How I fixed my Update problem

I have been unable to run Microsoft Update and have tried numerous
suggestions in the newsgroups, without success. After more searching in the
web I found someone who had an identical problem and lead-up circumstances.

A couple of months ago I had my system cleaned of a virus and did not
realise for some time that MS Update was no longer working. Following
suggestions in this group I discovered that I could not start BITS because
the system could not find the file. The solution is that although the virus
had been cleaned, two small remnants were still in place. Search your
registry for %fystemRoot%. The virus had changed the S to an f in two
places. I did the search, found the two occurences of "fystem", changed them
back to "%SystemRoot%" (without the quotes of course) and just to be safe I
re-booted. Updates now work again.

Even if you haven't had a virus (or maybe you don't know you've got one) do
the search just in case, and if you find fystem change it to System.

As always, be carefull playing around in the registry.

Ken G wrote:
> I have been unable to run Microsoft Update and have tried numerous
> suggestions in the newsgroups, without success. After more
> searching in the web I found someone who had an identical problem
> and lead-up circumstances.
>
> A couple of months ago I had my system cleaned of a virus and did
> not realise for some time that MS Update was no longer working.
> Following suggestions in this group I discovered that I could not
> start BITS because the system could not find the file. The
> solution is that although the virus had been cleaned, two small
> remnants were still in place. Search your registry for
> %fystemRoot%. The virus had changed the S to an f in two places.
> I did the search, found the two occurences of "fystem", changed
> them back to "%SystemRoot%" (without the quotes of course) and just
> to be safe I re-booted. Updates now work again.
>
> Even if you haven't had a virus (or maybe you don't know you've got
> one) do the search just in case, and if you find fystem change it
> to System.
>
> As always, be carefull playing around in the registry.

Yes - Suggested in these newsgroups many times. I suggest this to almost
anyone who wants to have a working Windows XP update system...

Download, install, run, update and perform a full scan (separately) with the
following two applications (freeware versions are the ones to use for this):

SuperAntiSpyware
http://www.superantispyware.com/

MalwareBytes
http://www.malwarebytes.com/

After performing a full scan with one and then the other and removing
whatever they both find completely, you may uninstall these products,
if you wish.

Download and run the MSRT manually:
http://www.microsoft.com/security/ma...e/default.mspx

Reboot.

Fix your file/registry permissions...

Ignore the title and follow the sub-section under "Advanced Troubleshooting"
titled, "Method 1: Reset the registry and the file permissions"
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/949377

Reboot and ...

Search your registry for %fystem and replace the "f" with an "s". May be
three or four matches, may be none. You may even have to take ownership
(even after doing the above) of the keys in order to make the change.

Download/Install the latest Windows Installer (for your OS):
( Windows XP 32-bit : WindowsXP-KB942288-v3-x86.exe )
http://www.microsoft.com/downloadS/d...displaylang=en

Reboot.

and...

Download the latest version of the Windows Update agent from here (x86):
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=91237
.... and save it to the root of your C:\ drive. After saving it to the root
of the C:\ drive, do the following:

Close all Internet Explorer windows and other applications.

Start button --> RUN and type in:
%SystemDrive%\windowsupdateagent30-x86.exe /WUFORCE
--> Click OK.

(If asked, select "Run.) --> Click on NEXT --> Select "I agree" and click on
NEXT --> When it finishes installing, click on "Finish"...

Reboot.

Then follow the instructions here:

How do I reset Windows Update components?
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/971058

Reboot.

and..

Log on as an user with administrative rights (assuming you are in this case
- given your problem) and open Internet Explorer and visit
http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/ and select to do a CUSTOM scan...
(Every time you are about to click on something while at these web pages -
first press and hold down the CTRL key while you click on it. You can
release the CTRL key after clicking each time.)

Once the scan is done, select just _ONE_ of the high priority updates
(deselect any others) and install it.

Reboot again.

If it did work - try the web page again - selecting no more than 3-5 at a
time.

The Optional Software updates are generally safe - although I recommend
against the "Windows Search" one and any of the "Office Live" ones for
now. I would completely avoid the Optional Hardware updates. Also - I do
not see any urgent need to install Internet Explorer 8 at this time.

Come back - let us know if that worked.
.... Really - come back and let everyone know if that worked.

