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Computer always stalls on 'Configuring Windows updates' screen

I'm having some trouble with my computer and I'm going to university soon, so any help would be appreciated because having a malfunctioning computer would just add to the stress of it all. I don't want to have to buy a new laptop.

Whenever I turn on my computer it always goes into the 'Configuring Windows updates' screen and gets stuck on exactly 46% for about 5 minutes. It's really elongating the time it takes to turn on, which is annoying. I requested Windows 10 about a month ago and the Windows update 46% stall started happening about a week after that. Maybe if I cancel my W10 request it will stop, but Windows has removed the option to easily cancel the request by right-clicking on the icon in the taskbar, so I'm not sure how to do it now.

It might also be related to the fact that several months ago my computer had a BSOD, and when I next turned it on my Windows stopped being 'genuine' (which meant my wallpaper was a black screen with no way of changing it, and I wasn't eligible for updates). I later used the 'SLMGR /REARM' method in cmd to force it to become genuine again.

Sorry for not being much help. I know it's a real pain trying to identify what's causing a computer problem. If anyone has any ideas of how I can fix this Windows update issue, please share.

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Original post by Elcor
I'm having some trouble with my computer and I'm going to university soon, so any help would be appreciated because having a malfunctioning computer would just add to the stress of it all. I don't want to have to buy a new laptop.

Whenever I turn on my computer it always goes into the 'Configuring Windows updates' screen and gets stuck on exactly 46% for about 5 minutes. It's really elongating the time it takes to turn on, which is annoying. I requested Windows 10 about a month ago and the Windows update 46% stall started happening about a week after that. Maybe if I cancel my W10 request it will stop, but Windows has removed the option to easily cancel the request by right-clicking on the icon in the taskbar, so I'm not sure how to do it now.

It might also be related to the fact that several months ago my computer had a BSOD, and when I next turned it on my Windows stopped being 'genuine' (which meant my wallpaper was a black screen with no way of changing it, and I wasn't eligible for updates). I later used the 'SLMGR /REARM' method in cmd to force it to become genuine again.

Sorry for not being much help. I know it's a real pain trying to identify what's causing a computer problem. If anyone has any ideas of how I can fix this Windows update issue, please share.


I'm not sure if getting rid of the W10 update will fix the problem but you can find out how to do it here.
Reply 2
Fastest way is to format your OS and re-install it
Reply 3
Original post by Plagioclase
I'm not sure if getting rid of the W10 update will fix the problem but you can find out how to do it here.


No updates show up in my Installed Updates.
Original post by Elcor
No updates show up in my Installed Updates.

Unless someone else comes up with a better idea then reinstalling the OS may be the best idea. Do you still have the install disc and license key?
Also you didn't by any chance note the BSOD code did you?
Reply 5
Original post by Plagioclase
Unless someone else comes up with a better idea then reinstalling the OS may be the best idea. Do you still have the install disc and license key?
Also you didn't by any chance note the BSOD code did you?


I don't have the install disk or license key as far as I'm aware. I don't remember the code for that particular BSOD, but in the past I've frequently had 'atikmdag.sys', 'driver irql not less or equal' and 'pfn list corrupt,' to name a few.
Reply 6
Download oem version of windows and burn to cd of make usb , if it's a windows 7 pc the key should be on a sticker, windows 8 has key on mobo so it should pick up itself on installation


Posted from TSR Mobile
(edited 8 years ago)
had a similar problem, turned out it was adware causing it. got rid of the adware and it worked.


Posted from TSR Mobile
Reply 8
Original post by Treypound
had a similar problem, turned out it was adware causing it. got rid of the adware and it worked.


Posted from TSR Mobile


I don't think I have any adware... I have Adblock but aside from that I've not intentionally downloaded anything that interferes with ads.
Original post by Elcor
I don't think I have any adware... I have Adblock but aside from that I've not intentionally downloaded anything that interferes with ads.


download malwarebytes I guarantee this resolves your problem


Posted from TSR Mobile
Reply 10
Right, so I just discovered my Windows 7 Home Premium disk and key and I'm going to reinstall windows. However, I want to keep ALL of my programs and files exactly as they are. Apparently if you choose 'upgrade' instead of 'reinstall' it does this for you. Can I choose 'upgrade' even though I'm not upgrading to a newer OS, thus keeping all my files intact?
Reply 11
Original post by Elcor
Right, so I just discovered my Windows 7 Home Premium disk and key and I'm going to reinstall windows. However, I want to keep ALL of my programs and files exactly as they are. Apparently if you choose 'upgrade' instead of 'reinstall' it does this for you. Can I choose 'upgrade' even though I'm not upgrading to a newer OS, thus keeping all my files intact?


