Windows Updates
 

It seems that my Windows 7 machine is not automatically searching for windows updates (I sometimes get an alert) so I went into the control panel and selected 'search for updates'. However I see that I have not had any updates installed since 5 September. Should I worry about this and if so what should I do about it?

I performed a systems restore a few months ago. I don't know if this has anything to do with it.

Hmmmm, there are certainly updates "out there"! If you go back into control panel -> windows updates, you will see an opportunity to decide how updates are installed. This may have defaulted to "don't install" - shouldn't happen, but, hey, that's Windows for you.
If you tell it to look for updates, be prepared for a *very* long wait, like hours, while it searches... but it should find lots.

Actually, there are only 14 important updates since 5 Sept if you ignore optionals.

Windows Update on Win7 seems to be increasingly unreliable - flatly refused to download anything on several fresh installs of Win7 recently. I've resorted to using WSUSOffline but it's a bit of a sledgehammer to crack a nut for your situation: WSUS Offline Update - Update Microsoft Windows and Office without an Internet connection

Mine would just sit there using 100% of one core. That's another reason I disabled it a few months ago.

Mine did that too, but there is now a fix available, which I've used successfully. Described here.
https://blog.krissmilne.tech/windows...ng-for-updates

Same problem but on Vista
 

I am having the same problems with Vista. "Checking for updates" basically lasts all day. I have googled the matter and tried a few things but to no avail.

Any suggestions on how to fix or where to look for a solution would be most appreciated.

mo