Restore hidden updates, apply changes, and GDI+ scan button are grayedout

Microsoft Update works intermittently.

http://update.microsoft.com/microsof....aspx?ln=en-us

Sometimes the green bar goes for minutes and then errors out. The error
I get when scanning is x8024402C. Sometimes it works fine. Permissions
in ZoneAlarm, Google toolbar and MS popup blocker are set for
Microsoft.com, Windows Update, Office Update, and Microsoft Update.
Everything else is turned off. BITS is Manual. Automatic Updates is set
to notify me but not to download or install. Turning off ZoneAlarm
sometimes helps the Microsoft Update scan to finish, but it does not
cure everything. Eventually it worked, and I installed Office XP SP3,
GDI+ 873374 and 885884.

I can still review my updates history. The three updates I installed
today show that they installed successfully. The option to Restore
hidden updates is grayed out. The option to change updates isn't grayed
out but when I press the button to apply changes (language/beta) nothing
happens and it grays out. Then the button is no longer available.
Sometimes I also get an error that the page cannot be displayed, but I
do not remember the number. It was not x8024402C. It was a different number.

The GDI+ tool will not run. After installing it with Microsoft Update,
it tried to run but errored out. The button grayed out. Next cleared
cache, cookies and temp files with CCleaner and went to the page to try
it again but the button to scan is still grayed out. As I am posting
this, I am running malware scans with NOD32, Ewido, and Spy Sweeper.
Will post the results later. I am not sure if it is malware-related or
if it is some other problem.

This is a clean install of XP Pro SP2 only 2 days old. Turned on Windows
Firewall at once. Installed NOD32 antivirus, Windows Update v6, WGA,
Windows Installer 3.1, and all 39 critical updates and all seemed well.
Then installed ZoneAlarm Pro, other security software, Firefox and
Thunderbird, Windows Media extras from MS, Script 5.6 (Was Script 5.6 a
mistake? It has no uninstall in Add/Remove Programs), and Office XP. Not
exactly sure at which point this Update problem started, but I noticed
it yesterday. Windows Defender is not installed yet.

I could do a system restore but would prefer not to if this can be fixed
some other way. If I do have to start over, is there a way to format
just drive C without wiping out all other partitions on the drive? Could
booting with the Windows CD wipe all partitions on this drive or would
it just wipe Drive C? I would probably have to clear CMOS settings
first, but before I do anything drastic like that I'd like to hear from
an expert.

NOD32, Ewido, Spy Sweeper, and CWShredder scans were negative.
HijackThis looks fine, except for the following item which I'm not sure
about. Is it a Windows Update or malware?

020 - Winlogon Notify: WRNotifier - C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\WRLogonNTF.dll

Spybot didn't find anything except hosts file access errors and
redirected false positives. (The access errors are because hosts is
being used by another process. I'm not worried about the hosts file. It
is locked by HostsMan and again by ZoneAlarm, so nothing can be added to
it unless I add it myself.)

Sea Star wrote:
> Microsoft Update works intermittently.
>
> http://update.microsoft.com/microsof....aspx?ln=en-us
>
> Sometimes the green bar goes for minutes and then errors out. The error
> I get when scanning is x8024402C. Sometimes it works fine. Permissions
> in ZoneAlarm, Google toolbar and MS popup blocker are set for
> Microsoft.com, Windows Update, Office Update, and Microsoft Update.
> Everything else is turned off. BITS is Manual. Automatic Updates is set
> to notify me but not to download or install. Turning off ZoneAlarm
> sometimes helps the Microsoft Update scan to finish, but it does not
> cure everything. Eventually it worked, and I installed Office XP SP3,
> GDI+ 873374 and 885884.
>
> I can still review my updates history. The three updates I installed
> today show that they installed successfully. The option to Restore
> hidden updates is grayed out. The option to change updates isn't grayed
> out but when I press the button to apply changes (language/beta) nothing
> happens and it grays out. Then the button is no longer available.
> Sometimes I also get an error that the page cannot be displayed, but I
> do not remember the number. It was not x8024402C. It was a different
> number.
>
> The GDI+ tool will not run. After installing it with Microsoft Update,
> it tried to run but errored out. The button grayed out. Next cleared
> cache, cookies and temp files with CCleaner and went to the page to try
> it again but the button to scan is still grayed out. As I am posting
> this, I am running malware scans with NOD32, Ewido, and Spy Sweeper.
> Will post the results later. I am not sure if it is malware-related or
> if it is some other problem.
>
> This is a clean install of XP Pro SP2 only 2 days old. Turned on Windows
> Firewall at once. Installed NOD32 antivirus, Windows Update v6, WGA,
> Windows Installer 3.1, and all 39 critical updates and all seemed well.
> Then installed ZoneAlarm Pro, other security software, Firefox and
> Thunderbird, Windows Media extras from MS, Script 5.6 (Was Script 5.6 a
> mistake? It has no uninstall in Add/Remove Programs), and Office XP. Not
> exactly sure at which point this Update problem started, but I noticed
> it yesterday. Windows Defender is not installed yet.
>
> I could do a system restore but would prefer not to if this can be fixed
> some other way. If I do have to start over, is there a way to format
> just drive C without wiping out all other partitions on the drive? Could
> booting with the Windows CD wipe all partitions on this drive or would
> it just wipe Drive C? I would probably have to clear CMOS settings
> first, but before I do anything drastic like that I'd like to hear from
> an expert.