That's correct, just upgrade on your current disk and all your old files will be under a folder called WINDOWS.OLD after reinstalling.
Reply 12
Original post by Abdi112
That's correct, just upgrade on your current disk and all your old files will be under a folder called WINDOWS.OLD after reinstalling.


Great, thanks. Hopefully this solves my problems.
Reply 13
So I reinstalled Windows 7 and that fixed the 'Configuring Windows updates' stall. However, I keep getting BSODs. I've put some of my latest crashes' minidump files (e.g. PFN LIST CORRUPT) on Dropbox - would anyone be able to analyse them and advise me on what might be the issue and what to do next, please? I'm off to university in a week and really want my computer to be fine. I'm willing to buy some more RAM or whatever it may be if that'll fix it.

Here's the minidump: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/qgxnebg0qnrgysw/AACne2uMNRhArluLsY2hFoKwa?dl=0
Reply 14
Original post by Elcor
So I reinstalled Windows 7 and that fixed the 'Configuring Windows updates' stall. However, I keep getting BSODs. I've put some of my latest crashes' minidump files (e.g. PFN LIST CORRUPT) on Dropbox - would anyone be able to analyse them and advise me on what might be the issue and what to do next, please? I'm off to university in a week and really want my computer to be fine. I'm willing to buy some more RAM or whatever it may be if that'll fix it.

Here's the minidump: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/qgxnebg0qnrgysw/AACne2uMNRhArluLsY2hFoKwa?dl=0


This was probably caused by the following module: ntoskrnl.exe (nt+0x735C0)
Bugcheck code: 0x1E (0xFFFFFFFFC0000005, 0xFFFFF8000308B712, 0x1, 0x101)
Error: KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED
file path: C:\WINDOWS\system32\ntoskrnl.exe
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: NT Kernel & System
Bug check description: This indicates that a kernel-mode program generated an exception which the error handler did not catch.
This appears to be a typical software driver bug and is not likely to be caused by a hardware problem.
The crash took place in the Windows kernel. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver that cannot be identified at this time.


Tjhis could be caused by alot of things, I assume its a clean install of windows. Have you run windows update for all the latest drivers? Whats your AV software. System Specs? Have you messed around with RAM recently?

Reply 15
Original post by Abdi112

description: NT Kernel & System
Bug check description: This indicates that a kernel-mode program generated an exception which the error handler did not catch.
This appears to be a typical software driver bug and is not likely to be caused by a hardware problem.
The crash took place in the Windows kernel. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver that cannot be identified at this time.


Tjhis could be caused by alot of things, I assume its a clean install of windows. Have you run windows update for all the latest drivers? Whats your AV software. System Specs? Have you messed around with RAM recently?



Is there a way to get Windows to analyse all drivers and search automatically for updates? Presently I'm only aware of the 'update drivers' widget where you have to tediously right-click each driver and search for any available updates.

My AV is ESET NOD32.

Here's a screencap of my Speccy results for my system specs: https://gyazo.com/b673564f5ed060c78734209be1bdb84f

Haven't changed RAM recently.
Reply 16
Original post by Elcor
Is there a way to get Windows to analyse all drivers and search automatically for updates? Presently I'm only aware of the 'update drivers' widget where you have to tediously right-click each driver and search for any available updates.

My AV is ESET NOD32.

Here's a screencap of my Speccy results for my system specs: https://gyazo.com/b673564f5ed060c78734209be1bdb84f

Haven't changed RAM recently.


use driver booster, if it asks to get a key for upgrading to pro and you cant update all your drivers let me know. I might have one about somewhere
Reply 17
Original post by Abdi112
use driver booster, if it asks to get a key for upgrading to pro and you cant update all your drivers let me know. I might have one about somewhere


Thanks for the recommendation, it found 12 available updates. Installing now.
Reply 18
Original post by Elcor
Thanks for the recommendation, it found 12 available updates. Installing now.


This should sort out your issue :smile:
Reply 19
Original post by Abdi112
This should sort out your issue :smile:


Thanks a lot for your help :redface:

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