Automatic Updates keep re-installing every day

One of my end users is having an issue with his new Dell laptop. He is
running Windows XP Professional SP1, with Automatic Updates set to check for
new updates, automatically download and prompt to install every day.

Every morning, when the user logs on to the laptop, he is notified that
there are 3 new updates:
-KB832894
-KB824145
-KB828750

Every morning he clicks "Install," it almost imediately tells him the
installation is completed without errors (no reboot necessary), but every
morning it keeps prompting to install these updates.

In the Event Viewer it shows an event saying these three updates were
installed successfully, however:

-I have looked at Add/Remove Programs, but these updates are not listed.
-I have checked in the Registry (as indicated in
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=319109), these fixes are not listed here.
-I have looked in C:\WINDOWS\ and there are no log files about these
updates.

I've also tried downloading these updates individually using Windows Update
but this still does not fix the issue. It still prompts every day to
install these updates.

Anyone have any suggestions? Please let me know.

-Tim Nichols

This is all I got.

KB832894
Check your web server and IE SP version.
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sec.../MS04-004.mspx

KB824145
KB828750

Try using these methods
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/pro.../winupdte.mspx


"Tim Nichols" <> wrote in message
news:...
> One of my end users is having an issue with his new Dell laptop. He is
> running Windows XP Professional SP1, with Automatic Updates set to check
> for
> new updates, automatically download and prompt to install every day.
>
> Every morning, when the user logs on to the laptop, he is notified that
> there are 3 new updates:
> -KB832894
> -KB824145
> -KB828750
>
> Every morning he clicks "Install," it almost imediately tells him the
> installation is completed without errors (no reboot necessary), but every
> morning it keeps prompting to install these updates.
>
> In the Event Viewer it shows an event saying these three updates were
> installed successfully, however:
>
> -I have looked at Add/Remove Programs, but these updates are not listed.
> -I have checked in the Registry (as indicated in
> http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=319109), these fixes are not listed
> here.
> -I have looked in C:\WINDOWS\ and there are no log files about these
> updates.
>
> I've also tried downloading these updates individually using Windows
> Update
> but this still does not fix the issue. It still prompts every day to
> install these updates.
>
> Anyone have any suggestions? Please let me know.
>
> -Tim Nichols
>
>

Hi, Tim;

Is that end user running some kind of Registry protection software (some
Norton apps did that) that would prevent the updates from writing to the
Registry? Also, the end user has Admin privileges, right?


--

....Sky

Tom "Sky" King
=============

Tim Nichols wrote:
> One of my end users is having an issue with his new Dell laptop. He
> is running Windows XP Professional SP1, with Automatic Updates set to
> check for new updates, automatically download and prompt to install
> every day.
>
> Every morning, when the user logs on to the laptop, he is notified
> that there are 3 new updates:
> -KB832894
> -KB824145
> -KB828750
>
> Every morning he clicks "Install," it almost imediately tells him the
> installation is completed without errors (no reboot necessary), but
> every morning it keeps prompting to install these updates.
>
> In the Event Viewer it shows an event saying these three updates were
> installed successfully, however:
>
> -I have looked at Add/Remove Programs, but these updates are not
> listed.
> -I have checked in the Registry (as indicated in
> http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=319109), these fixes are not
> listed here. -I have looked in C:\WINDOWS\ and there are no log files
> about these updates.
>
> I've also tried downloading these updates individually using Windows
> Update but this still does not fix the issue. It still prompts every
> day to install these updates.
>
> Anyone have any suggestions? Please let me know.
>
> -Tim Nichols

The user does have admin priviledges. And he is not running any registry
protecting software.

-Tim

"Sky King" <> wrote in message
news:%...
> Hi, Tim;
>
> Is that end user running some kind of Registry protection software (some
> Norton apps did that) that would prevent the updates from writing to the
> Registry? Also, the end user has Admin privileges, right?
>
>
> --
>
> ...Sky
>
> Tom "Sky" King
> =============
>
> Tim Nichols wrote:
> > One of my end users is having an issue with his new Dell laptop. He
> > is running Windows XP Professional SP1, with Automatic Updates set to
> > check for new updates, automatically download and prompt to install
> > every day.
> >
> > Every morning, when the user logs on to the laptop, he is notified
> > that there are 3 new updates:
> > -KB832894
> > -KB824145
> > -KB828750
> >
> > Every morning he clicks "Install," it almost imediately tells him the
> > installation is completed without errors (no reboot necessary), but
> > every morning it keeps prompting to install these updates.
> >
> > In the Event Viewer it shows an event saying these three updates were
> > installed successfully, however:
> >
> > -I have looked at Add/Remove Programs, but these updates are not
> > listed.
> > -I have checked in the Registry (as indicated in
> > http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=319109), these fixes are not
> > listed here. -I have looked in C:\WINDOWS\ and there are no log files
> > about these updates.
> >
> > I've also tried downloading these updates individually using Windows
> > Update but this still does not fix the issue. It still prompts every
> > day to install these updates.
> >
> > Anyone have any suggestions? Please let me know.
> >
> > -Tim Nichols
>

Tim Nichols wrote:
> The user does have admin priviledges. And he is not running any
> registry protecting software.

