8.1 Laptop Stuck on “Checking for updates…”

My boss was having an issue where chrome would not load and the computer in general was sluggish. I noticed that there were numerous updates (some of them quite large) that needed to be installed. Windows Update would freeze whenever I tried to use it. Some searching turned up this method of resetting Windows Update which allowed me to install the queued updates and alleviate all the issues on the system.

8.1 Laptop Stuck on “Checking for updates…”