The Windows Update service downloads and automatically installs Microsoft-created software on your computer.
Windows Update Service (WUS) is a software and network service provided by Microsoft. Previously known as Software Update Service, WUS is responsible for downloading the updates and hotfixes which are released for Microsoft products.
Microsoft routinely releases the new features through Windows Update on the second Tuesday and sometimes on the fourth Tuesday of every month.
This is also known as Patch Tuesday.
Sometimes, urgent fixes are released on other days as and when necessary.
What Is Windows Update Service
In its bid to ensure the best user experience and improved software features and functionalities, Microsoft regularly releases updates to add new security patches and other software components for the computers with Microsoft Windows Operating System.
Office computers often get prompts for Windows Updates. Windows Update service provides these updates, which include service packs and patches for Windows OS and other Microsoft software.
Sometimes, Microsoft releases hardware updates as well, which aim to upgrade the drivers.
These security enhancements and patch updates protect your system from malicious and malware attacks, which are becoming more sophisticated every day.
System Requirements
Windows Update works seamlessly with Windows 7/8/10, Windows Vista, and Windows XP.
Remember that Windows 7, Windows Vista, and Windows XP support has already ended, so there are no new updates released to these operating systems.
Windows Update is important to keep your PC up to date with the latest patch updates. The service name is “wuauserv.” It will run inside the shared services host process, svchost.exe.
How To Navigate To Windows Update
How you access Windows Update service changes according to the operating system you use. There are a few ways by which you can go to the Windows Update service. Here is the most common way to navigate to Windows Update.
- Go to Start Button.
- Search for Control Panel and click on it.
- When Control Panel opens, search for Services.
- Click View Local Services, under Administrative Tools
- Under Services, locate Windows Update.
- Double Click on it, and a popup window for the Windows Update will open.
Alternatively, you can also follow the process given below.
- To view the Windows Services list, press Win + R to launch the Run application.
- Type in services.msc and press Enter.
- You can skip the above two steps and run services.msc from the Command Prompt.
- Now scroll through the list of services.
- Locate the Windows Update service.
- Double Click the entry to launch the Windows Update service.
Windows 10 has a built-in Windows Settings. Hence, you can directly open the Windows Update service by searching Windows Update service from the Start menu.
However, in the case of Windows 7/8 and Vista, Windows Update is embedded with Control Panel in the form of an applet.
To install the updates, run the Windows Update applet and select the updates you want to install. Follow the instructions on downloading and installation for a successful installation.
Windows Update Service Missing
In the case of Windows Update service is missing and cannot be found at the services list (services.msc) follow the next steps:
- Open Registry Editor. To do that:
- Press Windows Key + R to open the run command box.
- Type regedit and press Enter.
2. At the left pane, navigate to the following registry location:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services
Under the “Services” key, check if you see the “wuauserv” registry key:
Right click on it and select Export to backup the key for safety reasons.
Save the Key to your Desktop with name “Win10UpdateBackup.reg”.
Then right click again on the “wuauserv” key and click Delete.
Close the Registry Editor.
3. Open Notepad application. To do that:
- Press Windows Key + R to open the run command box again.
- Type notepad and press Enter.
4. Select and copy/paste to notepad the code below:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\wuauserv]
"DependOnService"=hex(7):72,00,70,00,63,00,73,00,73,00,00,00,00,00
"Description"="@%systemroot%\\system32\\wuaueng.dll,-106"
"DisplayName"="@%systemroot%\\system32\\wuaueng.dll,-105"
"ErrorControl"=dword:00000001
"FailureActions"=hex:80,51,01,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,03,00,00,00,14,00,00,\
00,01,00,00,00,60,ea,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00
"ImagePath"=hex(2):25,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,72,00,6f,00,6f,00,\
74,00,25,00,5c,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,73,\
00,76,00,63,00,68,00,6f,00,73,00,74,00,2e,00,65,00,78,00,65,00,20,00,2d,00,\
6b,00,20,00,6e,00,65,00,74,00,73,00,76,00,63,00,73,00,20,00,2d,00,70,00,00,\
