Failed installation of Windows updates - me too.

I've been a bit slack and haven't installed any updates since October 2006.
My OS is WindowsXP SP1.

Just tried to get up-to-date and all updates (some 50+ for XP and Office)
have all indicated a failed installation.

The initial "checking for updates" came up with only the Windows Genuine
Advantage Validation tool which I tried to install. This failed and the
window then led me to my update history which showed the 50+ failed
installations. I cannot find any way to retry them.

Seems weird as I've never had a problem in the past.

Can anyone throw some light on this problem for me? Please... thanks

Samfrea wrote:
> I've been a bit slack and haven't installed any updates since
> October 2006. My OS is WindowsXP SP1.
>
> Just tried to get up-to-date and all updates (some 50+ for XP and
> Office) have all indicated a failed installation.
>
> The initial "checking for updates" came up with only the Windows
> Genuine Advantage Validation tool which I tried to install. This
> failed and the window then led me to my update history which
> showed the 50+ failed installations. I cannot find any way to
> retry them.
>
> Seems weird as I've never had a problem in the past.
>
> Can anyone throw some light on this problem for me? Please...
> thanks

First - clean up the machine. Make sure you have the latest hardware
drivers from each hardware manufacturer (not Microsoft's update page - from
the actual hardware component's manufacturer page.) Make sure you have
patched each of your applications from their support web pages. Uninstall
unused software. Do a full scan for spyware/adware with SuperAntispyware.
CHKDSK the C drive. Defragment the C drive. Reboot. Download the FULL SP2
installation file and install it next.

SuperAntiSpyware: http://www.superantispyware.com/ (free version.)
Full SP2 download: http://snipurl.com/8bqy (IT Professional - yes, this is
what you want.)

After you get SP2 installed (or if you still have trouble) try the
following:

Updates are not installed successfully from Windows Update,
from Microsoft Update, or by using Automatic Updates after
you repair a Windows XP installation
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/943144

Can't figure that out?

Get Dial-a-Fix:
http://wiki.djlizard.net/Dial-a-fix

Use its options to fix:
- Windows Installer
- Windows Update
- All the Registration Center options.

Turn off the "Empty System32\Catroot 2"
Do NOT do "Flush SoftwareDistribution".

Then click "GO" and wait until it is done... Reboot will be needed.

- Download/Install Windows Update v3.

http://download.windowsupdate.com/Wi...gent30-x86.exe
(You *may* need to install it using the command line switch "/wuforce"
right after the reboot - immediately after logging in.)

- Download/Install the 927891 patch.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...9-404327772E5A

- Reboot.

- Visit http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/ and scan for/install updates.

- Come back and let us know how things went!

--
Shenan Stanley
MS-MVP
--
How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

"Samfrea" wrote:

> I've been a bit slack and haven't installed any updates since October 2006.
> My OS is WindowsXP SP1.
>
> Just tried to get up-to-date and all updates (some 50+ for XP and Office)
> have all indicated a failed installation.
>
> The initial "checking for updates" came up with only the Windows Genuine
> Advantage Validation tool which I tried to install. This failed and the
> window then led me to my update history which showed the 50+ failed
> installations. I cannot find any way to retry them.
>
> Seems weird as I've never had a problem in the past.
>
> Can anyone throw some light on this problem for me? Please... thanks

Forgot to mention that both my Windows XP and Office are genuine copies. XP
came with my Sony computer (OEM version) and Office I purchased myself.

Go here first:

Microsoft Genuine Advantage – Diagnostic Site
http://www.microsoft.com/genuine/dia...displaylang=en

Did the system get WGA'ed ?

