There is a common problem with windows xp and windows 7 failing to update and the process hangs consuming one core completely. Quite a bit of googling/duckduckg

There is a common problem with windows xp and windows 7 failing to update and the process hangs consuming one core completely. Quite a bit of googling/duckduckgo usually fixes it, it's some updates that you need to download and install manually, seems a bit random which ones are needed each time but I have a collection saved for future use. :-) After doing this I can update windows normally again. Try these for starters: kb3102810, kb3138612, kb3172605