Microsoft fixes Windows 7 update ‘screw-up’

Microsoft has fixed a flaw that was preventing Windows 7 users checking for updates. Hundreds of frustrated people had complained on the company’s forums ( www. snipca.com/26466) about error code ‘80248015’, worried that they wouldn’t be able to install security updates.

On 3 December they reported seeing the message ‘Windows could not search for new updates’ (see screenshot) or ‘Windows Update cannot currently check for updates because the service is not running. You may need to restart your computer’.

One user called Juliepp wrote: “What the heck has Microsoft done now? It’s pretty annoying because now I don’t know if I’m getting updates or not!”

The problem was caused by a file on Microsoft’s update servers expiring on 3 December. Before Microsoft fixed it two days later, some users said they’d solved the problem by rebooting their PC then changing the date to 12 March 2017 and checking for updates.

That such an obvious error went unnoticed has revived suspicions that Microsoft is neglecting Windows 7 and 8. In October, Google said that by not applying security fixes to older operating systems when it updated Windows 10, Microsoft was unintentionally leaving clues for hackers to spot (see ‘Question of the Fortnight’, Issue 513).

Google criticised Microsoft for taking four months to fix flaws it had spotted in Windows 7 and 8.1.

Some users on the forum wondered whether Windows 7 was still a priority. Juliepp wrote: “We’re left here not knowing if it’s a royal screw-up, or if they have just dropped us Windows 7 users like yesterday’s bath water”.

Windows 7 remains the most popular version of the operating system, used on 43 per cent of computers worldwide according to November’s figures from Netmarketshare, an annual drop of five per cent.

Windows 10 use has grown by almost 10 per cent during the same period – up to 31 per cent.