virtualbox.org

I just have two different Windows 7 vms installed, one enterprise version and one professional version.

The host is a 2015 mbp with OSX 10.10.5, vbox version 5.0.8.
Both guests are clean installation with no third-party software at all, except for the Microsoft windows security essential. Both are legit copies with valid keys and are activated properly.

The problem is that the VM does not update at all, none of them. When I start "windows update" it stays "checking for update" forever.

I have googled a whole day yesterday, tried everything below and restarted multiple times nothing works,

1, disable firewalls and antivirus on both host and guest <== I do notice that "windows security essential" updated after this.
2, automatically and manually reset windows update
3, make sure time is correct on guest
4, also tried NAT or bridged mode on the guests, did not make any difference

Any other suggestions?

TIA

do the guests connect to the internet?

FWIW, Windows 7 will not update without a valid product key and is activated.

loukingjr wrote:FWIW, Windows 7 will not update without a valid product key and is activated.

yes, it does connect to the internet with no problem. Plus windows security essential updated its virus definition after I disabled firewall on host.

Both have valid product key and both are activated properly.

well, there's nothing special about Windows Update other than at times it is really slow. Not that I think they would do such a thing but Microsoft, because they want everyone to move to Windows 10 may only have one server running for Windows 7 updates.

I'll try the updates in a minute.

I just ran Windows Update on my Windows 7 guest for the first time since 10/15. It was actually faster than normal but only found two optional updates that I installed. Even downloading them was faster. It may just be an issue in your area. Try again later.