I reset my Internet Options security zones to default, and Microsoft
Update seems to be working better now. Maybe my settings were too high.

I do not believe that entries in my hosts file (HostsMan, Spybot, MVPS
Hosts, hpHosts, Mike's Hosts, Block Adverts) or my Restricted Sites zone
(Spybot, SpywareBlaster, IE-SPYAD) would have affected Microsoft Update
or the GDI+ scan page, but it's possible. I have not changed any Windows
Services, except for one. The DNS Client Service had to be Disabled for
HostsMan to accommodate my large hosts file.

Since Microsoft Update seems to be working now, I installed the next 11
updates for Office XP. Then I went back to the GDI+ page, and the scan
button is still grayed out. Not sure why. Also still wondering about
that 020 entry in HijackThis. My friend's XP Pro SP2 computer does
not have that entry. Hoping someone will get back to me about this later.

If there are any resources on turning off unnecessary services in XP
other than Black Viper's pages, let me know. The same goes for
configuring the four IE security zones for higher security. I want to be
as secure as possible without losing too much functionality.

Sea Star wrote:
> NOD32, Ewido, Spy Sweeper, and CWShredder scans were negative.
> HijackThis looks fine, except for the following item which I'm not sure
> about. Is it a Windows Update or malware?
>
> 020 - Winlogon Notify: WRNotifier - C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\WRLogonNTF.dll
>
> Spybot didn't find anything except hosts file access errors and
> redirected false positives. (The access errors are because hosts is
> being used by another process. I'm not worried about the hosts file. It
> is locked by HostsMan and again by ZoneAlarm, so nothing can be added to
> it unless I add it myself.)
>
> Sea Star wrote:
>> Microsoft Update works intermittently.
>>
>> http://update.microsoft.com/microsof....aspx?ln=en-us
>>
>> Sometimes the green bar goes for minutes and then errors out. The
>> error I get when scanning is x8024402C. Sometimes it works fine.
>> Permissions in ZoneAlarm, Google toolbar and MS popup blocker are set
>> for Microsoft.com, Windows Update, Office Update, and Microsoft
>> Update. Everything else is turned off. BITS is Manual. Automatic
>> Updates is set to notify me but not to download or install. Turning
>> off ZoneAlarm sometimes helps the Microsoft Update scan to finish, but
>> it does not cure everything. Eventually it worked, and I installed
>> Office XP SP3, GDI+ 873374 and 885884.
>>
>> I can still review my updates history. The three updates I installed
>> today show that they installed successfully. The option to Restore
>> hidden updates is grayed out. The option to change updates isn't
>> grayed out but when I press the button to apply changes
>> (language/beta) nothing happens and it grays out. Then the button is
>> no longer available. Sometimes I also get an error that the page
>> cannot be displayed, but I do not remember the number. It was not
>> x8024402C. It was a different number.
>>
>> The GDI+ tool will not run. After installing it with Microsoft Update,
>> it tried to run but errored out. The button grayed out. Next cleared
>> cache, cookies and temp files with CCleaner and went to the page to
>> try it again but the button to scan is still grayed out. As I am
>> posting this, I am running malware scans with NOD32, Ewido, and Spy
>> Sweeper. Will post the results later. I am not sure if it is
>> malware-related or if it is some other problem.
>>
>> This is a clean install of XP Pro SP2 only 2 days old. Turned on
>> Windows Firewall at once. Installed NOD32 antivirus, Windows Update
>> v6, WGA, Windows Installer 3.1, and all 39 critical updates and all
>> seemed well. Then installed ZoneAlarm Pro, other security software,
>> Firefox and Thunderbird, Windows Media extras from MS, Script 5.6
>> (Was Script 5.6 a mistake? It has no uninstall in Add/Remove
>> Programs), and Office XP. Not exactly sure at which point this Update
>> problem started, but I noticed it yesterday. Windows Defender is not
>> installed yet.
>>
>> I could do a system restore but would prefer not to if this can be
>> fixed some other way. If I do have to start over, is there a way to
>> format just drive C without wiping out all other partitions on the
>> drive? Could booting with the Windows CD wipe all partitions on this
>> drive or would it just wipe Drive C? I would probably have to clear
>> CMOS settings first, but before I do anything drastic like that I'd
>> like to hear from an expert.
>