Stuck on “Checking for the latest updates on your computer”

I was trying to apply some Windows updates on Windows XP SP3, and I kept getting the “Checking for the latest updates on your computer”, but never past it. This seems to be due to a problem related to incomplete previous downloads, or some corrupted Windows Updates files.

If you are having this problem, here is how you resolve the problem:

1. Open a command prompt (Start / Run … /  (type) cmd and press enter
2. Type: proxycfg -d (this will setup the proxy back to direct connection to the internet
3. Stop the Windows Update Service. (from a command prompt, type) :  net stop wuauserv
4. Now open C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution and delete all of its contents
5. Start the Windows Update Service. (from a command prompt, type) : net start wuauserv

Voilà! now you can go back to the Windows Updates, and it should work like a charm.

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