XP update problem

Hi,

I've just rebuilt one of my machines. Windows XP Pro --> SP2 then 50+
updates from the update website.

Everything ok.

Last Friday Windows update told me it needed 9 more:

888302 / 887472 / 887742 / 910437 / 890830 / 918439 / 917344 / 905474 /
9004485

Since the last lot were applied I can no longer access Windows update! When
I try IE simply stops - whether I click on the link from the Start menu or
try to link via www.microsoft.com.

Does anybody have any ideas on which of the 9 is causing the problem before
I start backing them all out?

TIA,

Bernie

Bernie Kilshaw <> wrote:

> Last Friday Windows update told me it needed 9 more:
>
> 888302 / 887472 / 887742 / 910437 / 890830 / 918439 / 917344 /
> 905474 / 9004485
>
> Since the last lot were applied I can no longer access Windows
> update! When I try IE simply stops - whether I click on the link from
> the Start menu or try to link via www.microsoft.com.

Please clarify exactly what you mean by "IE simply stops". What are the
contents of the IE window when this happens? Are there any error messages?

> Does anybody have any ideas on which of the 9 is causing the problem
> before I start backing them all out?

If you have just rebuilt this PC, please check that you have the latest sets
of drivers for the motherboard chipset, video, and audio, before attempting
more Windows Updates. Get the the latest versions from each manufacturer's
website. Also check that you have the latest BIOS installed.

Next, use the control panel Internet Options, tab "Programs", button "Manage
Add-ons", to disable all IE add-ons other than Microsoft ones. Does that
fix your problem? If so, you know an IE add-on (or possibly malware) might
be responsible.

Otherwise, back out from the latest updates using control panel Add/Remove
Programs. Does that fix the problem? If so, use Windows Update to re-apply
the updates one by one until you find the one responsible. Then report back
here.

--
Robin Walker [MVP Networking]

Robin, thanks for the quick reply

In-line


"Robin Walker [MVP]" <> wrote in message
news:...
> Bernie Kilshaw <> wrote:
>
>> Last Friday Windows update told me it needed 9 more:
>>
>> 888302 / 887472 / 887742 / 910437 / 890830 / 918439 / 917344 /
>> 905474 / 9004485
>>
>> Since the last lot were applied I can no longer access Windows
>> update! When I try IE simply stops - whether I click on the link from
>> the Start menu or try to link via www.microsoft.com.
>
> Please clarify exactly what you mean by "IE simply stops". What are the
> contents of the IE window when this happens? Are there any error
> messages?
>
IE hangs - blank screen, doesn't respond to any mouse commands - can't make
the window bigger, can't close it, the only option is to kill it via task
manager.

>> Does anybody have any ideas on which of the 9 is causing the problem
>> before I start backing them all out?
>
> If you have just rebuilt this PC, please check that you have the latest
> sets of drivers for the motherboard chipset, video, and audio, before
> attempting more Windows Updates. Get the the latest versions from each
> manufacturer's website. Also check that you have the latest BIOS
> installed.
>
Downloaded drivers etc from manufacturer's website before I started so I'm
reasonably confident I've got the latest versions; (if that was the problem
why would the system have been okay through the first 59 updates?)

> Next, use the control panel Internet Options, tab "Programs", button
> "Manage Add-ons", to disable all IE add-ons other than Microsoft ones.
> Does that fix your problem? If so, you know an IE add-on (or possibly
> malware) might be responsible.

Doesn't make any difference.
>
> Otherwise, back out from the latest updates using control panel Add/Remove
> Programs. Does that fix the problem? If so, use Windows Update to
> re-apply the updates one by one until you find the one responsible. Then
> report back here.
>

Will try that.
Have just noticed another (?related) sympton in that the system won't
shutdown.
It gets to the plain blue screen stage with the hourglass then nothing
happens.

I'm up-to-date with AV and AS software.

Bernie
> --
> Robin Walker [MVP Networking]
>
>

Bernie Kilshaw <> wrote:

> I'm up-to-date with AV and AS software.

Great, but disable all anti-virus and anti-spyware while performing Windows
Updates. There have been reported problems with SpySweeper and the latest
Internet Explorer updates, which are fixed by disabling SpySweeper during
the update process.