MowGreen [MVP 2003-2008]
===============
*-343-* FDNY
Never Forgotten
===============


Samfrea wrote:

> I've been a bit slack and haven't installed any updates since October 2006.
> My OS is WindowsXP SP1.
>
> Just tried to get up-to-date and all updates (some 50+ for XP and Office)
> have all indicated a failed installation.
>
> The initial "checking for updates" came up with only the Windows Genuine
> Advantage Validation tool which I tried to install. This failed and the
> window then led me to my update history which showed the 50+ failed
> installations. I cannot find any way to retry them.
>
> Seems weird as I've never had a problem in the past.
>
> Can anyone throw some light on this problem for me? Please... thanks

Hi Samfrea - http://www.download3k.com/Install-AutoPatcher-XP.html Then go
to WindowsUpdate to get those remaining for Oct to now. (You really should
upgrade to SP2, however, before doing the mass update.)

--
Regards, Jim Byrd,
My Blog, Defending Your Machine,
http://defendingyourmachine2.blogspot.com/



In news:FB4F2D9C-D0E2-4845-AD07-,
Samfrea <> typed:
|| I've been a bit slack and haven't installed any updates since
|| October 2006. My OS is WindowsXP SP1.
||
|| Just tried to get up-to-date and all updates (some 50+ for XP and
|| Office) have all indicated a failed installation.
||
|| The initial "checking for updates" came up with only the Windows
|| Genuine Advantage Validation tool which I tried to install. This
|| failed and the window then led me to my update history which showed
|| the 50+ failed installations. I cannot find any way to retry them.
||
|| Seems weird as I've never had a problem in the past.
||
|| Can anyone throw some light on this problem for me? Please...
|| thanks

Hi Jim, Autopatcher no longer an option -
http://www.autopatcher.com/

"Jim Byrd" wrote:

> Hi Samfrea - http://www.download3k.com/Install-AutoPatcher-XP.html Then go
> to WindowsUpdate to get those remaining for Oct to now. (You really should
> upgrade to SP2, however, before doing the mass update.)
>
> --
> Regards, Jim Byrd,
> My Blog, Defending Your Machine,
> http://defendingyourmachine2.blogspot.com/
>
>
>
> In news:FB4F2D9C-D0E2-4845-AD07-,
> Samfrea <> typed:
> || I've been a bit slack and haven't installed any updates since
> || October 2006. My OS is WindowsXP SP1.
> ||
> || Just tried to get up-to-date and all updates (some 50+ for XP and
> || Office) have all indicated a failed installation.
> ||
> || The initial "checking for updates" came up with only the Windows
> || Genuine Advantage Validation tool which I tried to install. This
> || failed and the window then led me to my update history which showed
> || the 50+ failed installations. I cannot find any way to retry them.
> ||
> || Seems weird as I've never had a problem in the past.
> ||
> || Can anyone throw some light on this problem for me? Please...
> || thanks
>
>
>

Hi TaurArian - Yes, I'm aware of the take down of the old one. However,
this URL is for "the all-new AutoPatcher 5.1" which perhaps avoids the
issues that MS had (?) or alternatively may just be the last of the old
series prior to takedown(?) - not sure, but think it's the latter since the
Aug version is the last available. In any event it's readily available a
number of places, is perfectly legal, 348+ MB, quite complete (Critical,
Non-Critical, Components, Add-ons and Tweaks and a new [IIRC - ?] WGA
section), and works fine. I just used it to update an XPSP2 system I clean
installed for a client on a core-duo MAC and then went on to dl the newer
Sep and Oct updates - hughly more efficient, since I already had it
downloaded and could just take it over on CD. In the OP's situation,
whichever case it falls into, at this point in time it might solve his issue
which is really the point for me.

--
Regards, Jim Byrd,
My Blog, Defending Your Machine,
http://defendingyourmachine2.blogspot.com/