00
"ObjectName"="LocalSystem"
"RequiredPrivileges"=hex(7):53,00,65,00,41,00,75,00,64,00,69,00,74,00,50,00,72,\
00,69,00,76,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,67,00,65,00,00,00,53,00,65,00,43,00,72,00,\
65,00,61,00,74,00,65,00,47,00,6c,00,6f,00,62,00,61,00,6c,00,50,00,72,00,69,\
00,76,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,67,00,65,00,00,00,53,00,65,00,43,00,72,00,65,00,\
61,00,74,00,65,00,50,00,61,00,67,00,65,00,46,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,50,00,72,\
00,69,00,76,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,67,00,65,00,00,00,53,00,65,00,54,00,63,00,\
62,00,50,00,72,00,69,00,76,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,67,00,65,00,00,00,53,00,65,\
00,41,00,73,00,73,00,69,00,67,00,6e,00,50,00,72,00,69,00,6d,00,61,00,72,00,\
79,00,54,00,6f,00,6b,00,65,00,6e,00,50,00,72,00,69,00,76,00,69,00,6c,00,65,\
00,67,00,65,00,00,00,53,00,65,00,49,00,6d,00,70,00,65,00,72,00,73,00,6f,00,\
6e,00,61,00,74,00,65,00,50,00,72,00,69,00,76,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,67,00,65,\
00,00,00,53,00,65,00,49,00,6e,00,63,00,72,00,65,00,61,00,73,00,65,00,51,00,\
75,00,6f,00,74,00,61,00,50,00,72,00,69,00,76,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,67,00,65,\
00,00,00,53,00,65,00,53,00,68,00,75,00,74,00,64,00,6f,00,77,00,6e,00,50,00,\
72,00,69,00,76,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,67,00,65,00,00,00,53,00,65,00,44,00,65,\
00,62,00,75,00,67,00,50,00,72,00,69,00,76,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,67,00,65,00,\
00,00,53,00,65,00,42,00,61,00,63,00,6b,00,75,00,70,00,50,00,72,00,69,00,76,\
00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,67,00,65,00,00,00,53,00,65,00,52,00,65,00,73,00,74,00,\
6f,00,72,00,65,00,50,00,72,00,69,00,76,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,67,00,65,00,00,\
00,53,00,65,00,53,00,65,00,63,00,75,00,72,00,69,00,74,00,79,00,50,00,72,00,\
69,00,76,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,67,00,65,00,00,00,53,00,65,00,54,00,61,00,6b,\
00,65,00,4f,00,77,00,6e,00,65,00,72,00,73,00,68,00,69,00,70,00,50,00,72,00,\
69,00,76,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,67,00,65,00,00,00,53,00,65,00,4c,00,6f,00,61,\
00,64,00,44,00,72,00,69,00,76,00,65,00,72,00,50,00,72,00,69,00,76,00,69,00,\
6c,00,65,00,67,00,65,00,00,00,53,00,65,00,4d,00,61,00,6e,00,61,00,67,00,65,\
00,56,00,6f,00,6c,00,75,00,6d,00,65,00,50,00,72,00,69,00,76,00,69,00,6c,00,\
65,00,67,00,65,00,00,00,00,00
"ServiceSidType"=dword:00000001
"Start"=dword:00000003
"SvcHostSplitDisable"=dword:00000001
"SvcMemHardLimitInMB"=dword:000000f6
"SvcMemMidLimitInMB"=dword:000000a7
"SvcMemSoftLimitInMB"=dword:00000058
"Type"=dword:00000020
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\wuauserv\Parameters]
"ServiceDll"=hex(2):25,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,72,00,6f,00,6f,\
00,74,00,25,00,5c,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,\
77,00,75,00,61,00,75,00,65,00,6e,00,67,00,2e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,00,00,00
"ServiceDllUnloadOnStop"=dword:00000001
"ServiceMain"="WUServiceMain"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\wuauserv\Security]
"Security"=hex:01,00,14,80,78,00,00,00,84,00,00,00,14,00,00,00,30,00,00,00,02,\
00,1c,00,01,00,00,00,02,80,14,00,ff,00,0f,00,01,01,00,00,00,00,00,01,00,00,\
00,00,02,00,48,00,03,00,00,00,00,00,14,00,9d,00,02,00,01,01,00,00,00,00,00,\
05,0b,00,00,00,00,00,18,00,ff,01,0f,00,01,02,00,00,00,00,00,05,20,00,00,00,\
20,02,00,00,00,00,14,00,ff,01,0f,00,01,01,00,00,00,00,00,05,12,00,00,00,01,\
01,00,00,00,00,00,05,12,00,00,00,01,01,00,00,00,00,00,05,12,00,00,00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\wuauserv\TriggerInfo]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\wuauserv\TriggerInfo\0]
"Type"=dword:00000005
"Action"=dword:00000001
"Guid"=hex:e6,ca,9f,65,db,5b,a9,4d,b1,ff,ca,2a,17,8d,46,e0
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\wuauserv\TriggerInfo\1]
"Type"=dword:00000005
"Action"=dword:00000001
"Guid"=hex:c8,46,fb,54,89,f0,4c,46,b1,fd,59,d1,b6,2c,3b,50Then click File > Save as and save the file at your Desktop with the name: “Win10UpdateFix.reg“.
Now double click at “Win10UpdateFix.reg” file and click Yes at UAC warning message.
Finally, click OK at the information message and then Restart your computer.
After the Restart, the Windows Update Service should be listed at the services list (services.msc) and running.
Proceed to check and install updates and the problem should be resolved.
To Conclude
In case of any issue with the Windows Update service missing, you can follow the steps above to repair the service. You can even go back to the previous version if the latest update is causing problems for your PC.
