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I've done all this to resolve the update issue.
1. Catroot rename
2. softwaredistribution rename
3. change how to update settings
4. WU diag troubleshooter cab
5. registered numerous DLLs
6. Ran SFC /scannow
7. DISM cmd
8. installed 2012 over itself
9. Did the above a few more times, then...

I reinstalled 2012 after a wipe and updates worked. ONCE.
Has not worked since that first time.

screen Screen picture after 13 hours.

Michael Hampton
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Bob ONeill
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  • Have you tried to download the CAB files by themselves by looking at what updates are failing and installing either through WSUS or through manually installing through each executable? – kelvintechie Feb 03 '19 at 08:28
  • No WSUS. As far as knowing what cab files I need, I feel that's impossible, since it doesn't get to that point. Just "checking for updates" and the green bar that keeps going for days... – Bob ONeill Feb 03 '19 at 13:50
  • I feel that implementing WSUS might be an option, but if that doesn't work, I'll try investigating on my own infrastructure. I remember having this issue with 2016 and I don't remember what I did to fix it. I think what I did to install updates was to use sconfig through the command line and download/install updates through there, but I'll look at my own infrastructure when I get into work tomorrow. – kelvintechie Feb 03 '19 at 21:24
  • KelvinTechie - thanks. I don't have the resources for WSUS, but I look forward to your response. – Bob ONeill Feb 03 '19 at 22:39
  • What about using sconfig as I also outlined in my previous comment? – kelvintechie Feb 03 '19 at 22:40
  • Unfamiliar with sconfig. – Bob ONeill Feb 04 '19 at 00:05
  • I'll put details into an answer. :) – kelvintechie Feb 04 '19 at 00:13
  • Try installing the latest cumulative update and see if that helps. – Harry Johnston Feb 05 '19 at 02:35
  • Harry, how do I know what the latest CU is? Kevin, This reinstall is from a different media, it's actually Datacenter where prior it was standard. – Bob ONeill Feb 09 '19 at 00:03
  • Any suggestions are appreciated. – Bob ONeill Feb 09 '19 at 20:48
  • HELP! This is not fixed. Must be some trick to make it work. – Bob ONeill Feb 16 '19 at 21:57

1 Answers1

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Using sconfig may help you out here if the graphical Windows Update service is failing for some reason.

First, though, I would try restarting the wuauserv (Windows Update service) once more to ensure that the actual Windows Update service isn't an issue.

If that continues to not work though, there's a sweet little command line utility that's meant for managing Server Core and other terminal-only systems but that will work wonderfully on Desktop Experience servers called sconfig. Sconfig (server config) is a Microsoft-provided (read: included by default) tool that helps you to do many management tasks, including, but not limited to, triggering an update check.

enter image description here

To use sconfig, open up the command prompt as an elevated user and type in 'sconfig'. From there, your prompt should turn blue and you should be launched into the sconfig interface. From there, hit 6 on your keyboard and following some more prompts, it should start to check for updates.

That's a method that I used to alleviate my update issues with Server 2016, but if that doesn't work, my last resort would be to try reinstalling Server 2012 with a new image if you haven't already. It's possible that something may be broken in that image. Also, it may be a networking issue. Let me know if it doesn't work though, and we can go through some other ideas.

kelvintechie
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  • It may be a few days before I'm back in front of that server, but I will try this and let you know. Thanks for your effort and assistance. – Bob ONeill Feb 04 '19 at 12:56