The latest updates (13/01/11) have been downloaded and applied at shutdown without any sign of a problem. When I restart the machine all appears to go well until the message 'applying update operation 713' My machine then refuses to continue. If I power off and restart the only way is to use the restore function. Fine. That puts me back to just before this round of updates where applied. OK. So I then think I should stop these updates being applied. But I have tried the route via the control panel to stop the updates being applied without my express permission. So when I shut down my machine it applies the updates and I am back in the circle - the machine won't restart - it stops at 'applying update operation713'. So here we go again. Any solutions anybody outthere? Thank for any help

Open Windows Update in Control Panel. Click the ' x important updates available ' link. ( x being the number of updates being offered ) Right click on KB2454826 and choose Hide. Agree to the UAC prompt. That's the update that is causing restarting issues so advise you to Hide it for now. If KB976902 is not on the list of Important updates then go back to Windows Update and click the ' View 1 optional update available' link. Check the box next to it and install that prior to installing any other updates as it updates Windows 7 software installation. Description of the Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 installation software feature update " The installation software is the component that handles the installation and the removal of software updates, language packs, optional Windows features, and service packs. This update is necessary to successfully install and to remove any service packs to all versions of Windows 7 and on Windows Server 2008 R2. " Then install KB2419640. Microsoft is aware of issues associated with KB2454826. Updating the video display driver has resolved said issues for some, and the uninstallation of SAV (Symantec Antivirus Corporate Edition) for others. MowGreen Windows Expert IT Pro - Consumer Security