An unlikely combination of two Windows updates can reduce scan times from hours to minutes If you’re experiencing Windows 7 update scans measured in hours — if not days — as I described last week, a newly discovered trick may reduce scan times to minutes. It’s an unlikely combination of two updates that has worked wonders on my Win7 PCs. Try it and see how it works on yours. It was poster EP on AskWoody.com who nailed the magic incantation: Install a COMBINATION of the following updates on Win7 SP1 — KB3138612 AND KB3145739. I found out that patching KB3145739 alone without patching the WU Client for Win7 SP1 is not enough. KB 3138612, you may recall, is the March “Windows Update Client for Windows 7” — exactly the kind of patch you’d expect to solve the Win7 update slowdown. KB 3145739, on the other hand, is this month’s “security update for Windows Graphics Component” — otherwise known as MS 16-039, the security patch that (once again) fixes the way Windows handles fonts inside the kernel. I know that sounds like combining beer and cement to make a cheesecake, but there you have it. KB 3138612 installs a new program to handle Windows Updates; KB 3145739 has a new Windows kernel. Either patch installed by itself leads to hours and hours of waiting for Windows 7 update. Installing both patches together brings wait times (on the systems I’ve checked, anyway) back to sane levels. Poster ch100 explains: KB 3145739 is superseding KB 3139852 which was made famous by Noel Carboni about a month ago. That patch was fixing slow update for a lot of people. As such it supersedes a ton of other older patches and from this point of view is like a Cumulative Update. The issue which creates slowing down of WU is that all those old patches are not removed by Microsoft after releasing the new ones and create problems for those who try to patch new installations. To see if you have KB 3138612 (remember, this is only for Windows 7), click Start > Control Panel > System and Security > View installed updates. Click on Name to sort your vast collection of updates by name. Look under the heading Microsoft Windows for “Update for Microsoft Windows (KB3138612).” If you don’t have it, go to the KB article and download the appropriate version (32-bit versions are identified as x86; 64-bit versions are x64), then double-click on the download to install it. To see if you have KB 3145739, follow the same procedure but look for “Security Update for Microsoft Windows (KB3145739).” If you don’t have it, you’ll need to fire up Internet Explorer (I kept getting spurious errors with Chrome and Firefox) and go to the appropriate site for the 32-bit version or the 64-bit version. If my experience and that of dozens of others are any indication, when you download and manually install both patches, you’ll save yourself hours and hours of waiting when you next scan for the most recent Windows 7 updates. Tip of the Baker Street Irregulars hat to EP, ch100, and NC. Related content opinion On a personal note... Woody Leonhard looks back a bit, looks ahead to retirement — and shares good news about who's picking up the Windows patching torch. By Woody Leonhard Nov 09, 2020 3 mins Small and Medium Business Computers Windows news analysis Get Microsoft's October patches installed — and seriously consider Win10 2004 Odd ancillary patches have their problems, but the mainstream October patches look pretty reliable. The big question: Is Win10 version 2004 up to your stability standards. I’m skeptical -- especially because it has few worthwhile improvements. By Woody Leonhard Oct 30, 2020 6 mins Small and Medium Business Microsoft Computers news analysis Microsoft Patch Alert: October 2020 The big news with this month’s patches – aside from the usual smorgasbord of strange errors – has more to do with the patches that are outside the regular cumulative update stream. Remarkably, we didn’t get any security fixes By Woody Leonhard Oct 22, 2020 189 mins Small and Medium Business Microsoft Office Microsoft news analysis With Patch Tuesday here, be sure Windows Update is paused With all the flotsam floating around, it’s easy to lose sight of Second Tuesdays. October’s arrives tomorrow and, with it, another round of Windows and Office patches. Take a minute to make sure you aren’t in the front lines, as eve By Woody Leonhard Oct 12, 2020 5 mins Small and Medium Business Microsoft Windows Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe