Windows Update corruption fix
Problem: You try to run Windows Update on your Win7 PC, but it generates an error (usually quite quickly) that it can't run.
Issue: The database Win7 uses to figure out what has already been installed is damaged and needs to be discarded/replaced.
Solution:
1. Make sure Windows Update is closed.
2. Click on "Start" and in the text field, type the word "command", but do NOT press the return key. In the resulting window, a list of apps will appear with one being called "Command Prompt". Right click on it and select "Run as Administrator".
3. In the resulting command window, type in the following two commands at the command prompt:
net stop wuauserv (then press return to enter the command)
net stop bits (then press return to enter the command prompt)
After typing in each command, Windows should tell you that it's shutting down the appropriate service.
4. Click on "Start" to bring up the Start Menu, then select "Computer" from the list on the right. Double-click on icon for your "C:\" drive, then double-click the "Windows" folder. Scroll through the list of items until you find a folder called "SoftwareDistribution". Right click on it, select "Rename", and rename the folder to "SoftwareDistribution.old".
5. Back in the command window, type in the following two commands:
net start wuauserv (then press return to enter the command)
net start bits (then press return to enter the command)
Doing this should restart the two services.
6. Type "exit" to exit the command window.
7. Try running Windows Update again. It should now report that it has never searched for new updates. Tell it to search, and after a while, it should find new updates to install.