Updates will download but not install

Greetings,

I have inherited a Win 2000 laptop and am having problems running MS Update.
The updates download with no problem, but I always get an error when MS
Update tries to install them; they simply refuse to install.

Some specifics:
- Office Update works perfectly. The office updates download and install
with no hassle.
- I suspect the previous owner mucked around with both services and group
policy. Are there settings there I need to be aware of.
- I have full admin rights to the machine.
- I have looked at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/943144 and have
registered Wups2.dll, but have not tried downloading the update agents. Is
that relevant for Win 2000? Which would should I download for a Pentium 4,
Win 2000 laptop?
- I can install many of the udpates manually by going to the
SoftwareDistribution folder, but this is a pain.
- The machine is very "bare bones" and has no software that should cause
problems.

Help! This is driving me nuts.

TIA

John

John Reece wrote:
> I have inherited a Win 2000 laptop and am having problems running
> MS Update. The updates download with no problem, but I always get
> an error when MS Update tries to install them; they simply refuse
> to install.
> Some specifics:
> - Office Update works perfectly. The office updates download and
> install with no hassle.
> - I suspect the previous owner mucked around with both services and
> group policy. Are there settings there I need to be aware of.
> - I have full admin rights to the machine.
> - I have looked at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/943144 and have
> registered Wups2.dll, but have not tried downloading the update
> agents. Is that relevant for Win 2000? Which would should I
> download for a Pentium 4, Win 2000 laptop?
> - I can install many of the udpates manually by going to the
> SoftwareDistribution folder, but this is a pain.
> - The machine is very "bare bones" and has no software that should
> cause problems.

I would suggest, given this one sentence in your entire posting, "I suspect
the previous owner mucked around with both services and group policy."; that
you proceed to wipe the system of all traces of the previous owner and
install fresh whatever operating system you can/wish to. You don't need (as
you can already surmise) need to inherit the trouble of the past owner - no
matter what that trouble may be.

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

"Shenan Stanley" <> wrote in message
news:...
> John Reece wrote:
>> I have inherited a Win 2000 laptop and am having problems running
>> MS Update. The updates download with no problem, but I always get
>> an error when MS Update tries to install them; they simply refuse
>> to install.
>> Some specifics:
>> - Office Update works perfectly. The office updates download and
>> install with no hassle.
>> - I suspect the previous owner mucked around with both services and
>> group policy. Are there settings there I need to be aware of.
>> - I have full admin rights to the machine.
>> - I have looked at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/943144 and have
>> registered Wups2.dll, but have not tried downloading the update
>> agents. Is that relevant for Win 2000? Which would should I
>> download for a Pentium 4, Win 2000 laptop?
>> - I can install many of the udpates manually by going to the
>> SoftwareDistribution folder, but this is a pain.
>> - The machine is very "bare bones" and has no software that should
>> cause problems.
>
> I would suggest, given this one sentence in your entire posting, "I
> suspect the previous owner mucked around with both services and group
> policy."; that you proceed to wipe the system of all traces of the
> previous owner and install fresh whatever operating system you can/wish
> to. You don't need (as you can already surmise) need to inherit the
> trouble of the past owner - no matter what that trouble may be.
>
> --
> Shenan Stanley
> MS-MVP
> --
> How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
> http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

Thanks. I tend to agree, but that's the last resort for a whole host of
reasons. I'd like to exhaust other possibilities before doing that.

John