Windows Vista downloads but does not install updates

[Guest]

I'm running Windows Vista RC1 Build 5600, and the last two times I've tried
to shut down the computer, Vista displays a message that I should not power
off or unplug my machine, because it's installing update 1 of 1. The first
time this happened, the "Installing" message appeared for over 12 hours.
Finally, the machine shut down and I assumed that the updates were
installed--no error messages appeared. (Something similar happened a couple
weeks ago, and when I checked in the Control Panel, it indicated that the
updates were indeed installed.) However, when I tried to shut down earlier
today, the same "Installing" message appeared and is still going strong about
10 hours later. I don't imagine it's supposed to take so long to install an
update.

Any advice about how to proceed is appreciated.

 

[Tom Ziegmann]

I would suggest bugging it. Also, open Windows Update and run an update
check and see if that flushes out the ghost in the machine. One thing to be
aware of too, is the time that you have Vista set to check for updates. That
time that is there is the time that it actually kicks off any update
installs unless the check was initiated manually. However it can and does
check for updates quite often.