Problematic Updates in Windows Vista

If you have read any of my previous postings, you will see that I have had
trouble installing some of the updates, these being KB929123 and KB933566
from June and KB937143 from August. I have today managed to install all 3
updates without any problems. I did this by activating the main Administrator
account in Vista and running Windows Update from there. Note that the main
Administrator account is not the same as a standard account with elevated
privileges - it is a completely seperate account which is normally hidden. To
complete the updates it is essential to run IE7 and Windows Mail from this
account before using your normal standard accounts. I am not sure why this
has worked - it could be that the main Administrator account allows updates
to write to areas of IE7 and Windows Mail that are inaccessible to standard
accounts. Instructions on activating the main Administrator account can be
found through Google or any search-engine. For your information, my system
runs Windows Vista Home Premium (32-bit) with Norton Internet Security 2007
(fully updated) and I did not have to do any alterations to Norton in order
to perform the updates. PLEASE NOTE - DO NOT RUN AS Administrator OTHER THAN
TO INSTALL THESE AND FUTURE PROBLEMATIC UPDATES.

For those who do not know how to activate the main Administrator account, the
instructions are listed below.

Procedure for adding and removing the Administrator account.

Step 1. Bring up the 'Run' dialog box by clicking the logo button on the
taskbar or by pressing the 'Windows Start' key on the keyboard.

Step 2. In the search box, type 'cmd'. Do not press 'Enter/Return'.

Step 3. Instead, press and hold down 'Ctrl', 'Shift' and 'Enter/Return'.

Step 4. In the user accounts dialog box that appears, click 'Continue'.

Step 5. You should now be at the command prompt.

Step 6. To turn on the account, type 'NET USER Administrator /active =yes'.

Step 7. To turn off the account, type 'NET USER Administrator /active =no'.

Step 8. Close the command console.

Step 9. Open the Control Panel.

Step 10. Click 'User Accounts and Family Safety' then 'User Accounts' then
'Manage another account'.

Step 11. In the user accounts dialog box that appears, click 'Continue'.

Step 12. If the Administrator account is currently active, you should see
the account displayed. If not, and you wish to make the account active, then
repeat this procedure from Step 1, making sure to use Step 6 and not Step 7.

Step 13. Select the Administrator account by clicking on it.

Step 14. The account will be password protected, so in the list of options
that appears click 'Remove the password'.

Step 15. After accepting the warning and removing the password, you will be
returned to the list of options.

Step 16. Select 'Create a password' and follow the instructions to create a
new Administrator password.

Step 17. Close the Control Panel.

Step 18. You will now be able to select the Administrator on startup.

Step 19. If you wish to remove the Administrator account, the repeat the
procedure from Step 1, omitting Step 6 and finish at Step 8.



"Dwarf" wrote:

> If you have read any of my previous postings, you will see that I have had
> trouble installing some of the updates, these being KB929123 and KB933566
> from June and KB937143 from August. I have today managed to install all 3
> updates without any problems. I did this by activating the main Administrator
> account in Vista and running Windows Update from there. Note that the main
> Administrator account is not the same as a standard account with elevated
> privileges - it is a completely seperate account which is normally hidden. To
> complete the updates it is essential to run IE7 and Windows Mail from this
> account before using your normal standard accounts. I am not sure why this
> has worked - it could be that the main Administrator account allows updates
> to write to areas of IE7 and Windows Mail that are inaccessible to standard
> accounts. Instructions on activating the main Administrator account can be
> found through Google or any search-engine. For your information, my system
> runs Windows Vista Home Premium (32-bit) with Norton Internet Security 2007
> (fully updated) and I did not have to do any alterations to Norton in order
> to perform the updates. PLEASE NOTE - DO NOT RUN AS Administrator OTHER THAN
> TO INSTALL THESE AND FUTURE PROBLEMATIC UPDATES.

Thanks for the instructions. Just, it does not work. The respond from the
command center is "Option /ACTIVE=YES is unknown.
Any ideas?
Thanks
Leawo

"Dwarf" wrote:

