Win 7 update takes forever

I have Win 7 pro installed with Parallels 9. I use it very rarely, only for the OCR program I need. So when it fire it up, there are mega amounts of updates available. I also make sure the security essentials is updated, but what about the other stuff? This morning I loaded Win up and there were 74 updates. I let the computer work while I went out shopping. Came home a number of hours later and see that only @ 15% were downloaded. I just cancelled. I know that keeping the system updated is important to keep things secure, but is there anyway to do this more quickly?

Probably not. I have a very fast connection and just to download a virus definition update for MSE took well over 30 minutes for one file. The MS servers are ridiculously slow at times. You really shouldn't allow yourself to get that far behind MS updates. That many updates even with a fast connection would take hours just to download and then probably another hour or so to install them.

thanks for input, chscag. I guess I should try and update on a more regular basis, especially since tax time is coming.