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Mailbag: How can I reset Windows Update if it tells me I need an update that is already installed?

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Question:

I recently received a .NET Framework update from Windows Update.  It installed successfully, but Windows Update continues to offer this update to my computer afterwards.  How can I get Windows Update to detect that this update is correctly installed on my computer?

Answer:

In some cases, Windows Update can get confused and think that it needs to continue to offer an update to a computer even after it has been successfully installed.  In this type of scenario, it can sometimes help to reboot your computer and then use the steps listed at https://support.microsoft.com/kb/971058 to reset the Windows Update components on your computer.

If Windows Update continues to offer an update to your computer even after resetting Windows Update components, then you might need to uninstall and re-install the product that the update applies to in order to cause Windows Update to correctly detect the installation state of the update.

Comments

  • Anonymous
    September 08, 2011
    Nice Q&A.  Bookmarked as this is a question oft asked on the TechNet forums.

  • Anonymous
    September 10, 2011
    Nice Blog Post... This is a really good solution to commonly faced problems in Windows and often seen on TechNet Blogs or Windows 7 Forums.

  • Anonymous
    September 10, 2011
    Nice Blog Post... This is a really good solution to commonly faced problems in Windows and often seen on TechNet Blogs or Windows 7 Forums.