I just installed Windows 8.1 in a Hyper-V virtual machine. The release version that was distributed through msdn not the preview. I enter audit mode as soon as I can, so there have been no changes or customization applied to the install prior to entering audit mode. I start up windows update to search for new updates. The status is displayed as "Checking for updates..." "Most recent check for updates: Never." "Updates were installed: Never." The status never changes from "Checking for updates...". I have even left it running over night and it still says "Checking for updates...". There is never any error message or failure. Network connectivity is functional. I have attempted an install on a physical machine as well with the same result. If instead of entering audit mode a proceed through setting up windows and a user account, updates will work just fine. There should be an update to defender as well as an update to ie11.
I considered the possibility of a corrupt download so I compared the sha-1 hash to what is listed on the msdn download page and it does match.