I ran that specific update before and it does help. you have to pull the network cable though before you run it, otherwise you're in the same situation waiting for hours / days while it checks for updates. Another option that has worked for me in the past was to set the automatic update to occur sooner (like 1pm if it's 12:30pm while I'm working on the computer) for some reason automatic updates seem to not get hung up by the endless checking loop.
I had forgotten about these tricks until just now and will try them this morning on the computer I'm working on.