256 GB SSD), I though I would share my experience in trying to get this done.
Spent most of yesterday afternoon following instructions from the KB here about doing certain patches individually first (KB3145739; KB3135445; KB3102810; disable IPV6, etc; etc), I decided to also change the VM parameters, increasing from 1mb to 2mb (beyond what's recommended) and running over 2 CPUs rather than one CPU.
I set the update process off again about 10pm last night and opened up task manager and resource monitor to see what was going on. While the load over the 2 CPUs was regularly running over 90%, it rarely touched 100%. Checking in on it around 8am this morning it seemed to have run all night with no outcome, and I was about to kill the whole process, but after a brb I came back and found it had progressed to the next stage (ie installing 1 of 248 updates).
Some 6 hours later, it's now up to 243 out of 248 - maybe too early to be popping champagne but it's encouraging.
I think that I will need to put the VM back to the recommended settings when finished though because not much can be done on OSX while all this is happening (even running safari seems very slow).
Anyway, the experts may disagree, but I feel that allocating more resources to the task is what got this big job done. Hopefully next time the size of the task will be more manageable with the meagre resources of the little 13' macbook.
Keep calm & carry on,

 

The answer for me which I described in a Win7 forum was adapted from something someone else had posted but it has worked very well.
1. Download wsuoffline1062 - I don't remember from where but I am sure you will find it.
2. Expand it on a USB stick.
3. You will find that there is an Update Generator in the upper folder
4. In a lower folder called client you will find UpdateInstaller
5. Before you do anything Run the Fixit app from M/S at least a couple of times until there are no error messages.
6. Then go to your USB stick and run Update Generator
7. There are various things you have to check (or uncheck)
8. I cannot remember exactly what but you will work it out by trial and error (I did)
9. The thing takes quite a while and may hang in which case you will have to restart the whole process (without the Fixit loop)
10. As it starts running it populates the client folder with the stuff that it will later on install so if it does jam you may have to re-expand the wsuoffiline program. (Actually I expanded it and kept it in a separate folder which I could copy on to the USB stick to save time).
11. Once it finally finishes then you drill down to the client folder and run UpdateInstaller - it takes some time but it works.
12. Once you've done this you will find that the system sets the update parameters to automatic at 02:00 or similar.
13. You can of course change them the only risk being that the whole thing might jam again at a later time.
14. I've just let it be and it now runs very sweetly.

I hope this helps.

 

Hello JonathanR2,
Thank you for sharing the work around with us. This would help many of us.