In news:79BFDE7A-9E60-4D0A-A46C-,
TaurArian <> typed:
|| Hi Jim, Autopatcher no longer an option -
|| http://www.autopatcher.com/
||
|| "Jim Byrd" wrote:
||
||| Hi Samfrea - http://www.download3k.com/Install-AutoPatcher-XP.html
||| Then go to WindowsUpdate to get those remaining for Oct to now.
||| (You really should upgrade to SP2, however, before doing the mass
||| update.)
|||
||| --
||| Regards, Jim Byrd,
||| My Blog, Defending Your Machine,
||| http://defendingyourmachine2.blogspot.com/
|||
|||
|||
||| In news:FB4F2D9C-D0E2-4845-AD07-,
||| Samfrea <> typed:
||||| I've been a bit slack and haven't installed any updates since
||||| October 2006. My OS is WindowsXP SP1.
|||||
||||| Just tried to get up-to-date and all updates (some 50+ for XP and
||||| Office) have all indicated a failed installation.
|||||
||||| The initial "checking for updates" came up with only the Windows
||||| Genuine Advantage Validation tool which I tried to install. This
||||| failed and the window then led me to my update history which
||||| showed the 50+ failed installations. I cannot find any way to
||||| retry them.
|||||
||||| Seems weird as I've never had a problem in the past.
|||||
||||| Can anyone throw some light on this problem for me? Please...
||||| thanks

Hi Jim, when I first tried the link you posted I was getting a "URL not
found" error etc. It's working now. If it does the trick, great.
K

"Jim Byrd" wrote:

> Hi TaurArian - Yes, I'm aware of the take down of the old one. However,
> this URL is for "the all-new AutoPatcher 5.1" which perhaps avoids the
> issues that MS had (?) or alternatively may just be the last of the old
> series prior to takedown(?) - not sure, but think it's the latter since the
> Aug version is the last available. In any event it's readily available a
> number of places, is perfectly legal, 348+ MB, quite complete (Critical,
> Non-Critical, Components, Add-ons and Tweaks and a new [IIRC - ?] WGA
> section), and works fine. I just used it to update an XPSP2 system I clean
> installed for a client on a core-duo MAC and then went on to dl the newer
> Sep and Oct updates - hughly more efficient, since I already had it
> downloaded and could just take it over on CD. In the OP's situation,
> whichever case it falls into, at this point in time it might solve his issue
> which is really the point for me.
>
> --
> Regards, Jim Byrd,
> My Blog, Defending Your Machine,
> http://defendingyourmachine2.blogspot.com/
>
>
>
> In news:79BFDE7A-9E60-4D0A-A46C-,
> TaurArian <> typed:
> || Hi Jim, Autopatcher no longer an option -
> || http://www.autopatcher.com/
> ||
> || "Jim Byrd" wrote:
> ||
> ||| Hi Samfrea - http://www.download3k.com/Install-AutoPatcher-XP.html
> ||| Then go to WindowsUpdate to get those remaining for Oct to now.
> ||| (You really should upgrade to SP2, however, before doing the mass
> ||| update.)
> |||
> ||| --
> ||| Regards, Jim Byrd,
> ||| My Blog, Defending Your Machine,
> ||| http://defendingyourmachine2.blogspot.com/
> |||
> |||
> |||
> ||| In news:FB4F2D9C-D0E2-4845-AD07-,
> ||| Samfrea <> typed:
> ||||| I've been a bit slack and haven't installed any updates since
> ||||| October 2006. My OS is WindowsXP SP1.
> |||||
> ||||| Just tried to get up-to-date and all updates (some 50+ for XP and
> ||||| Office) have all indicated a failed installation.
> |||||
> ||||| The initial "checking for updates" came up with only the Windows
> ||||| Genuine Advantage Validation tool which I tried to install. This
> ||||| failed and the window then led me to my update history which
> ||||| showed the 50+ failed installations. I cannot find any way to
> ||||| retry them.
> |||||
> ||||| Seems weird as I've never had a problem in the past.
> |||||
> ||||| Can anyone throw some light on this problem for me? Please...
> ||||| thanks
>
>
>

You're all wonderful. My system got a clean bill of health on the Diagnostic
Site and the validation tool installed this time. Don't know why it didn't
previously though. I was then faced again with the 50+ updates but this time
with the option to download and install. I'll have to leave trying that
until tomorrow when I get more data allowance from my server.

