Microsoft forgot to change an expiration date, and now all attempts to run Windows Update in Win7 are failing with the bogus message "Windows Update cannot currently check for updates, because the service is not running."
https://www.computerworld.com/article/3239729/microsoft-windows/windows-update-for-win7-broken-throwing-error-80248015.html
Mary Jo Foley also published an article about it: Windows Update is broken for some Windows 7 users | ZDNet (http://www.zdnet.com/article/windows-update-is-broken-for-some-windows-7-users/).
Started seeing signs of this being reported yesterday: https://www.askwoody.com/forums/topic/windows-update-service-not-running/
Reported as being fixed a few hours ago: https://www.askwoody.com/2017/windows-update-in-win7-now-appears-to-be-working-properly/
Not working for me
The authorization.xml inside was updated and Windows Update client now works fine. Microsoft updated the cab file http://ds.download.windowsupdate.com/v11/2/microsoftupdate/redir/v6-muauth.cab and the Expiry Date set to 2025-07-01T00:00:00.0000000-00:00
Yep all working for me again.