Unable to disable Microsoft Update

The advice contained in "How to enable and to disable Microsoft Update"
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/901037/ does not work for me. The option to
tick on the page is just not there. All I see is the advice on Languages and
the tick box for beta versions. I'm using WinXP on several machines and the
problem is present on both OEM and Corporate licensing. Is there a hack to
revert backto Windows Update as the latest WGA update (KB905474) prevents
Microsoft Update from working altogether.

"Derek G" <> schrieb:

> The advice contained in "How to enable and to disable Microsoft Update"
> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/901037/ does not work for me.

Why would you like to disable Microsoft Update?
What issues are you having with Microsoft Update?

> Is there a hack to
> revert backto Windows Update as the latest WGA update (KB905474) prevents
> Microsoft Update from working altogether.

KB905474 is offered via Windows Update too.
You may wish to post the issues you ran into into the WGA forum
http://forums.microsoft.com/Genuine/...px?ForumID=442

Bye,
Freudi

Did you scroll to the very bottom of the Change Settings window?

Why do you suspect that 905474 is involved here?

Start a free Windows Update support incident request:
https://support.microsoft.com/oas/de...spx?gprid=6527

Support for Windows Update:
http://support.microsoft.com/gp/wusupport

Customers in the U.S. and Canada can receive technical support from
Microsoft Product Support Services at 1-866-PCSAFETY. There is no-charge for
support calls that are associated with security updates. When you call,
clearly state that your problem is related to a Security Update and cite the
update's KB number (e.g., KB931678).

In other countries, see
http://support.microsoft.com/default...r=securityhome > "No-Charge
Support...for virus and other security-related" issues in right-hand menu
for localized contact information.

For more information about how to contact Microsoft for support issues,
visit the International Support Web site:
https://support.microsoft.com/common/international.aspx
--
~Robear Dyer (PA Bear)
MS MVP-Windows (IE, OE, Security, Shell/User)
AumHa VSOP & Admin; DTS-L.org


Derek G wrote:
> The advice contained in "How to enable and to disable Microsoft Update"
> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/901037/ does not work for me. The option
> to
> tick on the page is just not there. All I see is the advice on Languages
> and the tick box for beta versions. I'm using WinXP on several machines
> and the problem is present on both OEM and Corporate licensing. Is there
> a
> hack to revert backto Windows Update as the latest WGA update (KB905474)
> prevents Microsoft Update from working altogether.

Ottmar Freudenberger wrote:
> "Derek G" <> schrieb:
>
>> The advice contained in "How to enable and to disable Microsoft Update"
>> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/901037/ does not work for me.
>
> Why would you like to disable Microsoft Update?
> What issues are you having with Microsoft Update?

I'm not quite ready to disable MS Update...*YET*...but I am most
certainly having issues with it. Creating a service that updates several
products at once was a brilliant idea, but...since I allowed the
software to be installed, the periodic scan my system performs for
needed updates is accompanied with a huge amount of disk I/O (the drive
access indicator light barely flickers), and seems to run at such a high
priority that the rest of my system becomes just short of totally
unresponsive. There's not even a process I could see in a process
viewer, consequently no way to "nice" (set a lower priority) the process
to see if the problem is alleviated.

Setting the scheduler to install the updates during the wee hours of the
morning is not an option, because 1) my system is suspended,
hibernating, or shut down when it is not in use, and 2) the update
service (I assume it is a service, though I could not find it listed in
the "services" control panel/applet/MMC/whatever it is) would still
likely run in the background to scan for and download the updates.

I performed a web search to see if any other complaints concerning this
issue had surfaced, and found some discussion concerning Windows Desktop
Search 3.xx. I do not seem to have that; I also have "Allow the Indexing
Service to index this disk" unchecked and the Indexing Service disabled,
so that it also does not periodically "take over" my system (I do not
search for files often enough for the service to be useful). Apparently,
the activity I am seeing has nothing to do with user-oriented file
indexing or searching.

I cannot allow a process that so dominates the resources of my system to
run on a schedule that I cannot control. If it is not possible for the
user to set a process priority level or enable a feature such as "Smart
I/O" in Diskeeper, to have an inactivity timer so that MS Update
performs its scan while the user is off getting some coffee, then I will
either have to disable MS Update as the original poster wants to do (and
go to the individual websites to update my other MS products as before),
or shut down automatic scanning entirely and run MS Update manually when
I know I will be otherwise occupied for the next 10-15 minutes or so.

"DarkMoon" <> schrieb:

> I'm not quite ready to disable MS Update...*YET*...but I am most
> certainly having issues with it. Creating a service that updates several
> products at once was a brilliant idea, but...since I allowed the
> software to be installed, the periodic scan my system performs for
> needed updates is accompanied with a huge amount of disk I/O (the drive
> access indicator light barely flickers), and seems to run at such a high
> priority that the rest of my system becomes just short of totally
> unresponsive.

With the latest WUA 3.0 and KB927891 beeing installed, the system
should be responsive anyway. In case it's not, you've most likely
an application running in the background which is responsible for
the unresponsive system. You may find a "netsh winsock reset" and
a restart of Windows afterwards useful.

Bye,
Freudi

Sorry I've not been able to visit this newsgroup to consider your responses.
I have definitely confirmed that the OEM/Retail versions of XP do not suffer
from the problem. It is the Corporate version of XP (which does not really
require activation like the other flavours) that has the problem with the WGA
update KB905474. Microsoft Update works fine until you install KB905474 and
immediately you reboot you lose the ability to seek out any further updates.
The Microsoft Update functionality keeps thinking you need to install over
and over again. I guess KB905474 somehow interacts badly with a version of
XP that doesn't have the same activation/WGA needs as the traditional
OEM/Retail versions. The workaround was to switch off Microsoft Update,
apply KB905474 from a Windows Update download and switch Microsoft Update on
again. My original question was how to switch off Microsoft Update when you
are not invited to do so. I now realise that the radio buttons to turn off
Microsoft Update do not render on the screen till almost 5 minutes has
elapsed. The top 75% of the screen renders immediately, but the crucial
option to switch off Microsoft Update is not present. I can only presume the
web page requires access to a very very slow back end Microsoft server before
inviting you to switch off the product. This 5 minute delay is now down to
about 20-30 seconds and makes it easier to see what the underlying
explanation must be. I've no idea why KB905474 doesn't interact properly
with Microsoft Update, but I've now got a workaround. I take the point about
raising a no-charge support incident by telephone, but in my experience you
are treated with enormous suspicion by MS and they want a credit card payment
just in case you don't know what you're talking about and might be wasting
their time. I don't know about you, but to risk your hard earned cash on a
telephone call where someone can be dismissive (based on their own inability
to understand) is a bit more than I can bear.