Can't run windows updater in Vista

see317

Hey guys, probably a stupid question, but I'm kind of stumped at this point.
I've got a computer with Vista on it and can't run the windows updater (hence the thread title...).

When I hit the "Search for updates" button I get an error that says "Windows updater cannot currently check for updates, because the service is not runniong. You may need to restart your computer".
I've restarted the system and the error persists. I've gone through services.msc and both the BITS and the Windows Updater services show as running.
I've run the sfc /scannow command 3 or 4 times and it hasn't found anything.

Are there any other services I should be checking? Anything else you can suggest I try?

pacbowl

I've had success fixing a similar problem by turning automatic updates off then back on again.

see317

Tried that, still no love from the windows updater, also ran the MS Fixit that I was able to track down, and the error still occurs.

Shimshai

I had a similar problem over the summer when I restored my system to factory settings, also a Vista machine. I ended up having to seperately download some sort of pre-update, so that I could let the automatic updates do their job.

I'm going to take a look and see if I can find where I got my solution, I'll check back here and update soon.


How long have you had this computer, and how long have you been having this problem?


Edit: It was the System Update Readiness Tool that I downloaded and sorted my problems, might not be the problem, but it couldn't hurt?

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/947821

I should mention that while this program was running, it looked as though my system had locked up for about 10 minutes so don't be alarmed if this happens.

see317

The system is a few years old, it's an HP Touchsmart 800. This problem just started yesterday after I reimaged the hard drive. Before that it wouldn't boot into windows at all, just gave a black screen with an error message. So, I'm making progress...