Occasionally, you might experience a problem installing an
update. Fortunately, Windows 7 provides detailed information about
update installations. The sections that follow describe how to
troubleshoot problems with Windows Update and Restart Manager.
How to Troubleshoot Windows Update
To identify the source of the problem causing an update to
fail, follow these steps:
-
Examine recent entries in the %Windir%\WindowsUpdate.log
file to verify that the client is contacting the correct update
server and to identify any error messages. The following example
shows a portion of the log file in which Windows Update
downloaded Windows Defender information directly from
Microsoft:
=========== Logging initialized (build: 7.3.7600.16385, tz: -0400) ===========
Process: c:\program files\windows defender\MpCmdRun.exe
Module: C:\Windows\system32\wuapi.dll
-------------
-- START -- COMAPI: Search [ClientId = Windows Defender]
---------
<<-- SUBMITTED -- COMAPI: Search [ClientId = Windows Defender]
*************
** START ** Agent: Finding updates [CallerId = Windows Defender]
*********
* Online = Yes; Ignore download priority = No
* Criteria = "(IsInstalled = 0 and IsHidden = 0 and CategoryIDs contains
'8c3fcc84-7410-4a95-8b89-a166a0190486' and CategoryIDs contains 'e0789628-ce08-
4437-be74-2495b842f43b')"
* ServiceID = {00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000} Third party service
* Search Scope = {Machine}
Validating signature for C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\WuRedir\\muv4wuredir.cab:
Microsoft signed: Yes
The WindowsUpdate.log file will also detail update errors
that occur.
-
If your organization uses WSUS, verify that the client can
connect to the WSUS server by opening a Web browser and visiting
http://<WSUSServerName>/iuident.cab.
If you are prompted to download the file, this means that the
client can reach the WSUS server and it is not a connectivity
issue. Otherwise, you could have a name resolution or
connectivity issue or WSUS is not configured correctly.
-
If you use Group Policy to configure the Windows Update client, use the Resultant Set of
Policy (RSOP) tool (Rsop.msc) to verify the configuration.
Within RSOP, browse to the Computer Configuration\Administrative
Templates\Windows Components\Windows Update node and verify the configuration
settings.
If you have identified a problem and made a configuration
change that you hope will resolve it, restart the Windows Update
service on the client computer to make the change take effect and
begin another update cycle. You can do this using the Services
console or by running the following command with administrative
credentials:
net stop wuauserv | net start wuauserv
Within 6 to 10 minutes, Windows Update will attempt to contact
your update server.
How to Troubleshoot Restart Manager
The need to update a file that is already in use is one of the
most common reasons a user is required to restart a computer.
Restart Manager, a feature of Windows
Installer, strives to reduce this requirement by closing and
restarting programs and services that have files in use. To diagnose
a problem with Restart Manager, open Event Viewer and view the
following event logs:
Search for Warning or Error events with a source of
RestartManager. The following is an example of a Warning event with
Event ID 10010:
Application 'C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\OFFICE11\OUTLOOK.EXE' (pid 5592) cannot
be restarted - Application SID does not match Conductor SID.
You can also view general Windows Update events in the
Application log by searching for events with a source of
MsiInstaller.