In the meantime I get the feeling that the consensus is that I should
download SP2 first. I'm a little hesitant as am concerned that this might
create more or different problems as my computer is 5 years old now and very
used to SP1. I feel sure it is probably not as clean as it could be and if
there are any little corrupt bits I could be in for a long time on this
newsgroup! As you can see I'm not particularly techo and a little bit scared
as I am doing a lot of work on my computer and wouldn't like troubleshooting
SP2 to take up more time . Any further thoughts/ opinions on this would be
appreciated. I regularly do a chkdsk and defrag - no problems there.


"MowGreen [MVP]" wrote:

> Go here first:
>
> Microsoft Genuine Advantage – Diagnostic Site
> http://www.microsoft.com/genuine/dia...displaylang=en
>
> Did the system get WGA'ed ?
>
> MowGreen [MVP 2003-2008]
> ===============
> *-343-* FDNY
> Never Forgotten
> ===============
>
>
> Samfrea wrote:
>
> > I've been a bit slack and haven't installed any updates since October 2006.
> > My OS is WindowsXP SP1.
> >
> > Just tried to get up-to-date and all updates (some 50+ for XP and Office)
> > have all indicated a failed installation.
> >
> > The initial "checking for updates" came up with only the Windows Genuine
> > Advantage Validation tool which I tried to install. This failed and the
> > window then led me to my update history which showed the 50+ failed
> > installations. I cannot find any way to retry them.
> >
> > Seems weird as I've never had a problem in the past.
> >
> > Can anyone throw some light on this problem for me? Please... thanks
>

The system I'm on now is 7 years old and there were no issues from
installing SP2. None.
BUT, preparing for SP2's installation needs to be done properly. It's a
major reworking of XP and is, in essence, an upgraded OS that is MUCH
MORE secure. Also, SP1 has not been supported since 10-Oct-2006.

So, start off by reading these :
Preparing for installation
http://winhlp.com/WxSP2.htm#Preparing_for_installation

Service Pack Installation Checklist
http://www3.telus.net/dandemar/spackins.htm


MowGreen [MVP 2003-2008]
===============
*-343-* FDNY
Never Forgotten
===============


Samfrea wrote:

> You're all wonderful. My system got a clean bill of health on the Diagnostic
> Site and the validation tool installed this time. Don't know why it didn't
> previously though. I was then faced again with the 50+ updates but this time
> with the option to download and install. I'll have to leave trying that
> until tomorrow when I get more data allowance from my server.
>
> In the meantime I get the feeling that the consensus is that I should
> download SP2 first. I'm a little hesitant as am concerned that this might
> create more or different problems as my computer is 5 years old now and very
> used to SP1. I feel sure it is probably not as clean as it could be and if
> there are any little corrupt bits I could be in for a long time on this
> newsgroup! As you can see I'm not particularly techo and a little bit scared
> as I am doing a lot of work on my computer and wouldn't like troubleshooting
> SP2 to take up more time . Any further thoughts/ opinions on this would be
> appreciated. I regularly do a chkdsk and defrag - no problems there.
>
>
> "MowGreen [MVP]" wrote:
>
>
>>Go here first:
>>
>>Microsoft Genuine Advantage – Diagnostic Site
>>http://www.microsoft.com/genuine/dia...displaylang=en
>>
>>Did the system get WGA'ed ?
>>
>>MowGreen [MVP 2003-2008]
>>===============
>> *-343-* FDNY
>>Never Forgotten
>>===============
>>
>>
>>Samfrea wrote:
>>
>>
>>>I've been a bit slack and haven't installed any updates since October 2006.
>>>My OS is WindowsXP SP1.
>>>
>>>Just tried to get up-to-date and all updates (some 50+ for XP and Office)
>>>have all indicated a failed installation.
>>>
>>>The initial "checking for updates" came up with only the Windows Genuine
>>>Advantage Validation tool which I tried to install. This failed and the
>>>window then led me to my update history which showed the 50+ failed
>>>installations. I cannot find any way to retry them.
>>>
>>>Seems weird as I've never had a problem in the past.
>>>
>>>Can anyone throw some light on this problem for me? Please... thanks
>>