You may want to run a second scan with SuperAntiSpyware and MalwareBytes
after everything is updated.

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

In all my trawling I didn't find your solution, but I wish I had. It would
have saved me a lot of time and worry! I'll re-read it and see if there's
anything more I should do. (I already use Malwarebytes)

Cheers,
Ken G.

"Shenan Stanley" wrote:

> Ken G wrote:
> > I have been unable to run Microsoft Update and have tried numerous
> > suggestions in the newsgroups, without success. After more
> > searching in the web I found someone who had an identical problem
> > and lead-up circumstances.
> >
> > A couple of months ago I had my system cleaned of a virus and did
> > not realise for some time that MS Update was no longer working.
> > Following suggestions in this group I discovered that I could not
> > start BITS because the system could not find the file. The
> > solution is that although the virus had been cleaned, two small
> > remnants were still in place. Search your registry for
> > %fystemRoot%. The virus had changed the S to an f in two places.
> > I did the search, found the two occurences of "fystem", changed
> > them back to "%SystemRoot%" (without the quotes of course) and just
> > to be safe I re-booted. Updates now work again.
> >
> > Even if you haven't had a virus (or maybe you don't know you've got
> > one) do the search just in case, and if you find fystem change it
> > to System.
> >
> > As always, be carefull playing around in the registry.
>
> Yes - Suggested in these newsgroups many times. I suggest this to almost
> anyone who wants to have a working Windows XP update system...
>
> Download, install, run, update and perform a full scan (separately) with the
> following two applications (freeware versions are the ones to use for this):
>
> SuperAntiSpyware
> http://www.superantispyware.com/
>
> MalwareBytes
> http://www.malwarebytes.com/
>
> After performing a full scan with one and then the other and removing
> whatever they both find completely, you may uninstall these products,
> if you wish.
>
> Download and run the MSRT manually:
> http://www.microsoft.com/security/ma...e/default.mspx
>
> Reboot.
>
> Fix your file/registry permissions...
>
> Ignore the title and follow the sub-section under "Advanced Troubleshooting"
> titled, "Method 1: Reset the registry and the file permissions"
> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/949377
>
> Reboot and ...
>
> Search your registry for %fystem and replace the "f" with an "s". May be
> three or four matches, may be none. You may even have to take ownership
> (even after doing the above) of the keys in order to make the change.
>
> Download/Install the latest Windows Installer (for your OS):
> ( Windows XP 32-bit : WindowsXP-KB942288-v3-x86.exe )
> http://www.microsoft.com/downloadS/d...displaylang=en
>
> Reboot.
>
> and...
>
> Download the latest version of the Windows Update agent from here (x86):
> http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=91237
> .... and save it to the root of your C:\ drive. After saving it to the root
> of the C:\ drive, do the following:
>
> Close all Internet Explorer windows and other applications.
>
> Start button --> RUN and type in:
> %SystemDrive%\windowsupdateagent30-x86.exe /WUFORCE
> --> Click OK.
>
> (If asked, select "Run.) --> Click on NEXT --> Select "I agree" and click on
> NEXT --> When it finishes installing, click on "Finish"...
>
> Reboot.
>
> Then follow the instructions here:
>
> How do I reset Windows Update components?
> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/971058
>
> Reboot.
>
> and..
>
> Log on as an user with administrative rights (assuming you are in this case
> - given your problem) and open Internet Explorer and visit
> http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/ and select to do a CUSTOM scan...
> (Every time you are about to click on something while at these web pages -
> first press and hold down the CTRL key while you click on it. You can
> release the CTRL key after clicking each time.)
>
> Once the scan is done, select just _ONE_ of the high priority updates
> (deselect any others) and install it.
>
> Reboot again.
>
> If it did work - try the web page again - selecting no more than 3-5 at a
> time.
>
> The Optional Software updates are generally safe - although I recommend
> against the "Windows Search" one and any of the "Office Live" ones for
> now. I would completely avoid the Optional Hardware updates. Also - I do
> not see any urgent need to install Internet Explorer 8 at this time.
>
> Come back - let us know if that worked.
> .... Really - come back and let everyone know if that worked.
>
> You may want to run a second scan with SuperAntiSpyware and MalwareBytes
> after everything is updated.
>
> --
> Shenan Stanley
> MS-MVP
> --
> How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
> http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html
>
>
>