Problems with Windows 8 Store Apps stuck on pending?

I recently had a problem with updating apps from the Windows Store on a new laptop. They would end up stuck in a Pending state. I tried uninstalling and reinstalling the app but they still ended up in the same Pending state.

I resolved the problem using the following steps:

1. Open a Command Prompt as an Administrator
   (Go to the Start screen, type "cmd", right-click on Command Prompt and hit "Run as administrator")
   

2. Run the following four commands in the command prompt:
   
   net stop wuauserv
   cd %systemroot%
   ren SoftwareDistribution SoftwareDistribution.old
   net start wuauserv
   

3. Retry installing the Apps/Updates again.