Running Windows 7 on Dell desktop. Machine was hanging up so I went to restart. I then found out it was running windows updates in the background. It says it is on update 7 of 25 and not to power off. It has been in the same place for the last eight hours. Not sure what to do. Please advise.

Click cancel, it will take a while, (maybe 10 minutes or so), reboot (probably will do it on its on or prompt you). Didn't like one of the updates, after it comes up, go back and select available updates from the Microsoft Update site. Let us know of your progress.MCSE, MCSA, MCDST [If this post helps to resolve your issue, please click the "Mark as Answer" or "Helpful" button at the top of this message. By marking a post as Answered, or Helpful you help others find the answer faster.]

No way to hit cancel as it is on the blue power off screen.

Windows updates installs through Windows, and then actually applies the updates on shutdown / startup. If its stuck at that point for 8 hours, you don't have much choice but to hold the power button and turn your PC back on. There's a good possibility the machine wont boot, or it will try to re-apply those updates on startup. If it does not boot, or gets hung again you can try a Windows 7 Startup Repair which is outline here: http://pcsupport.about.com/od/toolsofthetrade/ss/windows-7-startup-repair.htm

Yep, just power it off, but I've rarely have one not boot from that occurence, but then again it depends on what hung it up. Let us know the status after powering it back on and we'll guide from there there what to do.MCSE, MCSA, MCDST [If this post helps to resolve your issue, please click the "Mark as Answer" or "Helpful" button at the top of this message. By marking a post as Answered, or Helpful you help others find the answer faster.]