--
Robin Walker [MVP Networking]

Robin,

You seem to have helped Bernie. Perhaps you can help me as well. I am
unable to get Window XP Professional updates. When I try, I get error
0x80070422 with the following message.

"The site cannot continue because one or more of these Windows services is
not running:

Automatic Updates (allows the site to find, download and install
high-priority updates for your computer)
Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS) (helps updates download more
quickly and without problems if the download process is interrupted)
Event Log (keeps a record of updating activities to help with
troubleshooting, if needed)
To make sure these services are running:
1. Click Start, and then click Run.
2. Type services.msc and then click OK.
3. In the list of services, double-click on Automatic Updates and then click
Properties.
4. In the Startup type list, select Automatic and click Apply.
5. Verify that the Service status is started, if the Service Status is
Stopped click on the Start Button.
6. In the list of services, double-click on Background Intelligent Transfer
Service (BITS) and then click Properties.
7. In the Startup type list, select Manual and click Apply.
8. Verify that the Service status is started, If the Service Status is
Stopped click on the Start Button.
9. In the list of services, double-click on Event Log and then click
Properties.
10. In the Startup type list, select Automatic and click Apply.
11. Verify that the Service status is started, If the Service Status is
Stopped click on the Start Button.
If this does not resolve the problem you may request help from one of the
following resources."


I am able to accomplish all of these instructions except I cannot change my
'Automatic Updates' from stopped to start. Even if I can, I'm not sure if
this will fix the problem.

Thanks,

Scott



"Robin Walker [MVP]" wrote:

> Bernie Kilshaw <> wrote:
>
> > I'm up-to-date with AV and AS software.
>
> Great, but disable all anti-virus and anti-spyware while performing Windows
> Updates. There have been reported problems with SpySweeper and the latest
> Internet Explorer updates, which are fixed by disabling SpySweeper during
> the update process.
>
> --
> Robin Walker [MVP Networking]
>
>
>
>

Scott Stoll <Scott > wrote:

> I am unable to get Window XP Professional updates. When I try, I get
> error 0x80070422 with the following message.
>
> "The site cannot continue because one or more of these Windows
> services is not running:
>
> Automatic Updates (allows the site to find, download and install
> high-priority updates for your computer)
> Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS) (helps updates
> download more quickly and without problems if the download process is
> interrupted)
> Event Log (keeps a record of updating activities to help with
> troubleshooting, if needed)
> [snip]
>
> I am able to accomplish all of these instructions except I cannot
> change my 'Automatic Updates' from stopped to start.

Google for "Dial-a-fix", download the archive, run the self-extracting
archive, then, from the extracted contents, launch Dial-a-fix. Use its
features to fix Windows Update/Automatic Update, Intenet Explorerm etc.

Report back whether that changes anything.

--
Robin Walker [MVP Networking]

Backed out all latest updates - reapplied one at a time; same problem.

Another (possibly related) problem is that when I try to save changes in IE
options the
dialog interface hangs - (but the changes are made - if I kill rundll32.exe
using Task Manager and go back in the changes have been made).

So to summarise, at the moment I have three problems:

1. Cannot get to Windows update using any route but IE works fine except if
I try to access Windows Update.
2. System won't shut down.
3. IE configuration change dialog hangs

I'm up to date with AV and AS software and have run a full system scan with
both..

This morning I downloaded the new update for 911280 and the latest script
engine; still no joy.

I also tried a System Restore to a point before the problems started but
because the system won't shut down properly a restore won't work.

Any ideas on where I go from here before I just blow it all away and start
again. (I've spent so much time trying to fix this I would probably have
been better to have done that three days ago.)

Bernie

I had exactly the same issue after I restored my machine from an image
about 1 month old. After a lot of messing around I looked in the
windows update log and it seemed that it had been trying to complete a
download of updates each time I accessed the windows update site.

What fixed it for me was that eventually I applied the latest update to
ZoneAlarm,and after switching off and restarting the automatic update
service suddenly started downloading updates (the icon in the system
tray appeared). When it finished I got the option to "shut down and
install updates" from the shutdown dialogue and then when I shut down
the background remained for about 10 mins BUT I could hear disk
activity. Eventually the machine shut down, and after a restart all is
working again!

Hope this helps.