Daniel - looks like it is having issues with the Windows Update services. What I've gathered is that it gets stuck contacting the Windows Update Server. Do you see svchost using a great deal of cpu time? (ctrl-alt-del, Task Manager, Processes)
For a quick fix, kill Windows Update and let us know how that works. Although that's not a solution, it will help to trace the problem.
If that does take care of the problem, there are numerous ways of dealing with that problem here:
http://ask-leo.com/comments_003020.php
If not, let us know.
Good Luck! TC