Luckysf

1. Learn about the security and non-security updates that are published for Windows 7 SP1 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 through Windows Update. These updates address issues and improve the overall reliability of the operating system.
2. Based on my unserstanding, the settings of Windows update on the Windows 2008 R2 machine coulgn't be modified, and now it could not update Office automatically. According to my test, the settings could be modified if you could not configure related settings in the domain level or other level GPOs.

1. Server 2008 R2 Microsoft Update Download
2. Server 2008 R2 Release Date
3. Windows Server 2008 R2 Enable Microsoft Update
4. Windows Update Repair Tool Server 2008 R2

Hey All,

I came across an issue the other day when trying to install windows updates on Server 2008R2 (yes I know it's old will be decomm'd)

There were about 5 updates to install so I assumed it wouldn't take too long. So after downloading/installing the updates I rebooted the server.

Then I saw the 'preparing to configure windows. Do not turn off....' screen.
I waited over half an hour and knew something was wrong as it was still showing the same screen with no progress.

Security Update for Microsoft.NET Framework 3.5.1 on Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 for x64-based Systems (KB2972100) Security Update for Microsoft.NET Framework 3.5.1 on Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 for x64-based Systems (KB2972211). Update for Windows Server 2008 R2 x64 Edition (KB2741355) To start the download, click the Download button and then do one of the following, or select another language from Change Language and then click Change. Click Run to start the installation immediately. Click Save to copy the download to your computer for installation at a later time.

I did not want to cold reboot the server obviously. So after some searching on the net I found out the windows module installer service was stuck(stopping)

Server 2008 R2 Microsoft Update Download

3 Steps total

Step 1: Windows Server is stuck on 'Preparing to configure windows. Do not turn off..' screen

You are stuck on this screen for longer than usual after rebooting the server to finish installing windows updates.

Step 2: Check the windows module installer service

If the windows module installer service is stuck the service will show 'stopping'. When you check the properties of the service the path to the exe shows C:windowsservicingtrustedinstaller.exe.

*Note you can check the service status of the server remotely from your local machine via computer management or command prompt.

Step 3: Kill trustedinstaller.exe

Kill the trustedinstaller executable by running this command in command prompt (using sysinternals from your local machine)

taskkill /S hostname /IM trustedinstaller.exe

*Taskkill.exe also works from command prompt(as admin). No need for sysinternals. Glad this has helped a few people so far!

After killing trustedinstaller.exe, the server finally shut down. I booted it up and everything was back to normal.

This may also work on other versions of Windows but I haven't tested it out.

Server 2008 R2 Release Date

References

• Prashant Deshpande

Windows Server 2008 R2 Enable Microsoft Update

4 Comments

Windows Update Repair Tool Server 2008 R2

• Pimiento
  loganburt Aug 17, 2018 at 10:39am

  A thousand times, THANK YOU for posting this! This was spot on what was wrong with my update installation, and your article allowed me to recover from this hang-up.

  One small comment on this, though, for anyone else who needs this. The taskkill.exe command appears to be a a Windows system command rather than a SysInternals command.

  Thank you again for posting this.

• Pimiento
  sporter51 Sep 16, 2018 at 04:55pm

  While this works well and will allow you to log back into the server, you will still need to remove the offending update(s), or you'll be in the same position with your next reboot.

  Still, this is just another tool to drop into your bag. Mahalo!

• Pimiento
  William6895 Sep 26, 2018 at 08:57pm

  How do you check the services if you can not log in locally or connect remotely?

• Pimiento
  JimboAccy Mar 18, 2019 at 01:42pm

  Worked a treat this for me - thank you very much indeed. It was exactly as you described (waiting for nearly an hour on the Preparing updates screen on SBS 2011) and the trustedinstaller kill worked perfectly - I just used the same command in an elevated CMD prompt on my PC.

  Many thanks indeed

  Jim