Windows Updates Failing to Install? Try Using Windows Troubleshooter

Recently my home computer running Windows 7 experienced difficulties applying a set of updates, which I wasn’t too thrilled about for a variety of reasons:

1. I was constantly being reminded (by my antivirus software, ESET) that my operating system was out of date.  Yes, thank you, I’m aware.


2. Working for an IT company, I understand the importance of keeping your computer operating system fully patched. The last thing I want is my system to become infected with malware thanks to a vulnerability that would’ve been addressed had Windows Update worked properly.


3. I prefer seeing the green shield icon and message saying there are “no important updates available” versus the red shield saying the updates were not installed.

Searching for a resolution for the Windows Update error code I was getting was no help. Attempting to install the updates one by one didn’t make a difference either, and if anything, the individual attempts lead to more confusion by throwing another error message into the mix: “The expected version of the product was not found on your system.”

At that point I was just annoyed – why was I being prompted to install these updates if they weren’t for software I had on my system? (It was for Microsoft Office 2007, by the way.)

After browsing through a few Microsoft Support threads related to Windows Update issues, I (finally) came across a potential fix for my problem.

Windows Update Troubleshooter to the Rescue!

In the event that you run into a similar situation and Windows Update fails to install any updates from Microsoft, I suggest giving the following a shot:

• Click 'Start'


• Type in ‘Troubleshooting’ and click Enter. (FYI: The option is in the Control Panel -> Under Systems and Security, click ‘Find and fix problems’)


• Click ‘Fix problems with Windows Update’


• Click ‘Next’ and let the troubleshooter do its thing.

After all is said & done with the troubleshooter, try running Windows Update again. That did the trick for me and now my system is fully patched and up-to-date!

Did it work for you too?

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