Windows cannot currently check for updates because the service is not running

Sometimes Windows 7 may not let you download updates because of some issues with the Software Distribution folder. This may even happen soon after a fresh install of Windows.

Here's how to fix it.

Open command prompt in elevated mode and type:

net stop wuauserv

This will stop the Windows Update service.

Next enter this command:

ren %windir%\SoftwareDistribution softwaredistributionold

This will rename the Software Distribution folder so the system will have to recreate a new empty one.

Now all we have to do is restart the Windows Update service by entering:

net start wuauserv

Now we can retry downloading updates from Windows Update.