I've got four laptops which I'm reinstalling Windows 7 SP1 64-bit on, three running Home Premium and one on Professional - All machines have 2GB RAM so not a huge amount, but are otherwise different specs (two Toshibas, a Dell, and an HP).
Having had lots of problems with updates before and having to reinstall Windows fairly regularly on different systems I've taken to using WSUS Offline Updater to save hassle.
After running it, I've then tried to check for updates to get the optional updates and any that WSUS has missed, but all four machines just stay at Checking for updates, even when left for 24hrs+ - one machine in particular has been left for three days with no luck.
I've tried the solutions suggested here: Windows 7 SP1 Windows Update stuck checking for updates with no joy (the updates mentioned in this I believe were installed by WSUS, and won't manually install despite me trying).
I have also tried stopping the Windows Update service, deleting the contents of Windows/SoftwareDistribution, then starting it again, and I still get no joy.
I'm completely stumped now. I would blame installation media but one machine is on a different version of Windows 7 and is still affected. I can only think that somehow WSUS is causing the issues but am reluctant to reinstall Windows on 4 otherwise perfectly working machines.
Is there any way I can get Windows Update to actually work in this case?