> For those who do not know how to activate the main Administrator account, the
> instructions are listed below.
>
> Procedure for adding and removing the Administrator account.
>
> Step 1. Bring up the 'Run' dialog box by clicking the logo button on the
> taskbar or by pressing the 'Windows Start' key on the keyboard.
>
> Step 2. In the search box, type 'cmd'. Do not press 'Enter/Return'.
>
> Step 3. Instead, press and hold down 'Ctrl', 'Shift' and 'Enter/Return'.
>
> Step 4. In the user accounts dialog box that appears, click 'Continue'.
>
> Step 5. You should now be at the command prompt.
>
> Step 6. To turn on the account, type 'NET USER Administrator /active =yes'.
>
> Step 7. To turn off the account, type 'NET USER Administrator /active =no'.
>
> Step 8. Close the command console.
>
> Step 9. Open the Control Panel.
>
> Step 10. Click 'User Accounts and Family Safety' then 'User Accounts' then
> 'Manage another account'.
>
> Step 11. In the user accounts dialog box that appears, click 'Continue'.
>
> Step 12. If the Administrator account is currently active, you should see
> the account displayed. If not, and you wish to make the account active, then
> repeat this procedure from Step 1, making sure to use Step 6 and not Step 7.
>
> Step 13. Select the Administrator account by clicking on it.
>
> Step 14. The account will be password protected, so in the list of options
> that appears click 'Remove the password'.
>
> Step 15. After accepting the warning and removing the password, you will be
> returned to the list of options.
>
> Step 16. Select 'Create a password' and follow the instructions to create a
> new Administrator password.
>
> Step 17. Close the Control Panel.
>
> Step 18. You will now be able to select the Administrator on startup.
>
> Step 19. If you wish to remove the Administrator account, the repeat the
> procedure from Step 1, omitting Step 6 and finish at Step 8.
>
>
>
> "Dwarf" wrote:
>
> > If you have read any of my previous postings, you will see that I have had
> > trouble installing some of the updates, these being KB929123 and KB933566
> > from June and KB937143 from August. I have today managed to install all 3
> > updates without any problems. I did this by activating the main Administrator
> > account in Vista and running Windows Update from there. Note that the main
> > Administrator account is not the same as a standard account with elevated
> > privileges - it is a completely seperate account which is normally hidden. To
> > complete the updates it is essential to run IE7 and Windows Mail from this
> > account before using your normal standard accounts. I am not sure why this
> > has worked - it could be that the main Administrator account allows updates
> > to write to areas of IE7 and Windows Mail that are inaccessible to standard
> > accounts. Instructions on activating the main Administrator account can be
> > found through Google or any search-engine. For your information, my system
> > runs Windows Vista Home Premium (32-bit) with Norton Internet Security 2007
> > (fully updated) and I did not have to do any alterations to Norton in order
> > to perform the updates. PLEASE NOTE - DO NOT RUN AS Administrator OTHER THAN
> > TO INSTALL THESE AND FUTURE PROBLEMATIC UPDATES.

"Leawo" wrote:

> Thanks for the instructions. Just, it does not work. The respond from the
> command center is "Option /ACTIVE=YES is unknown.
> Any ideas?
> Thanks
> Leawo

Apologies for the errors in the instructions. I include the revised set of
instructions below and draw your attention to the warning given at step 5. I
am assuming that you are at the wrong prompt and that the error messages that
you see are the ones listed here. Please note that these instructions are for
Windows Vista only and not for any other versions of Windows.

Procedure for adding and removing the Administrator account.

Step 1. Bring up the start menu by clicking the logo button on the taskbar
or by pressing the 'Windows Start' key on the keyboard.

Step 2. In the search box, type 'cmd'. Do not press 'Enter/Return'.

Step 3. Instead, press and hold down 'Ctrl', 'Shift' and 'Enter/Return'.

Step 4. In the user accounts dialog box that appears, select the name and
enter the password of the administrator account that you created when first
installing Vista and click 'OK'.

Step 5. You should now be at the command prompt. Note that if you do not
follow Steps 2 and 3 as above, you will arrive at the command prompt but it
will be the incorrect one. The prompt should be 'C:\Windows\System32>'. If
not, Steps 6 and 7 will give you these error messages: 'System error 5 has
occurred' and 'Access is denied'.

Step 6. To turn on the account, type 'net user administrator /active:yes'.
Continue on to Step 8.

Step 7. To turn off the account, type 'net user administrator /active:no'.

Step 8. Close the command console.

Step 9. Open the Control Panel.

Step 10. Click 'User Accounts and Family Safety' then 'User Accounts' then
'Manage another account'.

Step 11. In the user accounts dialog box that appears, select the name and
enter the password of the administrator account that you created when first
installing Vista and click 'OK'.

Step 12. If the Administrator account is currently active, you should see
the account displayed. If not, and you wish to make the account active, then
repeat this procedure from Step 1, making sure to use Step 6 and not Step 7.

Step 13. Select the Administrator account by clicking on it.

Step 14. The account will be password protected, so in the list of options
that appears click 'Remove the password'.

Step 15. After accepting the warning and removing the password, you will be
returned to the list of options.

Step 16. Select 'Create a password' and follow the instructions to create a
new Administrator password.

Step 17. Close the Control Panel.

Step 18. You will now be able to select the Administrator on startup. Note
that if the password has expired, you may reset it by beginning at Step 9.

Step 19. If you wish to remove the Administrator account, the repeat the
procedure from Step 1, omitting Step 6 and finishing at Step 8.

Just one point that I would like to add to the above procedure. This method
works for activating the hidden Administrator account in Windows Vista Home
Premium (32-bit) and should work for all other 32-bit versions. This may also
work for the 64-bit versions, but, as I do not have a 64-bit version, I
cannot say one way or the other.

Just another point. When you check Windows update to see whether updates have
successfully installed, it will usually say succeeded. That, however, does
not mean that the update has installed correctly - it only means that the
update downloaded correctly. To check that the update has indeed installed
correctly, use the Belarc Advisor program available from www.belarc.com. Be
sure to use the latest edition.

Or examine windowsupdate.log.
--
~Robear Dyer (PA Bear)
MS MVP-Windows (IE, OE, Security, Shell/User)
AumHa VSOP & Admin; DTS-L.org

Dwarf wrote:
> Just another point. When you check Windows update to see whether updates
> have successfully installed, it will usually say succeeded. That, however,
> does not mean that the update has installed correctly - it only means that
> the update downloaded correctly. To check that the update has indeed
> installed correctly, use the Belarc Advisor program available from
> www.belarc.com. Be sure to use the latest edition.