I have had numerous phone calls from my friends; and I have also been experiencing the same problems.
e.g. (and still an issue)
On a clean install of win 7 64 bit SP1 we click update and the computer get stuck on checking for updates, whilst using little/no internet bandwidth, and 25% of my i5 and 1.4 Gb of RAM.
After reading the internet I am not the only person with this issue.
I have tried the various tools from the Microsoft website and community, plus I have also tried clearing the cashe manually.
If you can help please let me know as this is the 4th clean install this has happened to me on. I am beginning to think MS wont acknowledge there is a problem as they want you to upgrade to Win 10. (on that note, I would but all my Alienware software/fimware is not compatible, and as a result ruins my Win 10/Alienware experience.)
Thanks for the advice in advance