Hmmm....Well, the most likely reason that the user keeps getting offered the
same updates is that the installation doesn't complete; that is, it doesn't
write the correct information to the Registry showing the update is
installed.

For example, check your system in this Registry section:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\HotFix

You will see a list of Hotfix items, and for each one installed you will see
a subkey named "Installed" with a Reg_DWord value of 1 (one). If the
primary entry for the 3 updates you mention ( KB832894, KB824145, KB828750)
does not exist, or if it does exist and the "Installed" subkey is not set to
"1" then Windows Update/AU will offer the update again --- until it is
installed or the user elects to hide/dismiss the update.

It may be a matter of Permissions in the Registry. If the user is logged in
as an Administrator, then he should check that he has Full Control of the
Hotfix major section listed above and for all subkeys.

Beyond that, look for anything else that is preventing the "Installed=" line
for those 3 updates from being set correctly on that person's system.

Of course all the above assumes that the updates are actually getting
installed. Have you checked that any file updates included in those 3 are
happening on that system? Using KB828750 as an example, does that user
have the updated URLMON.DLL on his system? If he does not, then the update
isn't being installed at all, and the Registry/Permissions thing above
likely doesn't apply.


--

....Sky

Tom "Sky" King
=============

I checked this out, and found that the registry keys for these updates as
you mentioned do not exist. I looked at the files for one of the updates,
and noticed that the version the user has on the computer is actually a
newer, more recent version than what is installed by the update. Could this
have something to do with the problem? If so, what can be done about it?
Any additional input would be great.

Thanks for the help,

-Tim

"Sky King" <> wrote in message
news:%...
> Tim Nichols wrote:
> > The user does have admin priviledges. And he is not running any
> > registry protecting software.
>
> Hmmm....Well, the most likely reason that the user keeps getting offered
the
> same updates is that the installation doesn't complete; that is, it
doesn't
> write the correct information to the Registry showing the update is
> installed.
>
> For example, check your system in this Registry section:
> HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\HotFix
>
> You will see a list of Hotfix items, and for each one installed you will
see
> a subkey named "Installed" with a Reg_DWord value of 1 (one). If the
> primary entry for the 3 updates you mention ( KB832894, KB824145,
KB828750)
> does not exist, or if it does exist and the "Installed" subkey is not set
to
> "1" then Windows Update/AU will offer the update again --- until it is
> installed or the user elects to hide/dismiss the update.
>
> It may be a matter of Permissions in the Registry. If the user is logged
in
> as an Administrator, then he should check that he has Full Control of the
> Hotfix major section listed above and for all subkeys.
>
> Beyond that, look for anything else that is preventing the "Installed="
line
> for those 3 updates from being set correctly on that person's system.
>
> Of course all the above assumes that the updates are actually getting
> installed. Have you checked that any file updates included in those 3 are
> happening on that system? Using KB828750 as an example, does that user
> have the updated URLMON.DLL on his system? If he does not, then the
update
> isn't being installed at all, and the Registry/Permissions thing above
> likely doesn't apply.
>
>
> --
>
> ...Sky
>
> Tom "Sky" King
> =============
>

Tim Nichols wrote:
> I checked this out, and found that the registry keys for these
> updates as you mentioned do not exist. I looked at the files for one
> of the updates, and noticed that the version the user has on the
> computer is actually a newer, more recent version than what is
> installed by the update. Could this have something to do with the
> problem? If so, what can be done about it? Any additional input
> would be great.

That is odd, isn't it? If the file to be installed by an update is newer, I
wonder how it got there. Anyway, it is worth noting that some of those
updates involve making security-related changes in the system and not just
files.

A couple of options that will work, I think.

1. Have the user manually download and install each of those 3 updates.
That will clear things up and you/he will be confident about the state of
the machine. I recommend this one. Best to follow the steps as listed
here: http://www3.telus.net/dandemar/needagain.htm

2. The next time these show up for the user, have him Unselect them, then
mark the option to not show them anymore. That will stop AU from constantly
offering those updates. Down side is that the system may be unprotected.

--

....Sky

Tom "Sky" King
=============

I've been seeing the exact same behavior. I've checked the great ideas
listed in this thread only to find none of them apply. However - the
workaround in our case was to log on as a domain administrator and run
windows or automatic updates at that point.