Tom,

Go back to Windows Update, but then select View update history. (When you first get to website for Microsoft Update-Windows Update, look at left-hand column, under Options. Press "Review your update history".)
Make a list of recent  update items  and post that information back.

The following services are needed by the processes at Windows Update. In services management console ( services.msc) they must NOT be *Disabled* in the Startup type.  
They need to show a startup type of Manual or Automatic.
Here are the services & their Startup types:

Background Intelligent Transfer Service(BITS)       Manual
Cryptographic Services                                            Automatic
Remote Procedure Call (RPC)                                Automatic